It is not unreasonable to think that some viewers might initially look at the new documentary Immediate Family and ask, “Who are these guys? And why did someone make a documentary about them?”
Such is the fate of a session player, a breed of musician who always plays the right notes and can, on the spot, come up with parts that elevate a record from average to extraordinary. But these folks don’t crave the spotlight, and they often work in anonymity.
Director / producer Denny Tedesco, son of famed studio guitarist Tommy Tedesco, told the story of his dad and the first generation of LA session musicians in The Wrecking Crew! This relatively small cadre of players provided the instrumentation on records by the Beach Boys, the Mamas and Papas, Frank Sinatra and a host of others, not to mention their work on classic television and film scores.
As the ‘60s drifted into the ‘70s, a new group of studio players emerged. Unlike their predecessors, most of whom were jazzers, these musicians were raised on rock and roll. Most had received some musical training, but their chops had been honed on the road, in too many different bands to count. Then came a new style of music, one which placed a premium on contemplative lyrics and a general feeling of mellowness. Or, as a cover of Time said, “The New Rock: Bittersweet and Low.”
“We love each other, and we were having so much fun playing, we realized, yeah, what the fuck, let’s make it a band!”
Drummer Russ Kunkel and guitarist Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar first achieved acclaim for their performances on Carole King’s Tapestry and James Taylor’s Sweet Baby James. Shortly thereafter, bassist Leland Sklar was recruited, and the trio played on Taylor’s Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, subsequently appearing on albums by Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, Linda Ronstadt and virtually any other southern California singer you care to name. Guitarist Waddy Wachtel, a transplant from New York, joined this august group a few years later.
The film focuses on these four musicians, cataloging their contributions to classic albums and following them later in their careers as they unexpectedly formed the band Immediate Family. The four had gathered to work on a Kortchmar recording project and decided to take their act on the road. As Kortchmar explains it, “We love each other, and we were having so much fun playing, we realized, yeah, what the fuck, let’s make it a band!”
The format of Immediate Family is similar to that of The Wrecking Crew!, featuring illuminating interview clips from the principals and their more well-known employers (in this case Keith Richards, Lyle Lovett, Phil Collins, David Crosby and others). We also get to see the Family members recreating some of their more famous parts for the camera, e.g. Wachtel’s “chucka-chucka-chucka” intro to Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen,” Kortchmar’s melodic guitar solo from King’s “It’s Too Late” and Kunkel’s sublime brush work on Taylor’s “Fire and Rain.”
This time around, though, Tedesco didn’t have to scrounge for money or, as was the case with The Wrecking Crew!, mount a Kickstarter campaign to obtain the rights to use classic songs in the film. Does the bigger budget do Tedesco any favors? It certainly does when it comes to obtaining performance clips and song rights; nothing is missing here. Early television appearances by King and Taylor are featured, along with concert footage from Ronstadt and Browne. And while it doesn’t really advance the narrative, I was happy to see a brief portion of Ronstadt’s performance on “The Muppet Show,” singing “Blue Bayou” with a gaggle of Kermit’s relatives ribbiting along behind her.
Despite all that, The Immediate Family lacks the authentic, gritty feel of The Wrecking Crew! The new film is more polished and genteel due to the lack of compelling characters like drummer Hal Blaine (relentlessly enthusiastic), bassist Carol Kaye (relentlessly bitter) and guitarist Tommy Tedesco (relentlessly mercenary).
In contrast, The Immediate Family provides a fun, relaxed hang. Kunkel, Sklar, Kortchmar and Wachtel genuinely seem to enjoy each other’s company after so many years of working together. There is a great deal of fond reminiscing, many well-burnished stories and plenty of laughter. Plus some brotherly shit-giving.
Both members of the rhythm section (Kunkel and Sklar) are quiet and reserved, while guitarists Kortchmar and Wachtel are brash and opinionated. Where Kunkel talks about trying to please record producers and says, “My main goal was to not get fired,” Wachtel brags about vociferously insisting to a producer that he, not a saxophonist, should provide the solo on Steve Perry’s “Oh, Sherrie.” (Spoiler: Wachtel won.)
The film makes the point (repeatedly) that the Family guys did more than show up at the studio and play whatever sheet music was on the stand. James Taylor says, “The creative input of these session guys cannot be overstated.” Kortchmar elaborates, explaining that Linda Ronstadt producer Peter Asher “expected all of us to think like producers. In other words, we were supposed to play stuff that would help the record.”
Also explored is the notion that a session musician must have nerves of steel, being dependable as well as creative. “I’ve never been afraid of the red light,” Sklar says. “I look at that, and it’s like a bull looking at a red cape. Some guys choke when that red light comes on. They’re playing their butts off, and as soon as that light comes on, man, they’re stumbling. It’s intimidating. You’ve got to get the goods, right at that moment.”
Immediate Family spends most of its time on the ‘70s, but the musicians’ activities in the ‘80s and later are also covered, as we see how they changed their individual modus operandi to keep up with changing tastes and advancing technologies. Kortchmar, Kunkel and Wachtel became involved in record production, notching hits with (respectively) Don Henley, Jimmy Buffett and Keith Richards.
The film’s greatest strength is that it concentrates on what it feels like to perform music, at best an ethereal subject. But the participants do a fine job nonetheless. Describing the goofy face and the exhilarated feeling that a musician has when he has just cut a great record, Richards laughs and says, “That’s the shit, as we call it.”
The Immediate Family can be watched on several streaming sites including Prime Video, AppleTV, YouTube and Google Play.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
