Our House Concert this past weekend was not our typical show. It was a benefit concert. We asked a minimum donation of $20 per person. We put together an “all-star” band. We acted as musical director, putting the band together, dealing with set list, rehearsals, charts, lyrics etc. Lots of things different than normal for us.

But it was a GREAT show and very well attended. We raised over $1600 for a great cause. Freebo put it on his webcast page, and it is archived there.
Watch the archived webcast.

Scroll down on the page to “previous performances” and you’ll see two that say “Wrecking Crew”… one for each set. The one on the right should be the first set. The one on the left should be the second set. (So you can view them in order.) It’s worth watching and we thought we’d share it with you.

(NOTE: We do NOT normally webcast our concerts due to concerns about keeping the evenings within the definition of private parties in our private residence. But we made a one-time exception in this case due to trying to raise awareness of the cause of our benefit.)

PERFORMERS BIOS:

On Saturday, August 14th, Russ & Julie’s House Concerts presented an “ALL-STAR” Benefit Concert in support of The Wrecking Crew Film. The Wrecking Crew was a loose knit group of world-class studio musicians who played on some of the most popular music from the late 50s to the early 70s. Songs by 5th Dimension, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, The Association, The Beach Boys, The Bryds, The Carpenters, Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke, Cher, Jan & Dean, Gary Lewis & The Playboys, The Mamas & The Papas, The Monkees, Ricky Nelson, The Righteous Brothers, Johnny Rivers, Frank & Nancy Sinatra, and many many others. The Wrecking Crew WERE Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound.

A documentary about The Wrecking Crew has been produced by Denny Tedesco (son of Tommy Tedesco of The Wrecking Crew). We believe this documentary is one of the best music related films we have seen. It documents this important and vital part of our musical history and should be seen by as many people as possible. We want to help see that it gets a DVD release.

Watch the film trailer

Performing at this benefit was the “2010 Russ & Julie’s House Concerts All-Star Band”:

STEVE POSTELL (guitar) - Steve is one of the finest guitarists around. He’s currently Jennifer Warnes’ musical director. He’s performed with Jackson Browne, David Crosby, Jennifer Warnes, John Oates, Robben Ford, Eric Johnson, Paul Barerre, Dave Koz, Pure Prairie League and many others. He has also performed live on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Today Show with Katie Couric, The Regis and Kelly and The Regis and Kathie Lee shows.

STEVIE GURR (guitar) - Another highly respected studio guitarist who has performed with Dr. John, Elvin Bishop, Otis Clay, and Don Henley among others. Stevie is currently part of the duo “emith”.

FREEB0 (bass) - FREEBO is an award-winning singer/songwriter (2008 Posi Award… “Best Song”, ‘07 L.A. Music Awards “Best Folk Artist”, Winner ‘07 South Florida Songwriting Contest, finalist ‘09 The Great American Songwriting Contest, Finalist in 5 different categories of JPF Awards), but he’s best known as a Folk-Rock-Blues Icon. For 30 years, Freebo played bass & tuba on recordings and toured with some of the great artists of our time– Bonnie Raitt (10 years), John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, CSN, Maria Muldaur, Ringo Starr, Michelle Shocked, Neil Young, Loudon Wainwright III, Dr. John, and many others. He has also appeared on Saturday Night Live, Midnight Special, Muppets Tonight, and in concert with the legendary Spinal Tap.

DALE LaDUKE (accordion/piano) - Award winning singer/songwriter and former member of Five Wheel Drive. Originally from the Detroit area, he has for many years made his living writing, teaching and playing music in Los Angeles. Dale regularly adds his accordion parts to many local artists here in the L.A. area.

RICHARD MARTINEZ (percussion) - Richard is a local musician whose stage credits include The All Night Strut, Cabaret Verboten, Five Guys Named Mo and Ain’t Misbehavin’. His television credits include The Dolly Parton Show, Baywatch Nights and Sienfield. He has performed with Sam Harris, Jason Alexander, Bebe Neuwirth and many others. He has also recorded with Julian Lennon, Dan Hill, John Jones, Rick Nowels and others.

The concert also featured special GUEST PERFORMANCES by:

MARI WILSON: Mari is an British singer based in London. She is best known for her sometimes quirky, early 1960s-influenced pop music songs and her (former) trademark beehive hairdo. Recording on the Compact label she scored six UK hit singles in the early 1980s, including her biggest hit, “Just What I Always Wanted” (UK #8) in 1982. The following year she scored a top 30 hit with a cover of “Cry Me a River” and released her debut album Showpeople, also a top 30 hit. Wilson’s fourth studio album Emotional Glamour was released on her Beehive label in October 2008. She has also performed in musicals, and has been a feature on a BBC TV series about celebrities and their health.

JOHN BATDORF: Best known as one-half of the ’70s band Batdorf & Rodney, which was signed at different times by Ahmet Ertegun to Atlantic Records, by David Geffen to Asylum Records and by Clive Davis to Arista Records. They headlined many shows, and were an opening act for America, Seals & Crofts, Dan Fogelberg, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Fleetwood Mac, The Doobie Brothers, Bread, The Youngbloods, Hall & Oates, Harry Chapin and many others. In the ’80s, John was a staff songwriter, writing songs for America, England Dan, The Curry Sisters and Kim Carnes, and as studio singer singing on hundreds of jingles, movies, and TV shows. He also sang background vocals on recordings by Rod Stewart, Motley Crue, Dave Mason, The Jefferson Starship, Berlin, Donna Summer, and David Lee Roth to name just a few.

AMY RAASCH: Winner of the 3rd Annual GINA/LAWIM Singer/Songwriter Contest. Named one of Music Connection’s “HOT 100 Unsigned Artists” for the third year running. Don Was says about Amy: “She’s got her own inner groove; nothing tentative about it. A force to be reckoned with.”

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All of the money raised at the concert went towards expenses (such as licensing fees) to get The Wrecking Crew film released on DVD. You can still send in a tax deductible donation with a check payable to “International Documentary Association” (write “Wrecking Crew Documentary” in the memo line) and mail to:
Russ & Julie Paris
638 Lindero Canyon Road, Box 142
Oak Park, CA 91377

All of the evening’s artists donated their time and we are forever grateful.

Enjoy!

Russ & Julie
Russ & Julie’s House Concerts