Larry Knechtel Top 10
Larry Knechtel, who died on Thursday in Yakima, WA, was a musician’s musician. Born in Bell, CA in 1940, he had his first taste of recording success at the age of 16 with an instrumental single. He quit college in 1959 when Duane Eddy offered him a spot in his touring band, the Rebels; he ended up recording many albums with Eddy. His first instrument had been piano, but he started branching out and eventually added not only other keyboard instruments but also bass, guitar, and harmonica. His big break was playing keyboards on the Ronettes’ Christmas album, which got him regular work on many Phil Spector productions. In 1964 he became the bassist in the house band on the Shindig! TV show.
Soon Knechtel was a first-call session player with the revolving cast of L.A. studio virtuosi who became known as “the Wrecking Crew.” Among the many well-known sessions he played on: bass on The Doors’ debut, Hammond organ on The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, most of the key albums by The 5th Dimension and The Mamas & the Papas, Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction,” and plenty of TV work including The Monkees and The Partridge Family.
It’s hard to pin down the specifics of some of these; for instance, The 5th Dimension’s “Stoned Soul Picnic” definitely has Knechtel, but both he and Jimmy Rowles are credited for “piano & keyboards,” and it’s hard to say who does what. Interestingly, The 5th Dimension’s producer, Bones Howe, who often used Knechtel, more than once had him come back to the studio to cut a song he’d already cut with another band, as on “Go Where You Wanna Go” (which he’d already done with The Mamas & the Papas) and “Never My Love” (The Association had already had a hit with it that featured Knechtel). Knechtel’s website says he played with four bands at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967; it doesn’t say which ones, but a good guess would be The Mamas & the Papas, The Association, Simon & Garfunkel, and Johnny Rivers, all of whom he recorded with.
David Ackles, The Association, Chet Atkins, Hoyt Axton, Joan Baez, Elvis Costello, John Denver, Neil Diamond, Dixie Chicks, Fats Domino, England Dan & John Ford Coley, the Everly Brothers, gospel vocalists The Fairfield Four, Jerry Garcia, Art Garfunkel, jazz vibraphonist Terry Gibbs, The Grass Roots, Thelma Houston, Jan & Dean, Billy Joel, Jim Lauderdale, Dave Mason, Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Poco, Elvis Presley (bass on The 1968 Comeback Special), Emitt Rhodes, The Righteous Brothers, Tommy Roe, Diana Ross, Lalo Schifrin, Seals & Crofts, Paul Simon, Nancy Sinatra, Spanky & Our Gang, Steppenwolf, John Stewart, Barbra Streisand, Tina Turner, The Turtles, Conway Twitty, Townes Van Zandt, Gene Vincent, Doc Watson, Jimmy Webb, and many more also used his talents over the years.
After Robb Royer left soft-rock pioneers Bread, Knechtel was asked to replace him and accepted the offer. While aficionados may have been aware of Knechtel’s resume before that, joining Bread raised his profile considerably. Certainly that’s where I first heard him: In the mid-‘70s, when as a young teen I first started buying pop LPs, Bread was my favorite band.
Bread co-founder David Gates later stated, “It was an incredibly different band after Larry joined. He brought such fine musicianship, in terms of his time, his rhythm, and his overall spark. We were almost embarrassed to go on stage before, but when he was with us, it was great. He could really solo, and he added a tremendous credibility to us.”
But Bread broke up, reformed, and then broke up again. Knechtel recorded and toured with Gates, but also occasionally returned to studio work, though he had moved to Washington (where, aside from a seven-year sojourn in Nashville, he lived for the rest of his life). He also recorded two albums under his own name; they’re said to be jazzy (I haven’t heard them, though I’ve been meaning to track down copies).
Simon & Garfunkel – “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
The famous piano part is Knechtel, who shared the 1970 Grammy Award for “Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)” for his work on this song. For the first three-quarters of the recording, he is just as prominent as lead vocalist Art Garfunkel, and the way Knechtel builds up his part, keeping the song moving tautly forward through subtle stylistic changes, is masterful.
Bread – “Picture in Your Mind”
Knechtel’s tune, and his lead vocal – his only one with Bread.
The Byrds – “Mr. Tambourine Man”
That distinctive sliding bass that comes in after Jim McGuinn’s jangling guitar? That’s Knechtel. It was the Byrds’ first single, and producer Terry Melcher used studio musicians for all the instrumental tracks except McGuinn’s.
Bread – “Guitar Man”
Knechtel is the guitar man on this song – that’s him on lead guitar.
The Beach Boys – “Good Vibrations”
Knechtel plays Hammond B-3, occasionally prominently, on this classic.
Bread – “Everything I Own”
Knechtel plays the harpsichord here.
The Association – “Never My Love”
I’m pretty sure this features Knechtel’s electric piano licks (the organ, however, is presumably group member Jim Yester).
The Mamas & the Papas – “I Call Your Name”
The rollicking retro piano part is probably Knechtel. He played on bigger hits for this band (“California Dreamin’,” “Monday, Monday”), but he never sounded like he was having more fun with them than on this campy number.
The Association – “Windy”
It’s probably Knechtel on harpsichord.
Seals & Crofts – “Summer Breeze”
The piano playing is definitely Knechtel’s.
