"Musicians hear chemistry": "Immediate Family" director on artist and session player collaborations

Some of the most popular songs — Carole King’s “It’s Too Late,” Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London,” Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty,” Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen,” Jimmy Buffett’s “Volcano,” Don Henley’s “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” and so many more — were written, produced, or performed by session musicians Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar (guitar), Leland “Lee” Sklar (bass), Waddy Wachtel (guitar) and Russ Kunkel (drums). 

The fantastic new documentary, “Immediate Family,” directed by Denny Tedesco (“The Wrecking Crew”) has these four friends sitting around and reflecting on their lives, careers and the music they made together. Tedesco nimbly assembles a who’s who of rock including King, Browne, Nicks and Henley, as well as James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Keith Richards, Phil Collins, Neil Young, Lyle Lovett and many others to provide comments and anecdotes on these session musicians. (Waddy’s recollections about visiting a strip club in Wheeling, WV, with Linda Ronstadt is especially amusing.)

Tedesco also includes fantastic clips of performances that showcase the music and the musicians on stage. “Immediate Family” traces the changes in music from the 1950s, when it was about the “face” of the singer, to the 1960s, when it was about the songwriting (cue Brill Building mention), through the 1970s singer-songwriter era, and the 1980s when synthesizers and technology along with MTV changed music. 

Salon chatted with Tedesco about his documentary and the music and musicians of “Immediate Family.”

How did you learn about these sessions musician and why did you take the approach of having them sit around a table reminiscing to tell their stories?

It comes from the first film, “Wrecking Crew.” My dad was a session player. I never went to work with him or saw him play an instrument at home until the mid-'70s. What I did see my father do is play cards or eat. And musicians banter. When I saw “Broadway Danny Rose,” one of my favorite movies, it reminded me of musicians and how they would talk about other players. I wanted that feeling of being around a kitchen table kibbitzing. Musicians have a rhythm. Even when they are talking, they listen to each other.

Can you talk about selecting the tracks you featured in the film? 

Everybody has their Top 5 all-time. Danny Kortchmar [on Carole King’s] “It’s Too Late” — his career skyrocketed because of the time and the place of that song. Everyone has different ones, and I asked them what would be representative of your career. 

The musicians describe themselves as character actors in that they come in, deliver what is needed, offer suggestions but know their place as supporting the talent. What observations do you have about their work? The band is as much the author of the song as the performer. 

Classical pieces are written, note for note, and you don’t go off that. You play what the composer wrote. Same with film music because you have to hit everything at the exact point. But these studio musicians go in and want to give more than what is written on paper. They have to create. It is their job to make it better. They thought of themselves as producers in a way. What does this song need? What might this singer or producer like? My dad said, “I play for smiles. If they are smiling, I am doing my job right, if not, I have to change it up to fit with what they want.”

You assemble an impressive roster of talent for interviews as the musicians got to play with their heroes. Who was the most open, who was the hardest/easiest to get?  

No one was difficult to get because these guys, when they came into the business in the 1970s, they were young kids and the people they were playing with were all the same age — James Taylor, Jacksons Browne, Carole King and Linda Ronstadt. They were not big stars yet. Carole was a big songwriter, but she wasn’t an artist at all. They worked together to make albums and went on the road together. It bonded them as sisters and brothers. Their memories are extraordinary. But even if they haven’t seen each other in years, they just pick up where they left off.  

I found it interesting that certain musicians wanted to work with members of the “Immediate Family” but were not singer/songwriters in the James Taylor/Jackson Browne/Carole King mold. Do you have thoughts about that? 

Don Henley is a perfect example. Why did he pick Danny Kortchmar to produce his album? Danny pushed Henley to produce a solo album. Henley liked Danny because he didn’t do anything like what Henley did. Don didn’t want The Eagles and those country harmonies. 

David Crosby said about folks like Russ and Lee [Leland], “When you play with these guys there’s chemistry.” Musicians hear chemistry. When you listen, you understand it. It all comes together. It may be a different genre, but they know Lee would be great at it. The jazz album, or Billy Cobham’s fusion album. It doesn’t sound like something a singer/songwriter bass player is going to do, but they know he can do it and what he is capable of. The artists know how far they can stretch it.  

I was surprised they went from Carole King to Warren Zevon. What are your thoughts on the diversity of performers they played with?

It’s all music to them. Every song is a different animal. They have to figure out what it needs. They go in and in their heads, they are putting their parts together. The drum can do this, maybe the bass will happen here. Musicians with that much talent do that naturally, and create instantly. And if it doesn’t work, they’ll try something else.

I thought it was great when they said, “I want to make the best song, not a hit song.” Another emotional moment was when Leland said he never gets bored playing “Fire and Rain,” a song he played thousands of times because someone may be hearing it for the first time. What can you say about their work ethic. 

That was one of the thoughts going through my mind: How do you keep yourself from getting bored doing the same set over and over again? Leland said, “I’m playing it for the first time for someone in that crowd.” Sometimes artists will play the same the set over and over. I’m sure it gets somewhat monotonous. But a great example of being on your toes is that Russ and Leland go on tour with Lyle Lovett and the book for Lyle is 80 songs, and Lee will know all 80 songs by heart. He doesn’t have any music in front of him. There may be a rough idea of what they will play that night, but Lyle will change on the dot. If someone yells from the crowd, he’ll play that. It’s quite something that Leland can do that! 

Danny Kortchmar, Leland Sklar, Waddy Wachtel, Steve Postel and Russ Kunkel in "Immediate Family" (Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures)

The other takeaway from your film is how the musicians realize what the music they make means to people. What does their music mean to you? What song specifically resonates? 

Every song is a bookmark in someone’s life. “Edge of Seventeen” might mean something to you, but it means something different to me because I’m a little older and in a different place in my life. I watch audiences and see people tear up sometimes or mouth the words all the way through. It’s really wild to watch that. I realize watching the film now what the music really meant to people. The album that does that for me is “Tapestry.” I know Danny’s solo in “It’s Too Late” note for note. 

What did you think of the session musicians’ efforts to make their own rock-fusion albums (“The Section”)?

I knew of it, but I didn’t know what it was about. When I heard it, I thought, this is the music I would have been listening to at the time! I was really into rock fusion. I became a new fan. They all stretch out. That’s why you’ll see musicians become jazz players pushing themselves. 

“Immediate Family” does not get into the sex-drug-rock-n-roll lifestyle, focusing instead on the music. Can you explain why you chose this focus? 

We went into it a little. That time period was rough — they survived it, obviously. Everyone did stuff but Leland, who never smoked and never drank. He’s the straightest cat you will ever meet. Not for any reason. He just didn’t like it. You can go down that road, and I think they lost a lot of friends, and I do talk about it. But it was a hard time. It was harder then than it was in the 1960s once the coke came out in the 1970s. Marriages were lost, and families broken up. I didn’t shy away from it, but it wasn’t the focus of the story.  

I liked the story about Jackson Browne and creating “Running on Empty.”

Jackson had the idea to take these guys on the road and do an album, and it was Russ who said, “Why not just do new songs? Why do old stuff?” and Jackson said, “Yeah, you’re right.” That’s when these guys were at their peak. They were playing as the warm-up band and then playing with Jackson at night, and then they go back to the hotel and playing more in the hotel and on the tour bus. Just before that, they were doing the James Taylor tour. These guys were just hot with their instruments at that moment. 

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And they played with Linda Ronstadt and Carole King, who changed things up . . .

Linda had huge changes. She did the standards with Nelson Riddle. My dad played on that album. Then she did the Spanish-language album, which is what she grew up with. Danny and Carole all listen to each other. Danny said something about the first album they did with “The City,” [“Now That Everything’s Been Said” in 1968] which they did before “Tapestry.” It was like McCoy Tyner stuff, which was something I hadn’t heard. They do change. All artists need to change. If you don’t, I think they get bored. 

"Immediate Family" opens in theaters Friday, Dec. 15.