Glen Campbell Forums

Alex ... I really so hope that you do manage to rescue this ... Malcolm

Hello all,
My name is Alexander Herwitz Gil Baker was my 1st cousin and a dear friend. Sadly he died December 26, 2019. His widow, Valentina Baker, and I are trying to rescue the project as a tribute to Gil and because it is an excellent film. One of the reasons that it was never released had to do with a long standing battle with the original backer who withdrew from the project and refused to supply the money originally promised. Shifty situation. So, even though Denny Tadesco produced a documentary as well Session Men stands on its own. It is filled with gems. I am certain that there is room for 2 documentaries on these great folks. They are deserving and so was my cousin of credit where credit is due. So I hope this catches you up. Banybody who likes can contact me through my registered email. Best to all,
Alex

Hi Cowpoke, good question. Likely there was insufficient interest in sponsorship in 2016. Denny Tedesco's documentary, "The Wrecking Crew", had already been released by the time Gil Baker was seeking sponsors for his session men film. I will try to obtain an update. It's great to watch Gil's video clips again especially Glen's "Careless Weed".
Dee

Haven't heard anything of it in a long time. Dee, you?

Any news on the potential DVD yet?

An alert for a new film, "Session Men", with potential for release on DVD pending sponsorship:

Session Men is produced-directed by Gil Baker, Director / Managing Partner of Session Men LLC. This film is about legendary studio musicians featuring interviews and performances by Glen Campbell with The Wrecking Crew, Waddy Wachtel with The Section, Reggie Young with The American Studios Band and Memphis Horns, Charlie McCoy with Nashville's A Team, Bobby Eli with Philly's MFSB and NYC studio greats Will Lee, Hugh McCracken, David Spinozza, Vinny Bell, Chuck Rainey, Herb Lovelle and Paul Griffin.

The following excerpts are shared from a film review by Martin Weeks that provides us with insight to the premise of this film:

The movie is about those great people that made every single song you grew up with and love, sound so wonderful. I don't care what genre you prefer, if it's a song that absolutely makes you stop whatever you're doing and just listen, the chances are good that there were session men in the production.

The movie is in eight parts. It is in interview format, but with references back to the original music that was cut and distributed by many of the most famous artists in the history of modern music.

This movie is fun to watch and packed full of some of the best advice anywhere for everyone, from up and coming musicians seeking legitimate employment opportunities, to DIY Producers working out of the home.

And the music of course is just wonderful. Not only do we get to hear the classic songs from the records, but we also occasionally get to see on film these musicians do the parts we all know and recognize right there on camera...no lip syncing here folks.

Glen Campbell Forums (and Jimmy Webb on Facebook) has previously posted a couple of Baker's rarest video clips with Glen Campbell, linked from Baker's production company's YouTube channel. Newly-uploaded videos have been posted on this channel over the last few months. According to Gil Baker, these "clips have drawn 420,000+ views. No 'sponsored' posts. Just a genuine interest in the subject matter." I assume the view count is based on views from across all forms of social media.

The Glen sessions in addition to "Take It on The Road" are embedded below, and I can keep you updated on new clips as well as the status of the film's release.


Session Men offline: Glen Campbell & The Wrecking Crew (Director Gil Baker)
Featuring Glen Campbell (guitar) Hal Blaine, Earl Palmer and Jim Keltner (drums) Larry Knechtel and Don Randi (keys) Joe Osborn, Carol Kaye and Leland Sklar (bass) Jim Horn (saxophone) with Bones Howe and Nancy Sinatra at Western Sound Studios, Los Angeles.




Session Men Rehearsal: Glen Campbell, Gil Baker, Joe Osborn, Larry Knechtel
Larry KNECHTEL bass on Mr. Tambourine Man, piano on Bridge Over Troubled Water, organ on Never My Love, solo on The Guitar Man. Joe OSBORN bass on Midnight Confession, Hello Mary Lou, Secret Agent Man, Close To You, McArthur Park etc. Glen CAMPBELL guitar on hits by Elvis, Ricky Nelson, Ronettes,,Beach Boys, Sinatra, Monkees etc. With drummer Hal BLAINE, Campbell, Knechtel and Osborn are the musicians playing on Monday, Monday and California Dreamin'.




Session Men: Glen Campbell's Wichita Lineman "Lesson" (posted by Jimmy Webb on July 16, 2016 - Dee)
Session Men director Gil Baker gets Glen to play "Wichita Lineman" while a) legendary bassist Joe Osborn watches quietly b) Grammy winner Larry Knechtel tries to throw Glen off by shouting out chord changes. Rare stuff.




Session Men: Glen Campbell sings Jimmy Webb's "Careless Weed" (previously posted on GCF)
Grammy winner Larry Knechtel, bass ace Joe Osborn and Gil Baker are Glen's audience as he performs Jimmy Webb's "Careless Weed", a song never recorded by anyone, except Jimmy himself. Rare stuff.




Session Men: "Take It on The Road"
"My Session Men 'theme song' benefitted from an arrangement twist courtesy of Glen Campbell. After Glen and I ran it down with Joe Osborn and Larry Knechtel, (see our REHEARSAL clip) I shot the players in LA, Nashville, Memphis, Muscle Shoals, NY and Philly all playing in the same key and tempo. Everyone liked the groove." -- Gil Baker




To view other clips from Session Men, you can visit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEF-5j ... epw/videos" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. I believe the Nancy Sinatra clip segues into the one with Glen.

Sources: The above information is a composite based on Gil Baker's LinkedIn profile, a review of the movie by Martin Weeks published on LinkedIn (May 21, 2016), The Production Company USA's channel on YouTube, updates on Session Men's Facebook page, and from Mr. Baker himself!

Disclaimer: The content above was posted by Glen Campbell Forums for informational purposes only.

~Dee

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This topic will provide updates about an upcoming film documentary, "Session Men", directed and produced by Gil Baker.
Dee