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Our latest Bonus Track features a great conversation with the legendary Leland Sklar and director Denny Tedesco regarding his film, The Immediate Family. That's right, someone finally made a movie about Lee Sklar, Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel and Russ Kunkel. If you're a liner notes nerd, you know those names!

Here's one example:

Jackson Browne's Running on Empty album was one where the music fans got to be part of the process. Because it was recorded live on stage in concert -- and at other points along the touring trail, backstage, in hotel rooms and even on the tour bus - it was a unique and often chaotic experience for those involved in the recording.

As Sklar told me, Running on Empty was unlike anything he had ever been a part of. While bands and artists are very used to the uncomfortable nature of playing new material in front of an audience that's just there to hear the hits, Running on Empty captured moments with Browne and the band where they were playing new songs that the audiences hadn't even had a chance to get on an album yet, because they hadn't been recorded.

For Sklar, it was just one experience of many songs and albums that he's played on across the decades. While he's worked with countless names, there were a few that kept coming up -- guitarist Waddy Wachtel, guitarist Danny Kortchmar and drummer Russ Kunkel. The four became known as The Section, the '70s heir apparent to The Wrecking Crew of the '60s. Collectively and often together, they've played on thousands of albums.

In more recent years, they've acquired a new moniker, one which fits well with their connection to the legendary albums they played on by Warren Zevon, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, Don Henley and many others -- The Immediate Family. Adding vocalist Steve Postell to their ranks, they've put out several albums.

But it was Tedesco who decided to tell the story of the guys, through the words of their famous employers and associates. He's well-suited for the task, having put out a film about The Wrecking Crew, the group of session musicians that featured his father, guitarist Tommy Tedesco. He saw the natural throughline that connected that collective with what Kortchmar, Wachtel, Sklar and Kunkel continued with the Section.

The Immediate Family is a fascinating journey, one which weaves together valuable history as recounted by those who were there. The film was recently released on DVD and Blu-ray and continues to screen nationally. You can find further details at immediatefamilyfilm.com.

I loved chatting with Denny and Lee -- and it was exciting to hear some details from Denny about his next project, a movie about Wolfman Jack that's currently in process! Can't wait!

P.S. I mention it during the episode, but here's a direct link to Leland's YouTube channel.

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The 1974 Project continues as we welcome back our friend and A&R man Peter Lubin to discuss Pussy Cats by Harry Nilsson. Produced by John Lennon, Pussy Cats is an interesting and at times, unfortunate mile marker in Nilsson's career -- and the guys discuss why that is.

There is once again a great tribute album at the heart of all of this Nilsson stuff for Jeff and Matt, 1995's For the Love of Harry: Everybody Sings Nilsson. Jeff describes the doors that opened for him as a music fan after he heard that album. We talk about the many peculiarities of Harry's career -- including the fact that he never toured.

How did everyone not die while recording Pussy Cats? Good question. Okay, so that scratches the surface, rather roughly, on some of the areas that we cover in today's episode. All you really need to know is that whether you worship this album, or you've never heard Harry's music, there's something here for everyone. Thanks for listening!

Related:

The Harry Nilsson documentary (which is a great watch and very much worth your time)
An article that Jeff wrote about Pussy Cats for Ultimate Classic Rock
The mega-Nilsson playlist that Matt knew Jeff had somewhere in his digital back pocket. Can you finish it?

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In 1984, Christopher Cross added a unique new entry to his discography. "A Chance For Heaven" was selected as the official swimming theme for the Olympics. I bet you didn't even know there was an official swimming theme that year, did you? Neither did we. Discovering that factoid during our episode about Christopher's 1985 album, Every Turn of the World, was enough to send us out on an important quest.

What if we were to discuss the Olympics soundtrack albums for 1984, 1988 and 1992? That's the task that Jeff and Matt decided to tackle on today's episode of The Record Player. It's not an easy one, because none of the three volumes are on streaming. Which means, YouTube to the rescue!

Here's streaming links for all three volumes:

The Official Music Of The XXIIIrd Olympiad Los Angeles 1984
1988 Summer Olympics Album: One Moment in Time
Barcelona Gold (1992) - note that a few songs are not streaming officially, but 12 songs are. You'll get the point. But here's the complete rundown.

This is a wide-ranging discussion that explores the bulk of the first two compilations track-by-track with scattered thoughts on Barcelona Gold, because we were at the clock limit and honestly, the tone of the song curation changed with Barcelona Gold in a way that felt less specific to the Olympics. But where else are you going to find En Vogue and Damn Yankees back to back on the same album? That's a really good question.

There are references along the way to the Ghostbusters soundtrack, the We Are the World album and a bunch of other things -- including the most excellent Little Feat-related tribute album from the '90s, Rock & Roll Doctor: A Tribute to Lowell George. Streaming the Lowell tribute appears to be a bit of a chore -- it's on Apple Music at the very least, but finding it on Spotify was an elusive task.

Anyway, we talk about some things and you've got some fresh listening material to enjoy now as well. Thanks as always for listening and don't forget to visit Jefitoblog for even more thoughts from Jeff. Have a good weekend!

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