Danny Kortchmar and Waddy Wachtel (S5E4)

By his own definition, Danny Kortchmar more than qualifies to be called an artist. You can call him a consummate craftsman who’s learned all the skills necessary to bring a good song to life on vinyl. Or call him a master musician who has made the recording studio his ultimate instrument. But whatever you do, just don’t call him “laid back”.

Danny Kortchmar was born in New York City, USA in 1946. Sometimes credited as Danny Kootch or Dan Kootch or Dan Kortchmar or Kootch (following his teenage nickname), in the early sixties he met James Taylor on Martha’s Vineyard and they began to play folk gigs locally. With Kootch on guitar and James on harmonica, the vocal duo did pretty well, winning the occasional hootenanny contest. He then emerged as a member of several aspiring New York ’60s groups, such as the Kingbees and Flying Machine, the latter of which featured his fellow James Taylor.

In 1967 Kortchmar and O’Brien started a new band, The Flying Machines, with Zachary Wisner on bass and Kortchmar’s old friend, James Taylor on guitar and vocals. They were signed to Euphoria later that year and only released one radio single, “Night Owl” [1967], peaking at #102 on the national charts. The label never released their album and the band soon broke up. Taylor then decided to move to London and Kortchmar gave him Peter Asher’s number. Asher was now head of A&R at the Beatles label, Apple Records. He invited James to play his song and he liked them. Paul McCartney and John Lennon were among his first fans.

In the early 1980s, Kortchmar toured and recorded extensively with Linda Ronstadt and appeared in two of her music videos. He can be seen playing guitar in the video for “Get Closer”. In 1983, he played Linda’s love interest in the music video for “What’s New?”. He also appeared with Linda when she performed on the twenty-fifth anniversary Grammy Awards telecast.

Kortchmar had a cameo in the 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap. He played Ronnie Pudding, the band’s bass player in their early years, in the “Gimme Some Money” video segment.

With his friend Jackson Browne, he co-wrote some songs, most notably the “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” soundtrack hit, “Somebody’s Baby” [1982] and “Shaky Town” [1977], “Tender Is The Night” [1982], “Knock On Any Door” [1982] and did a memorable European Summer Tour in 1982. 

In the ’90, he produced a whole generation of new musicians, such as Venice, Freddy Johnston, Spin Doctors, Dada. He also formed another band, Slo Leak, with Charlie Karp (vocals and guitar) and Harvey Brooks (bass), recording and producing two blues records “Slo Leak” [1996] on Pure and “When The Clock Strikes Twelve” [1999] on TVT.

Kortchmar is still touring, doing session work, and producing records.

Robert “Waddy” Wachtel was born May 24, 1947, in New York, NY; and is married to Annie Wachtel.

Started career as touring musician with the Everly Brothers; worked as a studio musician and became noticed in 1970s after working and touring with Carole King; made notable recordings with artists Linda Ronstadt, Warren Zevon and Stevie Nicks through the 1980s; worked as producer with artists including Zevon, Ronstadt, The Church, George Thorogood and others into the late 1990s, as well as continuing work as a studio musician; as a songwriter, Wachtel penned songs recorded by Zevon, Ronstadt, and the duet “Her Town Too” recorded by J.D. Souther and James Taylor.

Robert “Waddy” Wachtel has played and worked with a who’s who of rock throughout his years as a session musician—Bob Dylan, The Everly Brothers, Iggy Pop, Keith Richards, Linda Ronstadt, and Warren Zevon, among many other musicians and vocalists. In the 1984 book The Guitar, Wachtel’s sound was described as “the churning, badass end of the guitar’s spectrum of sounds,” and he was said to have the ability to play “full blown gutsy raunch or sweet Mexican-flavored licks with equal ease. He is a high-energy player.” Wachtel’s talent has placed him in the company of esteemed session guitarists Ry Cooder, David Lindley and Lowell George. His behind the scenes contributions include credits as producer and songwriter.

Wachtel toured with The Everly Brothers, but began gaining attention as a session artist after backing Carole King during the recording and subsequent tour supporting her Thoroughbred album in the 1970s. He is credited with being one of a group of musicians in Los Angeles that gave rock songs recorded in the 1970s and 1980s a decidedly raucous Southern California flair. Dave DiMartino, in Singer-Songwriters: Pop Music’s Performer-Composers, from A to Zevon, called them “the L.A. session-musician ’mafia’ that dominated most recordings of the genre and era.” These musicians included Andrew Gold, a multi-instrumental musician; Russ Kunkle, drums; Leland Sklar, bass; Jai Winding on piano; and a group of backing singers including Glenn Frey, J.D. Souther, Linda Ronstadt and Wendy Waldman.

Wachtel appeared on numerous rock recordings in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Frequent associates were Ronstadt, Karla Bonoff, and Zevon. “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” was included on Zevon’s 1976 self-titled album, a song which was covered successfully by Ronstadt a year later on her Simple Dreams album. Wachtel appears on both recordings. In 1978, again with Zevon, Wachtel worked on the Excitable Boy album. With Zevon he penned the classic “Werewolves of London” and co-produced the album with Jackson Browne.

During the early 1980s Wachtel began working with Stevie Nicks after she embarked on a solo career apart from Fleetwood Mac. Wachtel created the memorable guitar sound on her hit “Edge of Seventeen.” He also played guitar on her subsequent recordings The Wild Heart and Rock a Little.

Whether it is punchy riffs, raw energy, or musical embroidery, Wachtel has provided accompaniment and support to rock’s elite for more than three decades. “That was why people would hire me,” Wachtel told Musician’s David Simons in 1999, “because they needed that rock & roll statement.” Watchel shows no signs of slowing down.