A few years ago, renowned guitarist Danny Kortchmar was approached by a Japanese label to go into the studio and record some nuggets — old and new — in his catalog.
The timing couldn’t have been any better. A number of Kortchmar’s old colleagues from The Section, the legendary studio band, were available along with some other crack players. When it came to reaching out to drummer on Russ Kunkel, bassist Leland Sklar, guitarist Waddy Wachtel and guitarist Steve Postell about doing some recording, there was no surprise that everyone was on board.
Following the album sessions, the band, known as Danny Kortchmar and Immediate Family, played a series of shows in Japan. They would soon shorten their name to The Immediate Family after the members decided the studio work and playing out live had gone so well it only made sense to continue working together.
The Nov. 6 edition of Greasy Tracks featured interviews with Kunkel, Sklar and Wachtel as well as tracks from the band’s recently-released self-titled album.
Click here to check out an archive of the program, while a playlist is here.
The Immediate Family plays TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik in South Windsor on Nov. 14 and The Wall Street Theater in Norwalk on Nov. 16.
Kortchmar, Kunkel, Sklar and keyboardist Craig Doerge comprised The Section which was effectively the house band of Asylum Records and would end up backing the likes of Carol King, James Taylor, Jackson Brown and Warren Zevon, amongst others. The group released a handful of their own albums and by the early 1980s had ceased working as a studio unit, but members would continue to collaborate on assorted projects in the ensuing years.
Wachtel was one of the guitarists members of The Section would regularly cross paths with in the booming Southern California studio scene, another was David Lindley. Each would work from time to time with players from the band.
Hired by Zevon to work on an Everly Brothers album and supporting tour, Wachtel became known for his session chops and was soon doing everything from playing for and producing other artists and doing soundtrack work. Over the years, he would play an important role in the studio or on the road with everyone from Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks to Zevon and Linda Ronstadt and even Keith Richards and The X-Pensive Winos. It was Wachtel’s guitar work — in part, on Zevon’s Excitable Boy which was co-produced by Wachtel and Jackson Browne — that caught the attention of Richards as the Stones were huge fans of the album.
Following their debut in 2018, Honey Don’t Leave LA (Vivid Sound Corp), the band put out a second full-length release, Turn It Up To 10 (Vivid) and an EP, Slipin’ & Sliding, each in 2020.