Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesEmil Richards, a renowned percussionist and vibraphone player who was part of the famed Los Angeles session-musician collective The Wrecking Crew, died Friday at the age of 87.
Richards’ passing was announced by his daughter, Camille Radocchia Hecks, on her Facebook page.
“My Dad had a saying ‘As in music, as in life,'” Hecks wrote. “He lived and loved as he played: fully, deeply, with endless creativity, humor, discipline and spirituality. He never missed a beat. As Emil would say ‘Good Vibes!'”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the many famous artists with whom Richards worked include Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, George Harrison, The Beach Boys, Joni Mitchell, Michael Jackson, Linda Ronstadt, The Carpenters, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, The Monkees, Harry Nilsson, Burt Bacharach, Glen Campbell, Frank Zappa, Dave Mason, and Judy Garland.
Richards also is featured on the famous theme songs to such TV shows as Mission: Impossible, The Addams Family and The Simpsons, and he contributed to the soundtracks of dozens of films, including, the original Planet of the Apes movies, The French Connection, Dirty Harry, Chinatown, Jaws, Taxi Driver, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Toy Story, Spider-Man 2 and Ratatouille.
In addition, Richards was part of the orchestra at more than two dozen Oscar ceremonies.
In a 1982 interview with Modern Drummer magazine, Richards said about his passion for percussion, “Even though I’ve got over 600 instruments in my collection, I could happily spend the rest of my life just shaking a tin can.”
He added, “You have to be a student until you die because your whole lifetime spent trying to be proficient is not enough.”
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