Lawrence William “Larry” Knechtel was born August 4, 1940 in Bell, California. He was a keyboard player and bassist, best known as a member of the Wrecking Crew, a collection of Los Angeles-based session musicians who worked with artists such as Simon & Garfunkel, the Beach Boys, the Mamas & the Papas, the Monkees, the Doors, Jerry Garcia, Elvis Presley, and as a member of Bread to play bass and keyboards.

He began studying piano at a young age (he had perfect pitch) and was drawn to R&B and rock & roll via radio and his own experiments with electronics.

In the late 1950s, he joined the rock & roll scene: in 1957 he played with Kip Tyler & the Flips, and in 1959 he joined guitarist Duane Eddy’s band The Rebels.

Larry became part of the Los Angeles session musician scene, working with Phil Spector as a pianist to help create his “Wall of Sound”. In 1970 Knechtel won a Grammy Award for his iconic and haunting piano work on “Bridge over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel.

Larry was entered into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007.

He died on August 20, 2009, in Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, Washington, at the age of 69 of a heart attack. He is buried at Maple Falls Cemetery in Maple Falls, Washington.

Notable Albums Larry Played on Include:

Mr. Tambourine Man – The Byrds
Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys
The Doors – The Doors
Elvis Presley – Elvis Presley
Sounds of Silence, Bookends, Bridge over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel
The Mamas and the Papas – The Mamas and the Papas
Mighty Like A Rose – Elvis Costello
Paul Simon – Paul Simon
Dream A Little Dream – Cass Elliott
Harry – Harry Nilsson

Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital
2811 Tieton Dr
Yakima WA 98902