His playing on such Nelson hits as "Travelin' Man" began attracting wider notice, and he found opportunities to branch out into studio work with artists such as Johnny Rivers.

For the next ten years, he was considered a "first-call" bassist among Los Angeles studio musicians[4] (known as The Wrecking Crew), and he worked with well-known producers such as Lou Adler and Bones Howe, frequently in combination with drummer Hal Blaine and keyboardist Larry Knechtel—the combination of Blaine, Osborn and Knechtel have been referred to as the Hollywood Golden Trio.

[5] His bass can be heard on many of the hit records cut in Los Angeles during that time, along with numerous film scores and television commercials.

A song featuring prominently mixed bass in melodic counterpoint to acoustic guitars is the 1972 hit single "Ventura Highway" by the group America.

Osborn played on many of Neil Diamond's major hits in the late 1960s and early to middle 1970s, including the hauntingly unique bass lines on "Holly Holy" in 1969.

He continued an active studio career, playing behind such vocalists as Kenny Rogers, Mel Tillis, and Hank Williams, Jr. One count listed Osborn as bassist on fifty-three number one hits on the country charts and at least 197 that were in the top 40's.

Joe continued to inspire and work in the studio locally through May 2017, with his most recent credit being given on the album by Micah and the Jazzgrass Apocalypse which was released in August 2018.