Hey Denny! Just wanted to ask, do you have any special moments or memories from the recording/writing of Red Rose Speedway? My favorite Wings album! You’re the best thanks Denny!
Will
HI Will, sure plenty of fond moments….we recorded at several studios and also worked with Glynn Johns on several tracks….we had a lot of fun doing things like switching instruments….henry played drums, I played , bass, which I dont really play, sax, and trumpet. It was a lot of fun and we were becoming a real band, and had history together…I could go on and on, but it was a great time
I’m wondering if you’ve heard/seen Ardy Saraff’s Paul McCartney’s tribute performances as Wingsband. Wingsband is basically the A-list Beatles tribute band Fab Four doing an all-Wings set.
yes in fact I played with them at the Grove in Anaheim for an event and also at the Hollywood Bowl. sat in for a few tunes and they are very good. I’m not a fan of tribute bands in general, but there seems to be a need for them.
For me, the creative of part of making the music come to life is the magic of it all…..repeating someone’s parts does not interest me …..
Denny, I was wondering if I hear you singing anywhere on Ram or any of Paul’s early songs. Often, he has some spoken word stuff and was thinking maybe you had some presence there. Also, was listening to “Wide Prarie” today and thought maybe you had played on some of those songs as well.
I did not sing on Ram at all, but did a few background vocals on Red Rose Speedway. Little lamb dragonfly is the trackk where I can be heard best…although my voice is more like a fog horn than a singer’s voice. I did play
on Wild Prarie…you have a good ear….
I read somewhere you wrote a bit of Little Lamb Dragonfly. It’s honestly a really nice, delicate piece, one of my favorites. Have you ever performed that live? For whatever reason I always thought it sounded more like a RAM song than a Red Rose Speedway song. Just the personal quality of the recording I guess. Thanks, great website you have.
I wouldn’t be so bold as to say that i WRPTE apart of it,, but I did help Paul complete some of the song one day while we were at Trident studios in London, by finishing some background vocal parts. I guess that is writing , but really nothing as creative as the main lyric Little lamb Dragonfly was written for the Rupert the Bear cartoon that Paul wanted to make into a film one day….WE have never performed it live….it is a great song, and needs to be in a set …dont forget to peek in on MUSINQ.com….our new lineup is complete with Davey Johnstone ( Elton John band), Steve Porcaro, studio- Toto, as well as
soundtrack composer, Lee Sklar (everyone)…Lenny Castro studio ( everyone)
and yours truly…Our new launch is right around the corner…tell your friends to check in and ask questions of the PROS….
Glyn Johns is just one of the great producers you have worked with during your career, you probably learned a lot about musical productions as well. Did it help while working on your side projects?
Glyn got one of the best drum sounds I ever had, and yes I learned a bunch from his production techniques, but Paul taught me more than any of the producers I worked with and some were greats….like Andrew Oldham, Leon Russell , Richard Perry,Phil Ramone, Brooks Arthur, Desmond Childs and so many more….
When Paul last played in São Paulo/Brazil (2010) he told he was surprised on how Brazilian (and south American) fans responded to Wings songs. Did you have the chance to visit South America or plan to do that?
I would LOVE to come to Brazil again…I was there in 1963 with a Navy Band….we were in Salvador, Bahia, Recife, Rio, Puerto Allegre , and it was one of my fondest memories. The Music absolutely influenced my rock drumming.
I am known as a drummer that specializes in Brazilian music, and if you tell your fans to go to my website.www.dennyseiwell.com, they can buy my trio(Denny Seiwell Trio) CD “Reckless Abandon”, which is also on itunes….we do quite a few tunes with the bossa . / samba influence. I played with AStrud Gilberto back in 1970 just before meeting Paul, and Brazilian music is always a part of me…I’d drop everything to come to Brazil to play music…
the trio is made up of Joe Bagg on organ, John Chiodini on guitar and me….we have a facebook page dennyseiwelltrio…plz tell your friends to visit it, and the 1st cd is available on itunes,….we are starting our 2nd cd very soon. we thought it would be a good idea to use some McCartney tunes since I am known as his drummer …so we do oour versions of Coming Up, DEar Friend, Bip Bop, Loup, and Every Nite on the Reckless Abandon cd.
if you go to youtube, and type in Denny Seiwell Trio Live at Vitello’s, you can see 4 or 5 clips of the band playing live….enjoy
I’ll certainly share this with brazilian fans, really is great stuff. The versions you made were beatiful. Well, thanks for your time, Denny, hope someday you make that recording trip to Rio that Wings were planing before choosing Lagos. C’mon, I Know that is the real reason you decided to leave Wings! You’re always welcome in Brazil, and was an honor to interview you. Any last words for the readers of Wings Over Brazil?
glad you like our versions of Paul MCCartney tunes….with a Brazilian flare….we are about to record our next CD which will include a tune called “Curumim” one of my favorite tunes…go to youtube and type in Denny Seiwell trio Live at Vitellos to see videos of the band and hear Curumim as well…
Hi Denny, would like to start knowing your thoughts about the most recent facts involving Wings.
Henry’s family and friends are preparing a benefit concert to help in his treatment. I must admit I started thinking in a possibility to see you, Denny Laine and Paul at stage together, again. Is this something possible? Not exactly a Wings reunion, but kind of “hey, this guys were part of WIngs and now there are playng this Elvis song together.” Do you think it will ever happen?
Paul McCartney is reissuing his after-Beatles albuns, including Wings ones. Are you involved with this process? Do you have some rare Wings material that intend to release someday too? It would be nice to watch more live concerts, there are some bootlegs with good quality but most of the don’t have video.
Still talking about bootlegs, do you download some of them secretely?
Thanks for your question. I don’t know of anything being planned regarding a benefit for Henry. I doubt that the remaining Wings would play together even for an event like a benefit for Henry’s treatment..But you never know.
I am not involved with the releases of Paul’s past albums, however I did quite a few interviews about the re-issue of the RAM album. I do not have any rare stuff that I could release, and if did would need Paul’s permission anyway, and I do not download bootlegs….once in a while a fan sends me a bootleg copy of a show from one of our tours, but that is about it. Facebook has clips every once on a while.
It seems that this is the moment of big bands reunion tour. What do you think about that? Is this relevant or whatever happened in the past should stay there?
I don’t think so….I talked to Paul about a Wings reunion shortly after Linda passed, and he was into it for the moment, but after thinking about it, he said ” doing a wings reunion without linda, would be like doing a beatles reunion without john…i’m pretty sure he still feels that way
Well, I agree with you and Paul.
Talking about the albuns, Red Rose Speedway didn’t have that “one-take recording” of Wild Life, but still sound like a simple and beatifull album (one of my favorites, by the way). When recording RAM you told once that you felt that it was a great album and the songs would be heard 50 years ahead. What were your impressions while recording Red Rose Speedway? Did you felt that it was part of something big, whitout knowing that Wings would close the 70′s as one of the most important bands of that period?
While we were doing RR Speedway, it was supposed to be a double album, and the material was great, but not as great as Ram in my opinion, and the band had become a better band after the time on tour etc…It was a good record, but lacked something that the Ram album had. We also used Glyn Johns on some of the tracks for RR Speedway , which was really nice. It didn’t work out to have Glyn produce all of the tracks tho…unfortunately. I loved his production.
I didn’t think that Wings would become as big as we did in that period of music history..
Donald Burkhardt
February 13, 2013
Hi Denny, On “Hi Hi Hi” do you recall I Paul said “polygon” or “body gun”?
Thanks John…yes a few memories of Glyn….His drum sound was one of the very best, and he only used 3 microphones on my drums…it was awesome. LOved his dedication to making it sound real…I met George during the Live and Let Die session, and was awe struck with the way he carried himself. A true English Gentleman , with a knowledge of music and orchestration that was superior. Paul and George made a great team when it came to orchestrations…Paul without music knowledge first hand would “voice ” different sections of the piece by playing the harmonies and voicings on the piano , and George would put them all together in the arrangement. I am Glad to have witnessed that very special collaboration…
HI Dominique……yes I was with Paul just after Ram, and maybe even during the forming of Wings when I recorded and produce several tracks with Billy. I’m not really sure of the exact time…. Michael Lang of Woodstock fame asked me to produce Billy. He sent me a demo of Billy…voice and piano….it was incredible, and I knew he would be a major force in the music world…both as a writer and performer. He really had it !!! As I recall we were setting up more dates to record, when Paul sent a message to me that I was needed in London to record HiHiHi.. so I left the project to get back to work with Wings. Billy was far above any of the new acts and some established ones of the time, and I’m proud to have been a part of his debut album Cold Spring Harbor, where some of my production and drumming took place.
Thanks John….actually I haven’t but it has been suggested many times….I am keeping a chronological record of stories and memories for when the time comes…before the memory fails…..
best, denny
Hi Denny,
Another question for you about RAM. I read a comment by you that you weren’t there for the ‘sweetening dates’ at A&R Studios in New York. Do you mean you were not there for all the sessions or only the overdub sessions with the New York Philharmonic? If you were there for some sessions what do you remember about A&R? Take care, Edward
actually Edward…I wasn”t there for any of the “sweetening” sessions at A&R. I was back to my daily grind of session work from 9am until late at nite as soon as I finished with Paul. I didn’t get to hear the finished record until it was sent to me . We did have several dinners to kind of celebrate , but didn’t really hear any finished product until it was finished., mixed ,mastered…. and pressed.
Hi Denny,
What do you remember about Paul working together with producer Jim Guercio at New York A&R Studios? Do you know why their working relationship didn’t work out? Were you in the studio with Paul for the whole period at A&R in January and February of 1971?
It was in LA that Paul & Jim Guercio and I finished the track Dear Boy, and maybe 1 other track at Armin Steiner’s studio…Sound Recorders. I am not sure why, but Paul didn’t like some of Jim’s ideas as to recording techniques, and
we finished our recording in LA without him. Thanks for the question
Thanks for your answer. What do you remember about the recording sessions at A&R in January and February 1971? Were you there the whole 6/7 weeks or on and off? I know that Hugh McCracken was not there, having finished his recording with Paul at CBS in November 1970… Were you present during the orchestral overdubs for Back Seat, Uncle Albert and Long Haired Lady?
My memories of LA were that we spent maybe a week or two in LA working at Armin Steiner’s studio Sound Labs.I was the only musician form NY that Paul brought out . We attended the Grammys with the McCartneys during that period…that was awesome. The Beatles got a Grammy for Let It Be..it was my only time at a grammy ceremony. again I was not present for any of the orchestral sweetening dates, but knew and worked with all of the players , so I was constantly hearing about the dates….everyone loved the dates and the way Paul conducted the overdubs.
Dear Denny:
Do you remember songs recorded by Wings (in studio, rehearsals or live)but that never were released on records?
Thanks for your answer.
GRACIAS ! ! !
Hi Denny, do you remember something about the song SOMETIME, SUNSHINE during the RAM sessions? Since I could hear a rhythm box or something, I wonder if you played on that track (maybe some percussion).
I kind oif remember using some African drums and clicking on the rims with a wooden stick….we built that track as we went, but basic was done with everyone playing at the same time and then a few overdubs to complete it.
thanks for the question Luca
Questions
Hey Denny! Just wanted to ask, do you have any special moments or memories from the recording/writing of Red Rose Speedway? My favorite Wings album! You’re the best thanks Denny!
Will
HI Will, sure plenty of fond moments….we recorded at several studios and also worked with Glynn Johns on several tracks….we had a lot of fun doing things like switching instruments….henry played drums, I played , bass, which I dont really play, sax, and trumpet. It was a lot of fun and we were becoming a real band, and had history together…I could go on and on, but it was a great time
Hi Denny
I’m wondering if you’ve heard/seen Ardy Saraff’s Paul McCartney’s tribute performances as Wingsband. Wingsband is basically the A-list Beatles tribute band Fab Four doing an all-Wings set.
Here’s a clip of “Jet”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW1rHMkP1j0
What do you think of Tribute bands in general?
yes in fact I played with them at the Grove in Anaheim for an event and also at the Hollywood Bowl. sat in for a few tunes and they are very good. I’m not a fan of tribute bands in general, but there seems to be a need for them.
For me, the creative of part of making the music come to life is the magic of it all…..repeating someone’s parts does not interest me …..
Denny, I was wondering if I hear you singing anywhere on Ram or any of Paul’s early songs. Often, he has some spoken word stuff and was thinking maybe you had some presence there. Also, was listening to “Wide Prarie” today and thought maybe you had played on some of those songs as well.
Thanks Denny. ‘Ve always been a huge fan
John
Hi John,
I did not sing on Ram at all, but did a few background vocals on Red Rose Speedway. Little lamb dragonfly is the trackk where I can be heard best…although my voice is more like a fog horn than a singer’s voice. I did play
on Wild Prarie…you have a good ear….
I read somewhere you wrote a bit of Little Lamb Dragonfly. It’s honestly a really nice, delicate piece, one of my favorites. Have you ever performed that live? For whatever reason I always thought it sounded more like a RAM song than a Red Rose Speedway song. Just the personal quality of the recording I guess. Thanks, great website you have.
I wouldn’t be so bold as to say that i WRPTE apart of it,, but I did help Paul complete some of the song one day while we were at Trident studios in London, by finishing some background vocal parts. I guess that is writing , but really nothing as creative as the main lyric Little lamb Dragonfly was written for the Rupert the Bear cartoon that Paul wanted to make into a film one day….WE have never performed it live….it is a great song, and needs to be in a set …dont forget to peek in on MUSINQ.com….our new lineup is complete with Davey Johnstone ( Elton John band), Steve Porcaro, studio- Toto, as well as
soundtrack composer, Lee Sklar (everyone)…Lenny Castro studio ( everyone)
and yours truly…Our new launch is right around the corner…tell your friends to check in and ask questions of the PROS….
Glyn Johns is just one of the great producers you have worked with during your career, you probably learned a lot about musical productions as well. Did it help while working on your side projects?
Glyn got one of the best drum sounds I ever had, and yes I learned a bunch from his production techniques, but Paul taught me more than any of the producers I worked with and some were greats….like Andrew Oldham, Leon Russell , Richard Perry,Phil Ramone, Brooks Arthur, Desmond Childs and so many more….
When Paul last played in São Paulo/Brazil (2010) he told he was surprised on how Brazilian (and south American) fans responded to Wings songs. Did you have the chance to visit South America or plan to do that?
I would LOVE to come to Brazil again…I was there in 1963 with a Navy Band….we were in Salvador, Bahia, Recife, Rio, Puerto Allegre , and it was one of my fondest memories. The Music absolutely influenced my rock drumming.
I am known as a drummer that specializes in Brazilian music, and if you tell your fans to go to my website.www.dennyseiwell.com, they can buy my trio(Denny Seiwell Trio) CD “Reckless Abandon”, which is also on itunes….we do quite a few tunes with the bossa . / samba influence. I played with AStrud Gilberto back in 1970 just before meeting Paul, and Brazilian music is always a part of me…I’d drop everything to come to Brazil to play music…
Would be happy to help you packing to play in Brazil again. Until that happen, tell more about Denny Seiwell Trio and your plans for 2013.
the trio is made up of Joe Bagg on organ, John Chiodini on guitar and me….we have a facebook page dennyseiwelltrio…plz tell your friends to visit it, and the 1st cd is available on itunes,….we are starting our 2nd cd very soon. we thought it would be a good idea to use some McCartney tunes since I am known as his drummer …so we do oour versions of Coming Up, DEar Friend, Bip Bop, Loup, and Every Nite on the Reckless Abandon cd.
if you go to youtube, and type in Denny Seiwell Trio Live at Vitello’s, you can see 4 or 5 clips of the band playing live….enjoy
I’ll certainly share this with brazilian fans, really is great stuff. The versions you made were beatiful. Well, thanks for your time, Denny, hope someday you make that recording trip to Rio that Wings were planing before choosing Lagos. C’mon, I Know that is the real reason you decided to leave Wings! You’re always welcome in Brazil, and was an honor to interview you. Any last words for the readers of Wings Over Brazil?
glad you like our versions of Paul MCCartney tunes….with a Brazilian flare….we are about to record our next CD which will include a tune called “Curumim” one of my favorite tunes…go to youtube and type in Denny Seiwell trio Live at Vitellos to see videos of the band and hear Curumim as well…
Hi Denny, would like to start knowing your thoughts about the most recent facts involving Wings.
Henry’s family and friends are preparing a benefit concert to help in his treatment. I must admit I started thinking in a possibility to see you, Denny Laine and Paul at stage together, again. Is this something possible? Not exactly a Wings reunion, but kind of “hey, this guys were part of WIngs and now there are playng this Elvis song together.” Do you think it will ever happen?
Paul McCartney is reissuing his after-Beatles albuns, including Wings ones. Are you involved with this process? Do you have some rare Wings material that intend to release someday too? It would be nice to watch more live concerts, there are some bootlegs with good quality but most of the don’t have video.
Still talking about bootlegs, do you download some of them secretely?
Thanks for your question. I don’t know of anything being planned regarding a benefit for Henry. I doubt that the remaining Wings would play together even for an event like a benefit for Henry’s treatment..But you never know.
I am not involved with the releases of Paul’s past albums, however I did quite a few interviews about the re-issue of the RAM album. I do not have any rare stuff that I could release, and if did would need Paul’s permission anyway, and I do not download bootlegs….once in a while a fan sends me a bootleg copy of a show from one of our tours, but that is about it. Facebook has clips every once on a while.
It seems that this is the moment of big bands reunion tour. What do you think about that? Is this relevant or whatever happened in the past should stay there?
I don’t think so….I talked to Paul about a Wings reunion shortly after Linda passed, and he was into it for the moment, but after thinking about it, he said ” doing a wings reunion without linda, would be like doing a beatles reunion without john…i’m pretty sure he still feels that way
Well, I agree with you and Paul.
Talking about the albuns, Red Rose Speedway didn’t have that “one-take recording” of Wild Life, but still sound like a simple and beatifull album (one of my favorites, by the way). When recording RAM you told once that you felt that it was a great album and the songs would be heard 50 years ahead. What were your impressions while recording Red Rose Speedway? Did you felt that it was part of something big, whitout knowing that Wings would close the 70′s as one of the most important bands of that period?
While we were doing RR Speedway, it was supposed to be a double album, and the material was great, but not as great as Ram in my opinion, and the band had become a better band after the time on tour etc…It was a good record, but lacked something that the Ram album had. We also used Glyn Johns on some of the tracks for RR Speedway , which was really nice. It didn’t work out to have Glyn produce all of the tracks tho…unfortunately. I loved his production.
I didn’t think that Wings would become as big as we did in that period of music history..
Hi Denny, On “Hi Hi Hi” do you recall I Paul said “polygon” or “body gun”?
it was polygon….which was why the bbc banned it in the uk…they heard body gub as well
Hello Denny
In june 1972, you were in Spain, near Benidorm to rehearse. Was it like holiday before the tour ? Was it fun ?
Thanks
right …dom…we went to a town near alicante i think…it was more vacation than anything, and yes it was fun…
Hello Denny
Do you remember if you came to California with Wings in february 1972 to record some songs for the “Red Rose Speedway” sessions ?
Thanks
HI Dom…no we did not record anything in california after the Ram album…Red Rose Speedway was all done in UK
Hi Denny,
Were there any lasting impressions working with Glyn Johns and George Martin?
Thanks John…yes a few memories of Glyn….His drum sound was one of the very best, and he only used 3 microphones on my drums…it was awesome. LOved his dedication to making it sound real…I met George during the Live and Let Die session, and was awe struck with the way he carried himself. A true English Gentleman , with a knowledge of music and orchestration that was superior. Paul and George made a great team when it came to orchestrations…Paul without music knowledge first hand would “voice ” different sections of the piece by playing the harmonies and voicings on the piano , and George would put them all together in the arrangement. I am Glad to have witnessed that very special collaboration…
Hello Denny and happy Holydays.
Do you remember when you work on the first Billy Joel’s album ?
Should be in 1971. Was it before you joined Wings.
Did you have the feeling he would make a great career like he did ?
Thanks.
HI Dominique……yes I was with Paul just after Ram, and maybe even during the forming of Wings when I recorded and produce several tracks with Billy. I’m not really sure of the exact time…. Michael Lang of Woodstock fame asked me to produce Billy. He sent me a demo of Billy…voice and piano….it was incredible, and I knew he would be a major force in the music world…both as a writer and performer. He really had it !!! As I recall we were setting up more dates to record, when Paul sent a message to me that I was needed in London to record HiHiHi.. so I left the project to get back to work with Wings. Billy was far above any of the new acts and some established ones of the time, and I’m proud to have been a part of his debut album Cold Spring Harbor, where some of my production and drumming took place.
Hi Denny,
Have you written an auto biography? If not, will you consider writing one?
Thanks John….actually I haven’t but it has been suggested many times….I am keeping a chronological record of stories and memories for when the time comes…before the memory fails…..
best, denny
Hi Denny,
Another question for you about RAM. I read a comment by you that you weren’t there for the ‘sweetening dates’ at A&R Studios in New York. Do you mean you were not there for all the sessions or only the overdub sessions with the New York Philharmonic? If you were there for some sessions what do you remember about A&R? Take care, Edward
actually Edward…I wasn”t there for any of the “sweetening” sessions at A&R. I was back to my daily grind of session work from 9am until late at nite as soon as I finished with Paul. I didn’t get to hear the finished record until it was sent to me . We did have several dinners to kind of celebrate , but didn’t really hear any finished product until it was finished., mixed ,mastered…. and pressed.
Hi Denny,
What do you remember about Paul working together with producer Jim Guercio at New York A&R Studios? Do you know why their working relationship didn’t work out? Were you in the studio with Paul for the whole period at A&R in January and February of 1971?
It was in LA that Paul & Jim Guercio and I finished the track Dear Boy, and maybe 1 other track at Armin Steiner’s studio…Sound Recorders. I am not sure why, but Paul didn’t like some of Jim’s ideas as to recording techniques, and
we finished our recording in LA without him. Thanks for the question
Thanks for your answer. What do you remember about the recording sessions at A&R in January and February 1971? Were you there the whole 6/7 weeks or on and off? I know that Hugh McCracken was not there, having finished his recording with Paul at CBS in November 1970… Were you present during the orchestral overdubs for Back Seat, Uncle Albert and Long Haired Lady?
My memories of LA were that we spent maybe a week or two in LA working at Armin Steiner’s studio Sound Labs.I was the only musician form NY that Paul brought out . We attended the Grammys with the McCartneys during that period…that was awesome. The Beatles got a Grammy for Let It Be..it was my only time at a grammy ceremony. again I was not present for any of the orchestral sweetening dates, but knew and worked with all of the players , so I was constantly hearing about the dates….everyone loved the dates and the way Paul conducted the overdubs.
Dear Denny:
Do you remember songs recorded by Wings (in studio, rehearsals or live)but that never were released on records?
Thanks for your answer.
GRACIAS ! ! !
Not Really Cesar…all of the songs made it at sometime….sorry , but thanks for the question
Hi Denny, do you remember something about the song SOMETIME, SUNSHINE during the RAM sessions? Since I could hear a rhythm box or something, I wonder if you played on that track (maybe some percussion).
I kind oif remember using some African drums and clicking on the rims with a wooden stick….we built that track as we went, but basic was done with everyone playing at the same time and then a few overdubs to complete it.
thanks for the question Luca