September 21, 2022 • 42 mins
As bandleader for David Letterman’s late-night shows, Paul Shaffer has played with a constellation of musical stars, and played the walk-on music to bring Martha on-stage for nearly 50 appearances. Listen as they trade stories about near-disasters, James Brown’s hairdryer, and what it’s like to be “the greatest sidekick in television.”
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you had uttered one thing that Dave gave an idea,
he would change the whole show. Let's cancel that, let's
Martha said that. Let's bring in a horse, can we?
How fast can we get a horse? And everything would
just change on the drop of a dime, or whatever
you said. I don't know if the other shows really
are like that. Paul Shaffer is best known as the
(00:23):
musical director, Band leader and sidekick for both David Letterman's
late night talk shows, which ran from two to two
thousand and fifteen. Outside of television, Paul is a talented singer,
a composer, an actor and a comedian. Paul and I
got to know each other during my close to fifty appearances.
Can you believe that with David Letterman over the years?
(00:46):
Some Call Paul the greatest sidekick and television and it's
a pleasure to have him here with me at my farm.
Welcome to my podcast, Paul. Martha, I couldn't be more
thrilled to be here at your modest little pad that
you have up here. It's absolutely fantastic and I was
just saying that I'm thrilled to see that all the
(01:07):
buildings are in Bedford Gray, so I can confirm that. Yes,
she actually does use the color exclusively. Now it brings
me to a question, and I know I realized not
my show. You could ask me all the questions. It's
been fascinating me since I read that you have opened
a restaurant on the Strip in Las Vegas called the Bedford. Exactly. Yeah, well,
(01:28):
first question. Is it Bedford Gray? Much of the Interior
is Bedford. It's a replica of my house, my house
that you haven't come in yet. You you were invited
for coffee, but we we kind of ran out of time.
You'll come back up there. Thank you, Um. But yeah,
it's a it's a really fun project and I would
love to replicate a smaller version of it here in Bedford, Bedford,
(01:52):
but I don't know if that will happen. Happen or not.
What kind of menu is it? Oh, it's all my recipes.
It's recipes that you would love, recipes that I've served
at my homes forever, all perfected for restaurants service, of course.
And Uh, and it's doing well. Yelp gave it five stars. Yeah,
we're all exciting. Anyway, congratulations on thank you. Well, anyway,
(02:16):
I just want you to know that, Um, the greatest
sidekick in television. How did your tenure with David Letterman, who,
by the way, is and was my favorite late night host,
and I shouldn't really say that out loud, but but
you know, I love all the other guys too, but
my favorite thing to do is David Letterman. I always
had fun, I always loved seeing you and your and
(02:39):
your band and I always, I always talked to you
and I always waved to you and, yeah, and your
music was always just like, so invigorating and so uh,
such a great introduction to each segment on David Letterman.
So Um, so it was. We probably played you on
with Martha, my idea, by the sometimes you did dolls. Yes, well,
(03:01):
you know, ob but how did your tenure with David Begin?
This is a long story. Just like you, it was.
It was so much fun because he, I agree with you,
although he and I both idolized Johnny Carson, of course,
and that was David's model and he didn't make any
secret of that. Johnny showed us all how to do it,
(03:21):
but David, I think, in combining it with him, more
of a Saturday night live type of nuttiness. Um, took
it to another level. You know, I never got to
be on Johnny Carson, so I never got to experience
that that genius. I was on Merv Griffin, which was
like the competitor to to Johnny. But but I regret
(03:43):
that so much because I loved watching his show too.
And what we what do, he used to say, and
it was true, if you watched it, was that, uh,
if he made his guests look good, people would be
talking about his show the next day. You know, did
you see who Johnny had on that? And to him
that was the key, of course, so important. And the
key is of those late night hosts and make the
(04:03):
guests look good, sound interesting, make sure that they're promoting
their latest work and uh, and I it's a hard
job because because you have to, you have you do
have to make them look good and David always made
me look good and we always had fun and I think,
I think he helped really build my brand in his way.
(04:24):
That's nice of you to say he would be proud
and thrilled and I think it's true too. You were
such a presence on the show. You were his certainly
one of his favorites, his favorite, but you were his
favorite sidekicks. Well, you know, he just Um, are you
the first really famous band leader or what's the genre?
(04:46):
Look back and when we see you know, Johnny Carson's
last was doc Stevenson, but before that, who did he have?
He had got sketched Henderson. These guys all had names because,
after all, they were on every every single night. But
I want to be not I sort of was sketch
and ed at the same time, because he didn't have
(05:07):
an ED, he didn't have an announcer sitting white by.
So I used to say I'm a combination doc and ED, I. E. Dead.
But that was just a terrible joke and I'm still here. Um.
So I got to talk and I got to banter
with him, as they say. It wasn't written in the script.
As a matter of fact, the first time I tried
(05:28):
to say something on my mic it wasn't even turned.
I had to go to the engineer and say, you know,
you should turn my microphone. Well, I don't think they
wanted on while I had to of course they wanted on.
I had to get sort through that and when I
got it on and finally said a couple of things,
David was very encouraging and he said he did more
of that. That was funny and I used to know
(05:50):
what was this two when? Okay, so that was that
was on. That was on NBC. You followed. You were
the late, late show, after the late we were. We
were called the late show because Johnny was called it
tonight night show. That we followed Johnny. We were the late. No,
we were called late night, late night with David. Let
him in, late night with David, and that's what the
(06:12):
Seth Seth is doing. Now. Seth Myers has that and
he follows Mr Fallon, who, of course is doing the
tonight show. So we were the late show. David wanted
that tonight show really badly. I remember that, and he
deserved it. And then all of a sudden this upstart
called Jay Leno gets the job. Why? What happened there? Um,
(06:35):
we were there. You were there. Well, I was there.
I wasn't really privy to all those things. I did
see that crazy movie that they made about the late show.
Wars Um awfully accurate. I thought it was what I knew,
except Dave said they had a scene of me throwing
a football at a target. Who would ever throw a
(06:58):
football at a tar you throw your bowling Arrow order talk.
That's what really upset Him. I don't not throw a
football otherwise. But didn't you throw eggs into a fan? Well,
and I stood in front of the damn. Oh you did,
and you got eggs. You Got Egg on your face,
egg on my face, literally, and I had to be
a good spot, but really I was just soaking and
(07:20):
wanted to get out of that thing. But got a
big laugh, of course. That's when I started to realize.
You know, right there, Jeez, if you you know, if
the people laugh, it's a good feeling, it sure is.
And especially at late night when you've had a hard,
horrible day, you get into bed and you turn on
the TV and you want to be entertained. And you
guys were the ultimate entertainers, I mean really, and you
(07:43):
were a part of it too, and Dave. What Dave
wanted from a guest to someone who was dependable and
would come on with having done a little preparation. That's
all he asked. And of course you were prepared. Well,
I was always over prepared. Do you remember? I got
cream all over Dave's suit? Well, he wasn't crazy about that,
I know, but they said I could do it. The
(08:03):
producers said I could do it and I think I
was the first person allowed to sully his outfit. You
may have been the first and last probably. It just
strucks me you're talking late show and stuff. I've got
a story about King Charles, our current king, the new
King of England. He was prince then. Right, okay, so
(08:25):
telling us what I mean. Well, it was right in
the eighties, after the led him in show had started
and I had to ask day for a day off
because I got invited to when when it was Prince
Charles and lady die they were in Vancouver, BC, Canada,
opening the world's fair, and the two guys in the
Prime Minister's office were let him in fans and they
(08:48):
said Paul's Canadian, let's send him an invitation just for
kids whose I accepted it and Dave gave me the
day off and I was calling in. I think you
know a Dave. I forgot my formal socks, my silk socks.
I've got to go shopping for them. No, nobody ever.
My Dad taught me that. And and the Prince and
the princess were there and they were there to open
(09:08):
the thing and there was a state dinner and the
guys running at the logistics for them were so thrilled
that I was there. They said we're going to get
you a picture with your Canadian too. So you belonged there.
You were like you were like a favorite son of
Kenna exactly, and I was well, I had a lovely
uh email, a conversation with Justin Trudeau just the other day.
(09:32):
You did, yes, because at all I had to sort
of UH politic him about the we're all conservatory of Music.
Can they have a little more money for their budget
and stuff? And when I wrote in a form letter,
as you know, asked the doctor Simon who runs this
conservative I got a lovely letter right back from the
prime minister, Justin. Of course, his father had been my
prime minister when I was in college here. Trudeau. Anyway,
(09:54):
back to they wanted to get a picture of me
with Lady Dye. They said we're going to get this picture.
I said you don't have to, but I feel a
tap on my shoulder. I'm sitting at the state dinner
with all Canadians, strangers. They said, come with us. They
take us into a room. They take me into a
room where there's a receiving line going on and the
prime minister is introducing the two royals to all of
(10:16):
their all of the premiers of the province. They're like
the governors, I guess, that we have here. So they're
coming down the line and the prime minister and here's
the right honorable premiere of Manitoba. He is, you know,
construct how? Why? And they get to me and it's
Prime Minister Mulrone. He doesn't know who I am and
he looks at me and nobody he doesn't say anything,
(10:38):
and nobody says anything and all I know is you
don't talk and listen until the royals talk. At least
I know that. But nobody was talking, so I had
to talk and I said Hello, your Highness. Um, I'm
Paul Schaeffer from the late night with David Letterman show
from New York. And he said who did it? How late?
I said well, and this is a first, Guy said well,
(11:00):
you know, we followed Johnny Coast at the twelve thirty
and count me out. So there, Martha, was my conversation. Well,
the King, how about that? Now? The King? Yeah, funny,
I was thinking. You know, they said we'll get you
a picture with lady dot because she was, of course,
the big celebrity. Then he should have realized he's going
to be the king. That would have been a shot,
(11:21):
but I do have a shot. How Great? Yes, it
is great. Well, that's a sad story. Hair was as
good as yours. As far as the people who have
the best hair and show, I think it's you, then.
Lady Dot Paul, is totally are you totally bold now? Totally. Well,
but you look great. You Look Great. You know what, Martha,
(11:45):
thanks for saying so I never had the right hair
and when I had here, yeah, and here. You know,
since the Beatles it was always so important for guys,
but this is better for me. Yeah, you look great,
you know, and you were and you don't look exhausted.
I mean, isn't late night just the most Austin thing
on earth? How do you know that? Oh, well, I
worked till late at night. I worked from early Morn
(12:06):
till late at night, so I know how exhausting it
is doing the show every night. I didn't realize it
until it ended and it took me about two years
to get readjusted. My Body clock was such that screwed up.
There was, and there's, a show every time every day.
So five am might be up. Bang. What time is
the show? You know my show time. I'm exhausted. I
(12:28):
was always tired, absolutely just like you said you were.
You rehearsed every day, you and the rehearsal was really,
really important, but also extraordinary. Great production and very little time.
And the only producer I really got to know on
your show was Robert Morton. Yeah, morty or Morty Pie,
(12:48):
he was notorious. Yeah, how how long was he a producer? Well,
quite a few years. He took over as producer just
before we made that big move to CBS, so he
was part of that. So let's go back there first
of all. So what year was it when CB and
when NBC said sorry, Dave, it's going to know, it's
going to Jay left, I think. Well, I think we
(13:08):
were twelve years on CBS, so that would take us
in to about ninety four. Okay, so then they said
no to David and they gave him one more year
and then he moved straight to to CBS in the
time slot, in the time slot that he wanted anyway,
eleven thirty and uh, and that was called. And then
(13:30):
he was followed by Conan, yes, and that's when he
became the late show, late show with David Letterman of
late night, and had beautiful theater, which I loved. I
loved going there because the dressing rooms were so nice
and they each had a private bathroom. You didn't have
to go down the hall and Uh and it was
and there was always nice things to eat and drink
in the in the dressing rooms. Have you. Nonetheless, it
(13:53):
was short of the same way it was when Etzel
and was doing this show. The plumbing was Old New
York kind. That's okay, as long as it worked. Cold
beart show. Yet, Stephen Cole, I love the cold beart show. Yeah,
I do too. Backstage, so and I was, I was
lucky enough to be a guest. Um, it's like a
cool club he's got going on. Yeah, it is. Backstage.
(14:15):
The lighting is yeah, it's so fun. It's so fun.
Bathrooms are now sort of like the Morrigan hotel or something,
you know, everything redesigned. It's amazing. Now. Well, he has
a great taste and he's and he's a funny he's
a fun person to be on with. But the most
fun right now, I would get. Who Do you like now?
I mean who do you watch? You Watch everybody. I
watch a little bit of everything. I missed Conan O'Brien,
(14:36):
to tell you the truth, I loved kind on, you know.
He really was the guy who laughed when things were funny. Yeah,
that's what I well, I got him to dress up
and ride a horse with me. Had put a red
wig on in an open satin shirt and he rode
uh on on my black steed and he was so
he was up for anything. Did you come up here
(14:57):
to do that? Yeah, wow, good for him. He was great.
Red Wig, though his hair is like no, but he
he wanted to. who was he looking like he was?
He was emul emulating Fabio. It's such an obligation to
(15:18):
be a late night host like that and also to
be the sidekick and the musician of the show. So
so it started with it started with Johnny Carson. Did
he bring the music to late night? Is that what
he did? Well, he had a big band, sketch and doc,
whom we were just mentioning. How many? Howe? How many
you have? I had started with four. Yeah, and you
(15:40):
know when I learned afterwards, just from launching those late
night shows, movie about the late night wars and stuff
that Johnny Corson had a meeting with Dave and his
original producer. Said now I want the show to be different.
You can't have the same guests, you can't have dom deloise,
because that's who I had, and David Fine with that.
You know, we want to have our own restaurant and
(16:01):
you can't have a big band. I have a big band.
You'RE gonna have four pieces. So so that's so. Johnny
made a four piece span. That was great with me
because I grew up doing rock and roll bands and
four piece bands and I didn't really wasn't so comfortable
with horns at the time. So this is perfect for me.
And I got three guys who just knew all the
(16:22):
songs that I knew. So if Martha Stewart was got
Markam my dear Rochy of a, and I didn't have
to write it out. We all just bump, Bom, bom boom,
we hit it. You knew it, you knew it. Yeah,
and that that when I had the most fun. So
so now of all the bands, who do who do
you like the most? Now on the late night Z uh?
You know, they're all good for some reason. Of course,
(16:42):
quest love and the roots. Fantastic to see, you know,
them taking really kind of what I did. I I
brought it the thing into the Rock and roller did
they have brought it late night into the hip hop era,
and it's striking. And he with food too. I mean
he writes cookbooks. Now he's he's a he's making a brand.
He's a Foodie, you know, and he was doing it. Well,
(17:04):
you started this whole branding thing, didn't? Well, I'm one
of I'm one of the starters of it. You know,
Pete Davidson, he goes out with Kim Cadati. Well, he did,
he did. That's broken up now. Yeah, but the brand,
oh no, he he is now Pete Davidson. He's Pete Davidson.
All Right, I'm he's he's so cute. He's a he's
(17:26):
a cute, Young, Nice Guy, but but he's uh, Kim Kim,
I think, has moved on, swallowed up by the DASHIANS.
Spit out right. What are you gonna do? Um, so
when you're on Letterman, UM, every night is different and
guests are so different. Who is your favorite guest on Letterman? What? What? What? What?
(17:47):
What are your fondest memories? Of course, you know, as
the band leader, Mike. My thoughts would go to the
music and James Brown. The very first time he did it.
I never got over it and I my little four piece,
but he brought two horns and played with my four
piece ban and we never played so well in our lives.
But once he started singing and dancing and shaking that,
(18:09):
you know what it was just you had to play.
And he did it many times after that and every
time was like a music lesson. So he's charming, isn't he?
He was charming and won a performer and he didn't know.
I mean he couldn't read or write music, but he
just sang. You know, he was singing the hip of
stuff and the band had to just whatever he's sang.
(18:30):
You play, you know, and if he didn't, he find you.
That was, I think, the real deal. If he made
a mistake in James Brown's band, he would find you ten, five,
ten bucks. Yeah, I never got fine, luckily I never got.
You know, he has to see me after the first
time he did play because it was such a smash
and when I went in there knocked on the door,
he was under the hair dryer. Uh, after the show,
(18:54):
with that, with that hairdrew of his yes, but not
a blow dry. I'm talking about a full helmet on
a chair the carriage, right, because he was sweaty or
wouldn't well, his hair all would come down. Yeah, and
it's very important to him. You know, hair got he
used to say, hair and teeth. If you have those
things you can be a star, and I think he
was right. But talking to me under the head right,
he's like he's hard to understand anyway, but with this
(19:20):
I'm down there are, you know, trying to listen to
I was down on my knees in front of him
and it was like he was on a throne and
that hair dryer. But that's the way it should have been,
I really so. Who Else? Who? Um? Well, I mean
when Robin Williams did it, you could relax and you
wouldn't look forward to the show because he you know,
(19:41):
he took over. He was on my show too once
and boy, I mean he just he had the fastest
mind in in the comedy, in the comedy world, the
fastest a computer mind right, yes, and he was like
how on on on the spaceship? Yes, he was. One
thing would set him off and he'd go into a
(20:02):
whole different, whole different Vive and and a different language
and a different accent. And I mean he was the fastest,
but I loved him. I loved him. Do you remember
any disasters on Letterman? Well, sure there were some disasters.
I certainly had my share of disasters. One time, Um
(20:24):
Anthony Newley, whom I loved, and he buto and fool
a man. That's only one of the great as song.
As he wrote it and we had him he was
going to do a big favorite for us and sing
our little theme for the viewer male segment. View a male,
view a male, and then I wrote a little thing
in for him. Everyone laughs, said to view a male clown,
(20:48):
because he was he could just make any but when
when I went into the to the big ending view
a male, I was in the wrong key. I took
him up about a good fourth or fifth higher because
I hadn't written it down. I thought it was so
smart I could just remember and his ear was so
good that he followed me into the Doo key and
saying this note that was higher than any human had everything. Oh,
(21:11):
I felt so bad and after he went off from
backstage and we can swear you could just say this
is what I heard after you went out, saying, Oh
my God, I felt so terrible, but I wrote him
a long letter. You always heard the one you love,
and he he wrote a lovely letter back. There was
my one of my worst is. Let's see, you see
(21:33):
the the ordinary viewer has no idea what goes on
in those shows, how difficult, how difficult and how how
intense they are. They are really just because you're one
hour to get everything in that has to get in
and make everybody look good, sound good, feel good, blah, blah, blah. Right.
I think that you know Martha from doing it so
(21:53):
much that if you had uttered one thing that Dave
gave an idea, he would change the whole show. Let's
cancel that, let's Martha said that. Let's bring in a horse,
can we? How fast can we get a horse? And
everything would just change on the drop of a dime,
or whatever you said. I don't know if the other
shows really are like that. Oh, I loved when you
went to the Delhi. Did you ever go to the Horse? Yes,
(22:15):
Ruper G and May, and they were so great because
they weren't trying to beat yeah, they weren't trying to
be funny on camera or got the laughs, but the
laughs just came naturally and I went. I participated. The
city awarded them a lovely thing. They're being a you know,
a small business, and honor. I was there to honor
Ruper G and May. So what about the Oprah stuff?
(22:39):
That was crazy, wasn't it? Yeah, you know, I don't know.
They didn't always tell me the whole story, but my
recollection is that we were in Chicago doing a week
of shows. Oprah came on and the audience was kind
of mean to her. The audience was waiting for Dave
to insult her, and that's my recollection. And somebody even
(23:01):
said ripper Dave or something like that. Wow, yes, and
it wasn't Dave's fault, and then it just explodes. But
she took it as Dave's fault. Maybe, yeah, maybe. So, yeah,
because I I never knew the story and I was
always wondering why, why? What is this controversy and and
why WON'T OPRAH COME on? David Letterman, yeah, you know,
a good feud as always, as we know from Jack
(23:23):
Benny and Fred Allen. You had a good feud. Is
Worth Ratings. And when they finally did reconcile and I
think they did a super bowl add together. It was fabulous.
Everybody was throwing Leno to everybody was thrilled to see
them all together. But did anybody else in your recollection
refuse to come on your show? Sure people. Some people
were afraid of Dave. They didn't want to come on. Yeah,
(23:44):
kind of a sad story. Come reminds me the Great
Don Everley of the everly brothers did. He just died recently,
like last year, but before the year before I had
done an award show with him in Nashville and he
was talking to me any about his brother. He's still
kind of resented his brother Phil Everley, and said, well,
(24:05):
one of the things he says, you know, he wouldn't
do let him and he wouldn't let us do let him.
When I was dying to do it. He was afraid
day was going to bring up something from our past
and he wouldn't do it. And so there are one
example of people who wouldn't you know, we would have
had a great time playing with the everly pethers. Boy
Did I love the everly brothers growing up. That's high
school music. Wow, they were so, so influential, even on
(24:30):
the Beatles. Yeah, they were Beatles stuff. Yeah, guitars. Some
of those mergey beat guitar stuff that they played came
right from the everly brothers. I loved listening to them
and and I think, I think I actually saw them
play live someplace, someplace in New York. How often do
(24:55):
you see dave now? I seemed quite a bit very
um and I'm very touched by the fact that he
really wants our friendship to continue. So we speak on
the phone often, we get together when we can. Well,
he's live in the same hood. We're basically in the
same hood. Yeah, he's a little bit farther away from
the city and you and I are. I live in
(25:16):
close to you, Martha. Yeah, I know you don't know,
but the people may not know, but that's kind of
an here here right around Bedford, Bedford, uh and Bedford village,
is five little towns that make up Bedford. I don't
think people know that. Cross the River Bedford, Bedford Hills,
Katona and UH, MON CISCO. Yeah, we're all in the
same little area and UH and so dave is up
(25:38):
a little farther north, but I do drive up there
once in a while and we have at dinner and
talk about the old times and the same things, the
same jokes. I still enjoy I'm enjoying all his interviews
that he does too. It's really just really fascinating. So
you're a band leader for for how many years? Then
then with the two net she was thirty three. Thirty three,
(26:02):
that's a lifetime of work, it really is. It is.
And what about your band were? They were all everyone
doing different things. Um, Felicia Collins, my female guitarist, you remember,
spending most of the time with their mother in Albany,
but she and I both sat in with a great
band that we love called King's x during the summer
(26:24):
and I got to see her. Willie von, good looking
bass guitarist, busier than ever worldwide, and then getting on
the Internet and playing Bass for people over the Internet
and everything in between. Some guys kind of retired, other guys, uh,
it never works harder. So Nikki Schwartzberg's my makeup artist
and this is her dad, knows you, very old friend
(26:47):
of mine, Nikki Schwartzberg. She got married, though, didn't? Oh yeah,
she's now. She's now Nicole Toy t o y. She
married this fabulous Chinese hairdresser. Well, Alan, her father was
one of the Great Studio Drummers, having played on so
many records it's hard to count, from tie a yellow
ribbon through the disco era and never can say goodbye.
(27:10):
And he's still playing and he still play and he's
still playing and somebody just sent me a record by Sharone,
the the French drummer, that he and I played on together. Anyway,
he told you know, and I've known both of his daughters,
Nicole and Simona, since they were born, and he told
me what it was like when you came over during
Nicole's house. Do I think that Susan, his wife, cleaned
(27:33):
up a little bit? Oh my God, you before you
got they were they were still cleaning when I got there,
coming to their house. That must have been something. Well,
that embarrasses me when people don't think they have to
clean for me, because I don't care. I'll clean for them,
I know, I will all Polish their corner. But you've
got a brand and a cred you know, and a Rep.
(27:56):
so you grew up in Canada. A lot of show
is comes from Canada. It's funny. A lot of people
come from there. As currently right now with the Saturday
night live wave of comedy. A lot of comics in
that genre. But you started. You were on Saturday night
live also. Yes, what I was as a pianist for
Howard shore. He was the band leader. I was a
(28:18):
writer of special musical material because I knew a lot
of the kids, like Guilda, Belushi, Billy Murray. I knew
them from before. Some of them were Canadians, like Danak right.
I knew very natural for me to start working with
them and writing with them and by the fifth season
I even became a what they call the featured player.
(28:38):
I was in sketches. I was dying to get on
camera all through that time, sneaking on and Lowen was
amazing in that, just the piano player, I had all access.
He would everybody does him now, but he would say, Paul,
come on in, you know it's Paul Simon and on
and Trevy. We're trying to figure out the opening for
(28:58):
next week and I'm just a piano but I'm in
there with them trying to figure that stuff out. It
was it was fantastic. I'll always be great for the Lord. Well,
Chevy is also a neighbor and so you get to
see him off quite a bit and I officiated recently
at his daughter's, his second daughter's wedding. For fifteen dollars
on the Internet, I became a minister and then I
(29:20):
was able to buy a clerical caller for another seven fifty,
I think, and I conducted this wedding and I haven't
played so many weddings as an organist. I knew what
to do. How great it was? Pretty good, of course,
you're very good. What are you talking about? And then
Tom Leopold, who was a friend of a friend of your.
(29:41):
I don't know if she's your Matt Production Manager or
what out here, but he gave me a line to use.
The groom went to Chevy to ask for the bride's
hand and Chevy said Hell, take the whole girl. So
that went over very well. How do I s you're
so you're you're very busy. I mean not like I
was five shows a week. I'll never be that busy,
(30:04):
thank goodness. Yeah, but still keeping up things, doing, Um,
some symphony shows. This is my latest passion. Really like.
What's what's The symphony show? Well, it's when I appeared
with a symphony orchestra. I've done for so far. Started
with the one in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a great symphony. More
(30:24):
recently did Long Beach, California, and I do all pop
stuff in R and B. I started out with Barry White.
Love Unlimited Orchestra. I have the Great Valerie Simpson, who
wrote to you're all I need to get buy and
so many issues. My special guest and that I just
got a new agent and I'm hoping to get some
more bookings. Well, that's very interesting. Yes, I love it.
(30:46):
I'd love you to come. I'd love to if I
play around here. Yeah, it's really a big kick for me.
Can you play a caramore? I would. I would sure
love to do yeah, why haven't you played there? Let's
make a call after them. Well, I'm I'm very friendly
with whole operation there. For for those of you listening,
Karamour is a music festival that is directly across the
(31:07):
street from my driveway and uh and I can just
sit in my yard out of my terrace and listen
to the concerts at night. I can hear them here.
It's so nice, but I do go. Also, living by
the Hollywood bowl. UH, in a way it is um
and they have lovely, lovely performances. I went to hear
Yo Yo Ma this year. That was wonderful. Yo Yoma
(31:28):
is an amazing performer and he was on Letterman a
few times. Quite yeah, very wonderful, wonderful, normal kind of guy,
but he likes all music, which I was really not
just classical. He really loves all kinds of music. and
Uh so, who are your favorite musicians, other than other
than yourself, of course, but who do you who do
you listen to on a regular basis? So many. I
(31:51):
still like listening to the soul music of my youth
and on Saturday and Sunday morning Sun the jazz station
WB G O, they play all soul music and I'm
in heaven, whether it's Wilson Pickett or Salmon Dave or
the supremes, the four tops. I love those voices and
I'm still digging that. That all soul music and still,
(32:13):
you know, in my I do a lot of it
in my symphony show too, and which which is particular
musicians saying the instruments. We just lost Ramsey Lewis last
week and he was a big influence on me in
ninety six, I think, when he came out with instrumental
version of I'm in with the in crowd, playing very
(32:35):
simply and soulfully on the piano, and that's I picked
that up when I was a kid from him. He
was one of my favorites. Um, Jimmy Smith on the organ.
I love the Hammond Jazz Oregan. Um. We lost another
one of those greats to Dr Lonnie Smith. Uh, the
greats are, one by one, leaving US greats of this era,
(32:57):
you know, and and with them I think goes wrong.
Can Roll the shout out to say I think maybe dad. Well,
we have what's coming up. We have hip hop and rap.
I'm listening to rap. Yeah, you know where I listened
to it most? In traffic jams on the on the Sawmill.
You just open your window and every car is playing wrap.
(33:20):
Everybody's wrapping. Kind of might make you too excited and
I want to get out of that traffic, of course.
And you start keeping started, keeping your horn. You're associated
with brings things down at a very relaxed level. Yeah,
he does. He's really we love snoop and and I
just got I just got a picture of you know,
(33:41):
you can't even believe that I'm I'm actually friends with
these people. Okay, I do believe, I know, I really have.
They know how to trick you know when they see
Dre just sent me pictures of his garden yesterday and
the garden is all marijuana and that the largest bushiest
plants I have ever seen. And I asked for the strains.
He didn't send me the names of the strains that
(34:02):
he's growing. But it's so fun to to see what
people do, I mean what you great, great musicians are
up to. And did you watch the Super Bowl with
those guys? Fantastic. Yeah, they were great, right, fantastic. Yeah,
I was out there and listen what, I went to
the Super Bowl. It was a lot of fun. They
adhere to the same principles of show Biz, and they do,
and they're all fine musicians and they know a lot
(34:24):
like you. I mean you know music inside and out,
which is what what astonishes me is that during your
education you really did learn music, you did learn instruments,
you did learn how to play. So who encouraged you
and did you have to? Did you have to persuade
your parents to let you do show Biz? Well, Um,
(34:44):
you know, they were the kind of Jewish parents, even
in northern Ontario, Canada. We had them Thunder Bay, Ontario
and they said that kid is meaning me. He's going
to learn how to play piano if it's the last
thing I do. You know, wanted you to play and
they had a strange duality. They loved show business and
they loved music. My mother show tunes and Chopin and
(35:09):
my dad the greatest jazz vocalist. He really turned me
on to Billy Eckstein and even Ray Charles, my file.
And so they had a secret. You know, boy, if
Paul was ever a musician, but really too far fetched.
They really would have wanted me to have a real profession,
and I was. I graduated from the University of Toronto
and sociology, which leads, you know, not exactly anywhere, but
(35:34):
I said, you know, the sociology is good. I mean
it came in handy, especially I was a band leader.
I absolutely interpersonal relations. Right, sure, but when I said
to my dad, I think I got to take a
year after graduating and just see if I can you
know what music is like, he said, well, you know,
it just doesn't surprise me or your mother, and I
think they were secretly your only child. Yeah, I think
(35:57):
they were secretly thrilled and, of course, very proud of
me when I got on Letterman, and they could bet
they were. They could tune in every night or at
least the next day. How often did they come down
to see you? Quite a bit, they did quite a bit,
and they would come to the show. I remember the
first time. My boss, Letterman, didn't know my parents yet.
My mother sitting in the audience with a big mink
code and Letterman is out there doing an audience piece
(36:21):
and he and my mother Wright to his left and
he said to her, are you in the right studio,
because she seemed like she was dressed for a night
of a thousand stars. Anyway, that was my mom and
dad and yeah, they sure her proud of me. So
you've written music to you write music, you play music,
you perform, you're you're you're all around performer. So not
(36:43):
so much writing. Um, I wrote one song. It's raining man.
I co wrote that with a great Paul Trebar, who
was no longer with us, but what a talent, and
he won an Oscar for writing last dance for Donna
summer and then sure as and after that he called
me up and said let's write one now for Donna summer,
(37:04):
you and me. How about the title? It's reigning man,
and I said I'll be right over, I'm going to
go out and letting myself get absolutely so king wet.
And it was, Um, you know, a sort of a
fantasy that was set. Worked for the gay community very well.
That seemed to be something that they related to. Imagine
(37:24):
men reigning out of the sky. If you were the
kind of guy who liked men, that's perfect, you know.
And so it was kind of written for that crowd.
But then it crossed over. It turned out to be
the perfect temple for Aerobic exercise and women used to
use it in their classes and they they got to
like it too. So it became, you know, and it's
still got legs fifty years later, I think. May, no,
(37:48):
maybe forty. Forty years later. And then your paths crossed
with the rat pack, Sammy Davis Jr, those guys just that.
He was one of my favorites, and I of the
rat pack. I to work with Sammy. He may have
been the only one that really that. I really did
work with Joey Bishop briefly, but Sammy again, a music
(38:08):
lesson every single time. Um, and he didn't want to rehearse. UH,
he wanted it to be spontaneous really, but my wife
was booking the show at the time, Kathy Vassipoli, an
old show town co editor from the seventies, and she
said you make him rehearse, and when he did, he said,
(38:29):
you know how much fun this would have been if
we hadn't rehearse, and I said, Damn, I U was right.
You know that? That's how he was. Very spontaneous. Spontaneous. Yes, yes,
I'll tell you what, I'm very handsome, very handsome man too.
He sure was. So do you have any experience with him? No,
just just watching him, because I found him of that
of that genre that that grew. He was just the
(38:52):
most most appealing to me. Yes, he was. And of
course the stage patter so elegant. It was almost British. Yeah,
it was. He was very gentleman. With your compermission. Yeah,
very dapper. Yeah, I still say that with your confirmission.
People think I'm nuts, but it's not. You know, it's days.
It's nice to do that. So what about Broadway? Do
(39:14):
you go to you go to Broadway? Do you go
to see shows? What have you seen? Did C Billy
Crystal on Broadway. Yeah, fantastic. He lived next door to
my daughter, so I got to see him quite often. No, no,
he wasn't try back and he was so, such a
delight all the time, always funny, always just as the
daughter that said. Whatever, Martha Right, every day. That's right. Yes,
(39:36):
I remember her, of course. Yeah, I knew her, partner
to Jennifer. Yeah, the two of them bad girls. Yeah,
I want to tell tell you about my daughter though, because, oh, yeah,
how was your daughter? She's got Martha's got to hear
about this because she she'll be interested. My daughter is
is twenty nine now, living in California. I got a
(39:56):
son twenty three too, but my daughter has her own
rescue association, Dog Rescue, called pop culture pup, and she
works twenty four seven on it, rescuing animals, rescuing dogs sometimes,
but in California, in Los Angeles, Um, and she wrote
a book which I sent you, I think some time ago,
(40:19):
my wife sent you anyway, talking about her experiences at
rescuing and she reminds me of you because she really
has the energy to make it into what I think
you might call a brand. She is really what's the
name of her company, pop culture, culture. Yeah, okay, Jocelyn.
We have Jocelyn here, one of our producers, and Jocelyn
(40:43):
is our pet expert and she's uh, and she so
remember about pup check. Check her out. Check her out.
What's your son doing? She's funny too. My son is
in the second year of a Master's program which will
hopefully lead him to medical school on net. He's applied.
He's in Boston now, Boston. You doing this program and
(41:04):
he's applied to forty different schools and we, you know,
we only asked again. You need more doctors. We definitely
need more doctors. He is a type of doctor who
wants to help everybody. How Great. So two kids on
their way to my wife shows all the credits. You
did a great job of raising them right up here
in bed. How Great. How Nice? And the schools were great. Yes, well,
(41:27):
we have covered a lot of ground and uh, and
I think that your career is one memorable. I mean
we'll never ever forget the letterman show with Paul Schaefer
right there in the headlines. And I and I really
love talking to you and being with you this morning.
(41:48):
I have had a gas and good to see your
operation up here is is breathtaking and you were always
so nice to me all through the many years and
let him in this and you were nice to me.
We're the we're the ones. We're scared stiff going on
that show. Find to get over here and now be
on your show with you. Thank you, Paul, thank you.
If you had uttered one thing that Dave gave an idea,
he would change the whole show. Let's cancel that, let's
Martha said that. Let's bring in a horse, can we?
How fast can we get a horse? And everything would
just change on the drop of a dime, or whatever
you said. I don't know if the other shows really
are like that. Paul Shaffer is best known as the
(00:23):
musical director, Band leader and sidekick for both David Letterman's
late night talk shows, which ran from two to two
thousand and fifteen. Outside of television, Paul is a talented singer,
a composer, an actor and a comedian. Paul and I
got to know each other during my close to fifty appearances.
Can you believe that with David Letterman over the years?
(00:46):
Some Call Paul the greatest sidekick and television and it's
a pleasure to have him here with me at my farm.
Welcome to my podcast, Paul. Martha, I couldn't be more
thrilled to be here at your modest little pad that
you have up here. It's absolutely fantastic and I was
just saying that I'm thrilled to see that all the
(01:07):
buildings are in Bedford Gray, so I can confirm that. Yes,
she actually does use the color exclusively. Now it brings
me to a question, and I know I realized not
my show. You could ask me all the questions. It's
been fascinating me since I read that you have opened
a restaurant on the Strip in Las Vegas called the Bedford. Exactly. Yeah, well,
(01:28):
first question. Is it Bedford Gray? Much of the Interior
is Bedford. It's a replica of my house, my house
that you haven't come in yet. You you were invited
for coffee, but we we kind of ran out of time.
You'll come back up there. Thank you, Um. But yeah,
it's a it's a really fun project and I would
love to replicate a smaller version of it here in Bedford, Bedford,
(01:52):
but I don't know if that will happen. Happen or not.
What kind of menu is it? Oh, it's all my recipes.
It's recipes that you would love, recipes that I've served
at my homes forever, all perfected for restaurants service, of course.
And Uh, and it's doing well. Yelp gave it five stars. Yeah,
we're all exciting. Anyway, congratulations on thank you. Well, anyway,
(02:16):
I just want you to know that, Um, the greatest
sidekick in television. How did your tenure with David Letterman, who,
by the way, is and was my favorite late night host,
and I shouldn't really say that out loud, but but
you know, I love all the other guys too, but
my favorite thing to do is David Letterman. I always
had fun, I always loved seeing you and your and
(02:39):
your band and I always, I always talked to you
and I always waved to you and, yeah, and your
music was always just like, so invigorating and so uh,
such a great introduction to each segment on David Letterman.
So Um, so it was. We probably played you on
with Martha, my idea, by the sometimes you did dolls. Yes, well,
(03:01):
you know, ob but how did your tenure with David Begin?
This is a long story. Just like you, it was.
It was so much fun because he, I agree with you,
although he and I both idolized Johnny Carson, of course,
and that was David's model and he didn't make any
secret of that. Johnny showed us all how to do it,
(03:21):
but David, I think, in combining it with him, more
of a Saturday night live type of nuttiness. Um, took
it to another level. You know, I never got to
be on Johnny Carson, so I never got to experience
that that genius. I was on Merv Griffin, which was
like the competitor to to Johnny. But but I regret
(03:43):
that so much because I loved watching his show too.
And what we what do, he used to say, and
it was true, if you watched it, was that, uh,
if he made his guests look good, people would be
talking about his show the next day. You know, did
you see who Johnny had on that? And to him
that was the key, of course, so important. And the
key is of those late night hosts and make the
(04:03):
guests look good, sound interesting, make sure that they're promoting
their latest work and uh, and I it's a hard
job because because you have to, you have you do
have to make them look good and David always made
me look good and we always had fun and I think,
I think he helped really build my brand in his way.
(04:24):
That's nice of you to say he would be proud
and thrilled and I think it's true too. You were
such a presence on the show. You were his certainly
one of his favorites, his favorite, but you were his
favorite sidekicks. Well, you know, he just Um, are you
the first really famous band leader or what's the genre?
(04:46):
Look back and when we see you know, Johnny Carson's
last was doc Stevenson, but before that, who did he have?
He had got sketched Henderson. These guys all had names because,
after all, they were on every every single night. But
I want to be not I sort of was sketch
and ed at the same time, because he didn't have
(05:07):
an ED, he didn't have an announcer sitting white by.
So I used to say I'm a combination doc and ED, I. E. Dead.
But that was just a terrible joke and I'm still here. Um.
So I got to talk and I got to banter
with him, as they say. It wasn't written in the script.
As a matter of fact, the first time I tried
(05:28):
to say something on my mic it wasn't even turned.
I had to go to the engineer and say, you know,
you should turn my microphone. Well, I don't think they
wanted on while I had to of course they wanted on.
I had to get sort through that and when I
got it on and finally said a couple of things,
David was very encouraging and he said he did more
of that. That was funny and I used to know
(05:50):
what was this two when? Okay, so that was that
was on. That was on NBC. You followed. You were
the late, late show, after the late we were. We
were called the late show because Johnny was called it
tonight night show. That we followed Johnny. We were the late. No,
we were called late night, late night with David. Let
him in, late night with David, and that's what the
(06:12):
Seth Seth is doing. Now. Seth Myers has that and
he follows Mr Fallon, who, of course is doing the
tonight show. So we were the late show. David wanted
that tonight show really badly. I remember that, and he
deserved it. And then all of a sudden this upstart
called Jay Leno gets the job. Why? What happened there? Um,
(06:35):
we were there. You were there. Well, I was there.
I wasn't really privy to all those things. I did
see that crazy movie that they made about the late show.
Wars Um awfully accurate. I thought it was what I knew,
except Dave said they had a scene of me throwing
a football at a target. Who would ever throw a
(06:58):
football at a tar you throw your bowling Arrow order talk.
That's what really upset Him. I don't not throw a
football otherwise. But didn't you throw eggs into a fan? Well,
and I stood in front of the damn. Oh you did,
and you got eggs. You Got Egg on your face,
egg on my face, literally, and I had to be
a good spot, but really I was just soaking and
(07:20):
wanted to get out of that thing. But got a
big laugh, of course. That's when I started to realize.
You know, right there, Jeez, if you you know, if
the people laugh, it's a good feeling, it sure is.
And especially at late night when you've had a hard,
horrible day, you get into bed and you turn on
the TV and you want to be entertained. And you
guys were the ultimate entertainers, I mean really, and you
(07:43):
were a part of it too, and Dave. What Dave
wanted from a guest to someone who was dependable and
would come on with having done a little preparation. That's
all he asked. And of course you were prepared. Well,
I was always over prepared. Do you remember? I got
cream all over Dave's suit? Well, he wasn't crazy about that,
I know, but they said I could do it. The
(08:03):
producers said I could do it and I think I
was the first person allowed to sully his outfit. You
may have been the first and last probably. It just
strucks me you're talking late show and stuff. I've got
a story about King Charles, our current king, the new
King of England. He was prince then. Right, okay, so
(08:25):
telling us what I mean. Well, it was right in
the eighties, after the led him in show had started
and I had to ask day for a day off
because I got invited to when when it was Prince
Charles and lady die they were in Vancouver, BC, Canada,
opening the world's fair, and the two guys in the
Prime Minister's office were let him in fans and they
(08:48):
said Paul's Canadian, let's send him an invitation just for
kids whose I accepted it and Dave gave me the
day off and I was calling in. I think you
know a Dave. I forgot my formal socks, my silk socks.
I've got to go shopping for them. No, nobody ever.
My Dad taught me that. And and the Prince and
the princess were there and they were there to open
(09:08):
the thing and there was a state dinner and the
guys running at the logistics for them were so thrilled
that I was there. They said we're going to get
you a picture with your Canadian too. So you belonged there.
You were like you were like a favorite son of
Kenna exactly, and I was well, I had a lovely
uh email, a conversation with Justin Trudeau just the other day.
(09:32):
You did, yes, because at all I had to sort
of UH politic him about the we're all conservatory of Music.
Can they have a little more money for their budget
and stuff? And when I wrote in a form letter,
as you know, asked the doctor Simon who runs this
conservative I got a lovely letter right back from the
prime minister, Justin. Of course, his father had been my
prime minister when I was in college here. Trudeau. Anyway,
(09:54):
back to they wanted to get a picture of me
with Lady Dye. They said we're going to get this picture.
I said you don't have to, but I feel a
tap on my shoulder. I'm sitting at the state dinner
with all Canadians, strangers. They said, come with us. They
take us into a room. They take me into a
room where there's a receiving line going on and the
prime minister is introducing the two royals to all of
(10:16):
their all of the premiers of the province. They're like
the governors, I guess, that we have here. So they're
coming down the line and the prime minister and here's
the right honorable premiere of Manitoba. He is, you know,
construct how? Why? And they get to me and it's
Prime Minister Mulrone. He doesn't know who I am and
he looks at me and nobody he doesn't say anything,
(10:38):
and nobody says anything and all I know is you
don't talk and listen until the royals talk. At least
I know that. But nobody was talking, so I had
to talk and I said Hello, your Highness. Um, I'm
Paul Schaeffer from the late night with David Letterman show
from New York. And he said who did it? How late?
I said well, and this is a first, Guy said well,
(11:00):
you know, we followed Johnny Coast at the twelve thirty
and count me out. So there, Martha, was my conversation. Well,
the King, how about that? Now? The King? Yeah, funny,
I was thinking. You know, they said we'll get you
a picture with lady dot because she was, of course,
the big celebrity. Then he should have realized he's going
to be the king. That would have been a shot,
(11:21):
but I do have a shot. How Great? Yes, it
is great. Well, that's a sad story. Hair was as
good as yours. As far as the people who have
the best hair and show, I think it's you, then.
Lady Dot Paul, is totally are you totally bold now? Totally. Well,
but you look great. You Look Great. You know what, Martha,
(11:45):
thanks for saying so I never had the right hair
and when I had here, yeah, and here. You know,
since the Beatles it was always so important for guys,
but this is better for me. Yeah, you look great,
you know, and you were and you don't look exhausted.
I mean, isn't late night just the most Austin thing
on earth? How do you know that? Oh, well, I
worked till late at night. I worked from early Morn
(12:06):
till late at night, so I know how exhausting it
is doing the show every night. I didn't realize it
until it ended and it took me about two years
to get readjusted. My Body clock was such that screwed up.
There was, and there's, a show every time every day.
So five am might be up. Bang. What time is
the show? You know my show time. I'm exhausted. I
(12:28):
was always tired, absolutely just like you said you were.
You rehearsed every day, you and the rehearsal was really,
really important, but also extraordinary. Great production and very little time.
And the only producer I really got to know on
your show was Robert Morton. Yeah, morty or Morty Pie,
(12:48):
he was notorious. Yeah, how how long was he a producer? Well,
quite a few years. He took over as producer just
before we made that big move to CBS, so he
was part of that. So let's go back there first
of all. So what year was it when CB and
when NBC said sorry, Dave, it's going to know, it's
going to Jay left, I think. Well, I think we
(13:08):
were twelve years on CBS, so that would take us
in to about ninety four. Okay, so then they said
no to David and they gave him one more year
and then he moved straight to to CBS in the
time slot, in the time slot that he wanted anyway,
eleven thirty and uh, and that was called. And then
(13:30):
he was followed by Conan, yes, and that's when he
became the late show, late show with David Letterman of
late night, and had beautiful theater, which I loved. I
loved going there because the dressing rooms were so nice
and they each had a private bathroom. You didn't have
to go down the hall and Uh and it was
and there was always nice things to eat and drink
in the in the dressing rooms. Have you. Nonetheless, it
(13:53):
was short of the same way it was when Etzel
and was doing this show. The plumbing was Old New
York kind. That's okay, as long as it worked. Cold
beart show. Yet, Stephen Cole, I love the cold beart show. Yeah,
I do too. Backstage, so and I was, I was
lucky enough to be a guest. Um, it's like a
cool club he's got going on. Yeah, it is. Backstage.
(14:15):
The lighting is yeah, it's so fun. It's so fun.
Bathrooms are now sort of like the Morrigan hotel or something,
you know, everything redesigned. It's amazing. Now. Well, he has
a great taste and he's and he's a funny he's
a fun person to be on with. But the most
fun right now, I would get. Who Do you like now?
I mean who do you watch? You Watch everybody. I
watch a little bit of everything. I missed Conan O'Brien,
(14:36):
to tell you the truth, I loved kind on, you know.
He really was the guy who laughed when things were funny. Yeah,
that's what I well, I got him to dress up
and ride a horse with me. Had put a red
wig on in an open satin shirt and he rode
uh on on my black steed and he was so
he was up for anything. Did you come up here
(14:57):
to do that? Yeah, wow, good for him. He was great.
Red Wig, though his hair is like no, but he
he wanted to. who was he looking like he was?
He was emul emulating Fabio. It's such an obligation to
(15:18):
be a late night host like that and also to
be the sidekick and the musician of the show. So
so it started with it started with Johnny Carson. Did
he bring the music to late night? Is that what
he did? Well, he had a big band, sketch and doc,
whom we were just mentioning. How many? Howe? How many
you have? I had started with four. Yeah, and you
(15:40):
know when I learned afterwards, just from launching those late
night shows, movie about the late night wars and stuff
that Johnny Corson had a meeting with Dave and his
original producer. Said now I want the show to be different.
You can't have the same guests, you can't have dom deloise,
because that's who I had, and David Fine with that.
You know, we want to have our own restaurant and
(16:01):
you can't have a big band. I have a big band.
You'RE gonna have four pieces. So so that's so. Johnny
made a four piece span. That was great with me
because I grew up doing rock and roll bands and
four piece bands and I didn't really wasn't so comfortable
with horns at the time. So this is perfect for me.
And I got three guys who just knew all the
(16:22):
songs that I knew. So if Martha Stewart was got
Markam my dear Rochy of a, and I didn't have
to write it out. We all just bump, Bom, bom boom,
we hit it. You knew it, you knew it. Yeah,
and that that when I had the most fun. So
so now of all the bands, who do who do
you like the most? Now on the late night Z uh?
You know, they're all good for some reason. Of course,
(16:42):
quest love and the roots. Fantastic to see, you know,
them taking really kind of what I did. I I
brought it the thing into the Rock and roller did
they have brought it late night into the hip hop era,
and it's striking. And he with food too. I mean
he writes cookbooks. Now he's he's a he's making a brand.
He's a Foodie, you know, and he was doing it. Well,
(17:04):
you started this whole branding thing, didn't? Well, I'm one
of I'm one of the starters of it. You know,
Pete Davidson, he goes out with Kim Cadati. Well, he did,
he did. That's broken up now. Yeah, but the brand,
oh no, he he is now Pete Davidson. He's Pete Davidson.
All Right, I'm he's he's so cute. He's a he's
(17:26):
a cute, Young, Nice Guy, but but he's uh, Kim Kim,
I think, has moved on, swallowed up by the DASHIANS.
Spit out right. What are you gonna do? Um, so
when you're on Letterman, UM, every night is different and
guests are so different. Who is your favorite guest on Letterman? What? What? What? What?
(17:47):
What are your fondest memories? Of course, you know, as
the band leader, Mike. My thoughts would go to the
music and James Brown. The very first time he did it.
I never got over it and I my little four piece,
but he brought two horns and played with my four
piece ban and we never played so well in our lives.
But once he started singing and dancing and shaking that,
(18:09):
you know what it was just you had to play.
And he did it many times after that and every
time was like a music lesson. So he's charming, isn't he?
He was charming and won a performer and he didn't know.
I mean he couldn't read or write music, but he
just sang. You know, he was singing the hip of
stuff and the band had to just whatever he's sang.
(18:30):
You play, you know, and if he didn't, he find you.
That was, I think, the real deal. If he made
a mistake in James Brown's band, he would find you ten, five,
ten bucks. Yeah, I never got fine, luckily I never got.
You know, he has to see me after the first
time he did play because it was such a smash
and when I went in there knocked on the door,
he was under the hair dryer. Uh, after the show,
(18:54):
with that, with that hairdrew of his yes, but not
a blow dry. I'm talking about a full helmet on
a chair the carriage, right, because he was sweaty or
wouldn't well, his hair all would come down. Yeah, and
it's very important to him. You know, hair got he
used to say, hair and teeth. If you have those
things you can be a star, and I think he
was right. But talking to me under the head right,
he's like he's hard to understand anyway, but with this
(19:20):
I'm down there are, you know, trying to listen to
I was down on my knees in front of him
and it was like he was on a throne and
that hair dryer. But that's the way it should have been,
I really so. Who Else? Who? Um? Well, I mean
when Robin Williams did it, you could relax and you
wouldn't look forward to the show because he you know,
(19:41):
he took over. He was on my show too once
and boy, I mean he just he had the fastest
mind in in the comedy, in the comedy world, the
fastest a computer mind right, yes, and he was like
how on on on the spaceship? Yes, he was. One
thing would set him off and he'd go into a
(20:02):
whole different, whole different Vive and and a different language
and a different accent. And I mean he was the fastest,
but I loved him. I loved him. Do you remember
any disasters on Letterman? Well, sure there were some disasters.
I certainly had my share of disasters. One time, Um
(20:24):
Anthony Newley, whom I loved, and he buto and fool
a man. That's only one of the great as song.
As he wrote it and we had him he was
going to do a big favorite for us and sing
our little theme for the viewer male segment. View a male,
view a male, and then I wrote a little thing
in for him. Everyone laughs, said to view a male clown,
(20:48):
because he was he could just make any but when
when I went into the to the big ending view
a male, I was in the wrong key. I took
him up about a good fourth or fifth higher because
I hadn't written it down. I thought it was so
smart I could just remember and his ear was so
good that he followed me into the Doo key and
saying this note that was higher than any human had everything. Oh,
(21:11):
I felt so bad and after he went off from
backstage and we can swear you could just say this
is what I heard after you went out, saying, Oh
my God, I felt so terrible, but I wrote him
a long letter. You always heard the one you love,
and he he wrote a lovely letter back. There was
my one of my worst is. Let's see, you see
(21:33):
the the ordinary viewer has no idea what goes on
in those shows, how difficult, how difficult and how how
intense they are. They are really just because you're one
hour to get everything in that has to get in
and make everybody look good, sound good, feel good, blah, blah, blah. Right.
I think that you know Martha from doing it so
(21:53):
much that if you had uttered one thing that Dave
gave an idea, he would change the whole show. Let's
cancel that, let's Martha said that. Let's bring in a horse,
can we? How fast can we get a horse? And
everything would just change on the drop of a dime,
or whatever you said. I don't know if the other
shows really are like that. Oh, I loved when you
went to the Delhi. Did you ever go to the Horse? Yes,
(22:15):
Ruper G and May, and they were so great because
they weren't trying to beat yeah, they weren't trying to
be funny on camera or got the laughs, but the
laughs just came naturally and I went. I participated. The
city awarded them a lovely thing. They're being a you know,
a small business, and honor. I was there to honor
Ruper G and May. So what about the Oprah stuff?
(22:39):
That was crazy, wasn't it? Yeah, you know, I don't know.
They didn't always tell me the whole story, but my
recollection is that we were in Chicago doing a week
of shows. Oprah came on and the audience was kind
of mean to her. The audience was waiting for Dave
to insult her, and that's my recollection. And somebody even
(23:01):
said ripper Dave or something like that. Wow, yes, and
it wasn't Dave's fault, and then it just explodes. But
she took it as Dave's fault. Maybe, yeah, maybe. So, yeah,
because I I never knew the story and I was
always wondering why, why? What is this controversy and and
why WON'T OPRAH COME on? David Letterman, yeah, you know,
a good feud as always, as we know from Jack
(23:23):
Benny and Fred Allen. You had a good feud. Is
Worth Ratings. And when they finally did reconcile and I
think they did a super bowl add together. It was fabulous.
Everybody was throwing Leno to everybody was thrilled to see
them all together. But did anybody else in your recollection
refuse to come on your show? Sure people. Some people
were afraid of Dave. They didn't want to come on. Yeah,
(23:44):
kind of a sad story. Come reminds me the Great
Don Everley of the everly brothers did. He just died recently,
like last year, but before the year before I had
done an award show with him in Nashville and he
was talking to me any about his brother. He's still
kind of resented his brother Phil Everley, and said, well,
(24:05):
one of the things he says, you know, he wouldn't
do let him and he wouldn't let us do let him.
When I was dying to do it. He was afraid
day was going to bring up something from our past
and he wouldn't do it. And so there are one
example of people who wouldn't you know, we would have
had a great time playing with the everly pethers. Boy
Did I love the everly brothers growing up. That's high
school music. Wow, they were so, so influential, even on
(24:30):
the Beatles. Yeah, they were Beatles stuff. Yeah, guitars. Some
of those mergey beat guitar stuff that they played came
right from the everly brothers. I loved listening to them
and and I think, I think I actually saw them
play live someplace, someplace in New York. How often do
(24:55):
you see dave now? I seemed quite a bit very
um and I'm very touched by the fact that he
really wants our friendship to continue. So we speak on
the phone often, we get together when we can. Well,
he's live in the same hood. We're basically in the
same hood. Yeah, he's a little bit farther away from
the city and you and I are. I live in
(25:16):
close to you, Martha. Yeah, I know you don't know,
but the people may not know, but that's kind of
an here here right around Bedford, Bedford, uh and Bedford village,
is five little towns that make up Bedford. I don't
think people know that. Cross the River Bedford, Bedford Hills,
Katona and UH, MON CISCO. Yeah, we're all in the
same little area and UH and so dave is up
(25:38):
a little farther north, but I do drive up there
once in a while and we have at dinner and
talk about the old times and the same things, the
same jokes. I still enjoy I'm enjoying all his interviews
that he does too. It's really just really fascinating. So
you're a band leader for for how many years? Then
then with the two net she was thirty three. Thirty three,
(26:02):
that's a lifetime of work, it really is. It is.
And what about your band were? They were all everyone
doing different things. Um, Felicia Collins, my female guitarist, you remember,
spending most of the time with their mother in Albany,
but she and I both sat in with a great
band that we love called King's x during the summer
(26:24):
and I got to see her. Willie von, good looking
bass guitarist, busier than ever worldwide, and then getting on
the Internet and playing Bass for people over the Internet
and everything in between. Some guys kind of retired, other guys, uh,
it never works harder. So Nikki Schwartzberg's my makeup artist
and this is her dad, knows you, very old friend
(26:47):
of mine, Nikki Schwartzberg. She got married, though, didn't? Oh yeah,
she's now. She's now Nicole Toy t o y. She
married this fabulous Chinese hairdresser. Well, Alan, her father was
one of the Great Studio Drummers, having played on so
many records it's hard to count, from tie a yellow
ribbon through the disco era and never can say goodbye.
(27:10):
And he's still playing and he still play and he's
still playing and somebody just sent me a record by Sharone,
the the French drummer, that he and I played on together. Anyway,
he told you know, and I've known both of his daughters,
Nicole and Simona, since they were born, and he told
me what it was like when you came over during
Nicole's house. Do I think that Susan, his wife, cleaned
(27:33):
up a little bit? Oh my God, you before you
got they were they were still cleaning when I got there,
coming to their house. That must have been something. Well,
that embarrasses me when people don't think they have to
clean for me, because I don't care. I'll clean for them,
I know, I will all Polish their corner. But you've
got a brand and a cred you know, and a Rep.
(27:56):
so you grew up in Canada. A lot of show
is comes from Canada. It's funny. A lot of people
come from there. As currently right now with the Saturday
night live wave of comedy. A lot of comics in
that genre. But you started. You were on Saturday night
live also. Yes, what I was as a pianist for
Howard shore. He was the band leader. I was a
(28:18):
writer of special musical material because I knew a lot
of the kids, like Guilda, Belushi, Billy Murray. I knew
them from before. Some of them were Canadians, like Danak right.
I knew very natural for me to start working with
them and writing with them and by the fifth season
I even became a what they call the featured player.
(28:38):
I was in sketches. I was dying to get on
camera all through that time, sneaking on and Lowen was
amazing in that, just the piano player, I had all access.
He would everybody does him now, but he would say, Paul,
come on in, you know it's Paul Simon and on
and Trevy. We're trying to figure out the opening for
(28:58):
next week and I'm just a piano but I'm in
there with them trying to figure that stuff out. It
was it was fantastic. I'll always be great for the Lord. Well,
Chevy is also a neighbor and so you get to
see him off quite a bit and I officiated recently
at his daughter's, his second daughter's wedding. For fifteen dollars
on the Internet, I became a minister and then I
(29:20):
was able to buy a clerical caller for another seven fifty,
I think, and I conducted this wedding and I haven't
played so many weddings as an organist. I knew what
to do. How great it was? Pretty good, of course,
you're very good. What are you talking about? And then
Tom Leopold, who was a friend of a friend of your.
(29:41):
I don't know if she's your Matt Production Manager or
what out here, but he gave me a line to use.
The groom went to Chevy to ask for the bride's
hand and Chevy said Hell, take the whole girl. So
that went over very well. How do I s you're
so you're you're very busy. I mean not like I
was five shows a week. I'll never be that busy,
(30:04):
thank goodness. Yeah, but still keeping up things, doing, Um,
some symphony shows. This is my latest passion. Really like.
What's what's The symphony show? Well, it's when I appeared
with a symphony orchestra. I've done for so far. Started
with the one in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a great symphony. More
(30:24):
recently did Long Beach, California, and I do all pop
stuff in R and B. I started out with Barry White.
Love Unlimited Orchestra. I have the Great Valerie Simpson, who
wrote to you're all I need to get buy and
so many issues. My special guest and that I just
got a new agent and I'm hoping to get some
more bookings. Well, that's very interesting. Yes, I love it.
(30:46):
I'd love you to come. I'd love to if I
play around here. Yeah, it's really a big kick for me.
Can you play a caramore? I would. I would sure
love to do yeah, why haven't you played there? Let's
make a call after them. Well, I'm I'm very friendly
with whole operation there. For for those of you listening,
Karamour is a music festival that is directly across the
(31:07):
street from my driveway and uh and I can just
sit in my yard out of my terrace and listen
to the concerts at night. I can hear them here.
It's so nice, but I do go. Also, living by
the Hollywood bowl. UH, in a way it is um
and they have lovely, lovely performances. I went to hear
Yo Yo Ma this year. That was wonderful. Yo Yoma
(31:28):
is an amazing performer and he was on Letterman a
few times. Quite yeah, very wonderful, wonderful, normal kind of guy,
but he likes all music, which I was really not
just classical. He really loves all kinds of music. and
Uh so, who are your favorite musicians, other than other
than yourself, of course, but who do you who do
you listen to on a regular basis? So many. I
(31:51):
still like listening to the soul music of my youth
and on Saturday and Sunday morning Sun the jazz station
WB G O, they play all soul music and I'm
in heaven, whether it's Wilson Pickett or Salmon Dave or
the supremes, the four tops. I love those voices and
I'm still digging that. That all soul music and still,
(32:13):
you know, in my I do a lot of it
in my symphony show too, and which which is particular
musicians saying the instruments. We just lost Ramsey Lewis last
week and he was a big influence on me in
ninety six, I think, when he came out with instrumental
version of I'm in with the in crowd, playing very
(32:35):
simply and soulfully on the piano, and that's I picked
that up when I was a kid from him. He
was one of my favorites. Um, Jimmy Smith on the organ.
I love the Hammond Jazz Oregan. Um. We lost another
one of those greats to Dr Lonnie Smith. Uh, the
greats are, one by one, leaving US greats of this era,
(32:57):
you know, and and with them I think goes wrong.
Can Roll the shout out to say I think maybe dad. Well,
we have what's coming up. We have hip hop and rap.
I'm listening to rap. Yeah, you know where I listened
to it most? In traffic jams on the on the Sawmill.
You just open your window and every car is playing wrap.
(33:20):
Everybody's wrapping. Kind of might make you too excited and
I want to get out of that traffic, of course.
And you start keeping started, keeping your horn. You're associated
with brings things down at a very relaxed level. Yeah,
he does. He's really we love snoop and and I
just got I just got a picture of you know,
(33:41):
you can't even believe that I'm I'm actually friends with
these people. Okay, I do believe, I know, I really have.
They know how to trick you know when they see
Dre just sent me pictures of his garden yesterday and
the garden is all marijuana and that the largest bushiest
plants I have ever seen. And I asked for the strains.
He didn't send me the names of the strains that
(34:02):
he's growing. But it's so fun to to see what
people do, I mean what you great, great musicians are
up to. And did you watch the Super Bowl with
those guys? Fantastic. Yeah, they were great, right, fantastic. Yeah,
I was out there and listen what, I went to
the Super Bowl. It was a lot of fun. They
adhere to the same principles of show Biz, and they do,
and they're all fine musicians and they know a lot
(34:24):
like you. I mean you know music inside and out,
which is what what astonishes me is that during your
education you really did learn music, you did learn instruments,
you did learn how to play. So who encouraged you
and did you have to? Did you have to persuade
your parents to let you do show Biz? Well, Um,
(34:44):
you know, they were the kind of Jewish parents, even
in northern Ontario, Canada. We had them Thunder Bay, Ontario
and they said that kid is meaning me. He's going
to learn how to play piano if it's the last
thing I do. You know, wanted you to play and
they had a strange duality. They loved show business and
they loved music. My mother show tunes and Chopin and
(35:09):
my dad the greatest jazz vocalist. He really turned me
on to Billy Eckstein and even Ray Charles, my file.
And so they had a secret. You know, boy, if
Paul was ever a musician, but really too far fetched.
They really would have wanted me to have a real profession,
and I was. I graduated from the University of Toronto
and sociology, which leads, you know, not exactly anywhere, but
(35:34):
I said, you know, the sociology is good. I mean
it came in handy, especially I was a band leader.
I absolutely interpersonal relations. Right, sure, but when I said
to my dad, I think I got to take a
year after graduating and just see if I can you
know what music is like, he said, well, you know,
it just doesn't surprise me or your mother, and I
think they were secretly your only child. Yeah, I think
(35:57):
they were secretly thrilled and, of course, very proud of
me when I got on Letterman, and they could bet
they were. They could tune in every night or at
least the next day. How often did they come down
to see you? Quite a bit, they did quite a bit,
and they would come to the show. I remember the
first time. My boss, Letterman, didn't know my parents yet.
My mother sitting in the audience with a big mink
code and Letterman is out there doing an audience piece
(36:21):
and he and my mother Wright to his left and
he said to her, are you in the right studio,
because she seemed like she was dressed for a night
of a thousand stars. Anyway, that was my mom and
dad and yeah, they sure her proud of me. So
you've written music to you write music, you play music,
you perform, you're you're you're all around performer. So not
(36:43):
so much writing. Um, I wrote one song. It's raining man.
I co wrote that with a great Paul Trebar, who
was no longer with us, but what a talent, and
he won an Oscar for writing last dance for Donna
summer and then sure as and after that he called
me up and said let's write one now for Donna summer,
(37:04):
you and me. How about the title? It's reigning man,
and I said I'll be right over, I'm going to
go out and letting myself get absolutely so king wet.
And it was, Um, you know, a sort of a
fantasy that was set. Worked for the gay community very well.
That seemed to be something that they related to. Imagine
(37:24):
men reigning out of the sky. If you were the
kind of guy who liked men, that's perfect, you know.
And so it was kind of written for that crowd.
But then it crossed over. It turned out to be
the perfect temple for Aerobic exercise and women used to
use it in their classes and they they got to
like it too. So it became, you know, and it's
still got legs fifty years later, I think. May, no,
(37:48):
maybe forty. Forty years later. And then your paths crossed
with the rat pack, Sammy Davis Jr, those guys just that.
He was one of my favorites, and I of the
rat pack. I to work with Sammy. He may have
been the only one that really that. I really did
work with Joey Bishop briefly, but Sammy again, a music
(38:08):
lesson every single time. Um, and he didn't want to rehearse. UH,
he wanted it to be spontaneous really, but my wife
was booking the show at the time, Kathy Vassipoli, an
old show town co editor from the seventies, and she
said you make him rehearse, and when he did, he said,
(38:29):
you know how much fun this would have been if
we hadn't rehearse, and I said, Damn, I U was right.
You know that? That's how he was. Very spontaneous. Spontaneous. Yes, yes,
I'll tell you what, I'm very handsome, very handsome man too.
He sure was. So do you have any experience with him? No,
just just watching him, because I found him of that
of that genre that that grew. He was just the
(38:52):
most most appealing to me. Yes, he was. And of
course the stage patter so elegant. It was almost British. Yeah,
it was. He was very gentleman. With your compermission. Yeah,
very dapper. Yeah, I still say that with your confirmission.
People think I'm nuts, but it's not. You know, it's days.
It's nice to do that. So what about Broadway? Do
(39:14):
you go to you go to Broadway? Do you go
to see shows? What have you seen? Did C Billy
Crystal on Broadway. Yeah, fantastic. He lived next door to
my daughter, so I got to see him quite often. No, no,
he wasn't try back and he was so, such a
delight all the time, always funny, always just as the
daughter that said. Whatever, Martha Right, every day. That's right. Yes,
(39:36):
I remember her, of course. Yeah, I knew her, partner
to Jennifer. Yeah, the two of them bad girls. Yeah,
I want to tell tell you about my daughter though, because, oh, yeah,
how was your daughter? She's got Martha's got to hear
about this because she she'll be interested. My daughter is
is twenty nine now, living in California. I got a
(39:56):
son twenty three too, but my daughter has her own
rescue association, Dog Rescue, called pop culture pup, and she
works twenty four seven on it, rescuing animals, rescuing dogs sometimes,
but in California, in Los Angeles, Um, and she wrote
a book which I sent you, I think some time ago,
(40:19):
my wife sent you anyway, talking about her experiences at
rescuing and she reminds me of you because she really
has the energy to make it into what I think
you might call a brand. She is really what's the
name of her company, pop culture, culture. Yeah, okay, Jocelyn.
We have Jocelyn here, one of our producers, and Jocelyn
(40:43):
is our pet expert and she's uh, and she so
remember about pup check. Check her out. Check her out.
What's your son doing? She's funny too. My son is
in the second year of a Master's program which will
hopefully lead him to medical school on net. He's applied.
He's in Boston now, Boston. You doing this program and
(41:04):
he's applied to forty different schools and we, you know,
we only asked again. You need more doctors. We definitely
need more doctors. He is a type of doctor who
wants to help everybody. How Great. So two kids on
their way to my wife shows all the credits. You
did a great job of raising them right up here
in bed. How Great. How Nice? And the schools were great. Yes, well,
(41:27):
we have covered a lot of ground and uh, and
I think that your career is one memorable. I mean
we'll never ever forget the letterman show with Paul Schaefer
right there in the headlines. And I and I really
love talking to you and being with you this morning.
(41:48):
I have had a gas and good to see your
operation up here is is breathtaking and you were always
so nice to me all through the many years and
let him in this and you were nice to me.
We're the we're the ones. We're scared stiff going on
that show. Find to get over here and now be
on your show with you. Thank you, Paul, thank you.
Host
Martha Stewart
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Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.