The new Paul McCartney documentary Man On The Run, which gets its TV premiere on February 27 on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service, focuses on the rock icon’s post-Beatles career, particularly his work with the band Wings. Wings’ original drummer was Denny Seiwell, who first collaborated with McCartney on Ram, the acclaimed 1971 album he made with his wife, Linda.
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In a new interview with The Sessions Panel’s YouTube channel, Seiwell shared the story about how he wound up working with McCartney. The 82-year-old musician revealed that he didn’t even know he was auditioning for the Beatles legend when he got the call to show up for a gig at an old building in an out-of-the-way area of Manhattan.
Seiwell explained that he’d established himself as an in-demand session drummer through his playing in New York City’s jazz scene.
Seiwell Was the “New Kid” in Town
“Everybody would come down [to the New York jazz club the Half Note], and they’d say, ‘Who’s the new kid in town?’” Denny said. “[On] Sunday nights, I would get heard and exposed to all of the heavies in New York. And your name floats around. Pretty soon you start getting calls for record dates and TV commercials and all that.”
Unbeknownst to him, a local guitarist named Barry Kornfeld had been contacted by McCartney for suggestions of quality session drummers and guitarists he could hire to play on the Ram album, which he planned to record in New York City. Kornfeld’s list included Seiwell.
Denny recalled that his service contacted him and told him Kornfeld wanted him to do an unspecified “demo” with him. Seiwell said another session he’d booked that day had been canceled and, after briefly thinking it over, he agreed.
Seiwell Got a Big Surprise When He Got to the Audition
Seiwell recalled arriving at the location of the gig and being suspicious about how sketchy the area was.
“I get to the building and it’s not even a studio,” he noted. “It’s just a brownstone about to be torn down way over on the west side [of Manhattan]. And I said, ‘Oh, this sounds fishy. I might get mugged here or something,’ you know. So I go in, and there’s a guy sitting there at the desk and I said, ‘Is there a studio here?’ And he goes, ‘Basement.’ I’m going, ‘Oh man, this is gonna be dangerous.’”
When he got down to the basement, Denny saw a “ratty old” drum kit set up on a dirt floor. Sitting in the corner of the room were Paul and Linda McCartney.
After briefly introducing himself, McCartney told Seiwell he was recording an album in town and was “looking at some drummers.” He asked Denny to play for him without any accompaniment.
Seiwell pointed out that he’d brought his own tom-toms, which he used along with the kit that was there. McCartney asked Denny to play some rock-and-roll-style drums, so Seiwell tried to channel Ringo Starr’s style.
As he recalled, “I think it was my attitude, as well as what I played, but [Paul] said, ‘Play some shuffle, play a little this, little of that.’ And I did. And I was there 10, 15 minutes max. He said, ‘Great, man. Thanks for playing for us. And we’ll talk.’ So I left.”
Seiwell remembered thinking, “I don’t even have a chance. This is the biggest guy on the planet right now … I’ll never get this phone call.”
Seiwell Did Get the Call, Of Course
A couple of days later, Seiwell received a call while at his home from McCartney himself with some great news.
“I pick up the phone and it’s Paul,” Denny remembered. “It’s not his manager. It’s not his agent. Not anybody, but, ‘Hey, it’s Paul.’ [I said,] ‘Oh, hello. How are you doing?’ He said, ‘Hey, I want to book you for this record. Can you start next week?’ And I said, ‘Just give me a second. Let me look at my book.’ And I just closed the book and jumped straight up in the air. And I said, ‘Yeah, I think I can do that, man.’”
Seiwell explained that McCartney booked him for the first week of recording and two other respected session drummers, Donald MacDonald and Herb Lovelle, for the second and third weeks, respectively.
The sessions were held at CBS Studios in New York City. Interestingly and appropriately, Seiwell brought along the drum kit Ringo played at The Beatles’ famous Shea Stadium concert to the sessions. Denny had purchased the kit at a memorabilia auction after getting hired to do the gig with Paul.
Seiwell recalled McCartney’s surprised reaction when he saw the familiar drum set Denny had brought with him.
“He said, ‘Is that your drums?’” Seiwell share. “And he did a double take when he saw the Beatles drum kit there in the drum booth.”
Denny said the sessions went so well that “after the first day or so, [McCartney] said, ‘You know what? This is good.’ And he let the other two [drummers] go. And he hired me for six weeks to finish Ram.”
About Seiwell’s Continued Work with McCartney After ‘Ram’
Seiwell said working on Ram was “one of the most rewarding experiences of my recording career.”
Denny described the songs on the album as “timeless music.” Released in May 1971, Ram included McCartney’s first post-Beatles No. 1 hit in the U.S., “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey.”
Seiwell then noted that a couple of months after the release of Ram, he invited Denny and his wife to England to “hang out.” While there, he told Seiwell he missed playing in a band and asked if he would join his new group Wings.
Denny played on Wings’ first two albums, Wild Life (1971) and Red Rose Speedway (1973), and some popular non-album singles. Among the famous Wings tunes Seiwell contributed to are “Hi Hi Hi,” “My Love,” and “Live And Let Die.”
Conflicts with McCartney led to Seiwell’s departure from Wings in 1973. Denny is among the surviving Wings members who were interviewed in the Man On The Run documentary.
(Photo by Reg Lancaster/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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