Paul McCartney holds secret auditions for a drummer

After discussions in July with his lawyer and brother-in-law John Eastman, Paul McCartney decided to record his second studio album in New York. He envisioned a more sophisticated record than “McCartney,” one that would benefit from the contribution of seasoned session musicians.

Once Paul and Linda had confirmed their dates, John Eastman, based in New York, began the preparations. Through the American Federation of Musicians, he contacted guitarist Barry Kornfeld, who compiled a list of drummers and guitarists for Paul to audition. Eastman also booked rooms for the auditions and reserved six weeks at CBS Studios, beginning on October 12.

On October 9, two days after arriving in New York with his family, Paul held secret auditions for a drummer. At the end of the sessions, he selected three candidates, with the idea of using each for one week. The first was 27-year-old Denny Seiwell. Seiwell’s personality and playing immediately impressed Paul, and after a smooth first week, he decided to retain him permanently, cancelling the other drummers’ bookings.

The next day, Paul began auditions for a guitarist.

When we were in New York to do Ram, I held auditions for a drummer. It was embarrassing. I’ve never auditioned anyone before. I hired a depressing basement with a tatty drum kit in it. I’d auditioned quite a few drummers and then Denny (Seiwell) walked in. Apart from anything else, he was a lot younger than the others. Some drummers just couldn’t play in there. Denny went straight for the tom-toms and within seconds, the room began to throb. I was sold! He’s also a technically good drummer, and has a bass voice.

Paul McCartney – Interview with Disc And Music Echo, November 1971

I auditioned drummers and guitarists when I came to New York to do “Ram”. I knew I wanted to work in New York, because Linda was from New York and fancied spending some time here, and I liked the idea of working with American musicians, so I just put the word out through my office that I was in town and wanted to look at drummers. People like Bernard Purdie came along, but I was looking for a new band rather than the Blind Faith thing, so I didn’t really want heavyweights.

Denny Seiwell came along, and he was just great, the best. He had a great attitude, and we got on great; he was a real good all-arounder and he was funky, and we had a laugh.

Paul McCartney, interview for Billboard, 2001

When we got to New York we started to audition musicians. I put the word out via a couple of people and some drummers came by to play. Denny Seiwell, who had been working as a session man, was the best. He’s a nice guy and we got on well, so we started the Ram sessions with him.

Paul McCartney – From “Wingspan – Paul McCartney’s Band On The Run“, 2002

I thought, “How do you do this? What are you going to do? Am I just going to look around the world, go to every gig and see who is great and approach a drummer and try to poach him from another band?” It didn’t seem like a good idea to me, so we hit upon the idea of doing auditions. So Linda would phone New York, and we went over, and I just held auditions and I got someone who knew the scene there, knew who the good players were, and we just got some lousy warehouse basement or something – it wasn’t even a posh rehearsal room, it was just some space. We set up a kit there – hired a kit, set it up – and then just asked people to come in, and I would kinda say, “Can you play a funky beat?” “Can you play a straight rock and roll thing?” “Can you do a reggae beat?” And out of all the drummers – many of whom impressed me – the one who I liked best, who I thought was a really good drummer with a very interesting style, was Denny Seiwell. And it turned out Denny was an accomplished session musician.

Paul McCartney – From “RAM – Archive Collection“, 2012

We found a grotty little basement and auditioned a bunch of people. We got someone to throw a lot of drummers at us, out of which we picked Denny Seiwell, a really good session guy, a fun person that you could get on with.

Paul McCartney – From “Conversations with McCartney” by Paul du Noyer, 2016

So let’s take it to October of ’71 and Paul and Linda fly to New York to begin Ram sessions. They had contacted the Apple offices in New York and put out feelers for drummers. What can you tell us about your first contact with either Apple, or Paul directly, who you first spoke to?

Yeah, I didn’t know this was an audition. I got a call from my service radio registry saying ‘You’ve just had something cancel out but Barry Cornfeld asked us to book you for a demo, if you would do it, down at some address on, like, 43rd St. between 8th and 9th Avenue.’ I said ‘Geez, that’s kinda weird, I didn’t even know there’s a studio there.’ [laughs] ‘But yeah, OK.’ So I go to this building and it really looks like its about to be torn down. You know—busted windows and everything. It looks like it’s not inhabited at all. And I walk in and I say [to myself] ‘Oooh this doesn’t look good.’ And there’s a guy sitting there at the desk, and I said ‘Is there a demo going on here?’ He said ‘Yeah, basement.’ And I went ‘Oh, shit!’ So I go down to the basement and there’s no furniture, no nothing, it’s just brick, dirt floor, bricks and a set of drums in the middle of it. And there’s Paul and Linda sitting over there in the corner.

And you immediately recognize them?

Yeah, I said ‘Oh, you’re Paul Mc…’ [Paul] ‘Yeah, how ya doin’?’ And he said ‘Yeah, we’re in town, we’re looking to do a record here and we just wanted to look at some players, would you mind playing for us?’ And I said ‘Sure, I don’t mind. D’you have a guitar or something?’ He said ‘No, just you!’ ‘Sure, OK.’ And I had actually had a couple of tom-toms with me from another session and the set of drums there was less than desirable. So I said ‘Do you mind if I just throw my ‘toms’ up?’ He said ‘Sure, go ahead.’ Two seconds later I had my ‘toms’ up, I sat down and just started wailing away.

Anything in particular?

Oh he said ‘Play some Rock ‘n’ Roll time, shuffle times, some of this… And soon as I played any kind of Rock ‘n’ Roll beat I went right to Beatles! [laughs] The tom-tom stuff and uh, I mean I don’t play an ‘in the End’ drum solo or any of that stuff but I, you know, just sat down and played a groove, you know. He liked my attitude as well as my playing. Because initially he was gonna start with… about a week later I got the phone call. Not a week, a few days later I guess, I got the phone call. He said ‘I’d like you to do this record with me and I want to book you for a week.’ And I understand that he was going to have me do the first week, a drummer named Donald McDonald do the second week and then Herb Lavelle do the third week. And that’s the way it was going to go. And after the first couple of days he just cancelled those guys and I did the whole six weeks.

Denny Seiwell – Interview with Beatlology Magazine, 2001

Paul held some clandestine auditions. He and Linda found out who the happening guys in town were. They just called them in to meet them and to see what they were like as people. And he selected [guitarist David] Spinozza and me. Paul asked us to not book any dates. This is really what happened. He said, “I want your time for three weeks. Just don’t book any sessions, I’d like to hire you from nine to six daily.”

Denny Seiwell – From interview with The Morton Report, 2012

I heard about the auditions in New York through Barry Kornfeld, a guitar player whom Paul had asked to submit a few names, but I didn’t know that it was an audition. I got a call — we had a service at the time called Radio Registry. They’d call you up and say, “You’re needed at so-and-so at 10am for such-and-such a producer; can you do the job?” So they’re kind of your booking agent. They called me saying, “You had a job cancel, but Barry Kornfeld just called and asked if you would do a demo for him?” Now, I was so busy at the time that I didn’t usually accept demos, but I just had a job cancel, so I said, “Yeah, sure. Where is it?” I walked down to this building and believe me, it was like a burnt-out building on the west side of town, like a crack house or something. I walked in and there was a guy sitting at the desk in the lobby and I said, “Hey, is there a studio here?” He pointed to the basement and I thought, ‘Oh no, I’m going to get mugged here’. So I walked down to this basement and there’s Paul and Linda – that’s it! There was a ratty set of drums that they rented… I believe it was almost a dirt floor – there might not have been electricity in the building; it was really clandestine! I walked in and said, “Hey, you’re Paul McCartney!” And he goes, “Yeah man, how are ya?” I said, “What’s up?” He said, “Well, we’re here in town, we’re looking at some drummers – we want to record an album.” I said, “Great,” and he asked me to play for him. I had a couple of tom-toms with me from a prior date – it was just a little case with two tom-toms in it – and I looked at the drum set and I said, “Do you mind if I just take a second and set up my toms so I can have a little more fun?” He said, “Sure”. So I just threw the rented stuff out, set mine and I said, “You got a bass or a guitar or something to play with?” He said, “Nah, I just want to hear you.” I went, “Ooh, that’s kind of strange.” But then I thought, what the hell; if you can’t get on by yourself, how you going to get it on with somebody else? I believe that he liked that; I think I came in with a good attitude. I said, “Well, what do you want to hear?” and he said, “Just play some rock and roll time.” So immediately I thought, ‘What would Ringo do?’ So I just went to the tom-toms and just kicked ass for thirty seconds or whatever. He said, “Well, how about a shuffle?” He had me just go through a few different flavours and styles of rock and roll drumming, and I did so gladly. Then he said, “Hey, thanks a lot man”, and left. We were playing with all kinds of big names – not as big a name as Paul McCartney or The Beatles, gimme a break – but I was used to not going in and stepping all over myself at some celebrity. And I had a lot of confidence – I was the new kid in town. I was very much in demand. So this job didn’t mean that much to me – it was just another of many jobs coming my way. I figured if it was supposed to be, it’ll be. So I wasn’t really taken aback by his celebrity, and we kind of hit it off right away. I made him laugh a few times; we just had a few giggles. It was a really fun thing. I don’t think I was there more than fifteen or twenty minutes. I don’t know how many days later, but I get a call from Paul. He said, “We’d like you to make this record with us here in New York. We want to start on such-and-such a date, are you available?” I said, “Just a second, let me get my book, I’ll look at it.” (Laughs) And immediately I just jumped up in the air – I was airborne, I was so excited. But I was trying to be cool. I said, “Yeah, count me in.”

Paul McCartney – From “RAM – Archive Collection“, 2012

Do you think personality weighed into the selection process for Paul McCartney’s musicians?

Absolutely. We had a lot of fun during the interview process. I made him laugh a couple of times. We both seemed really comfortable with each other and he just liked my playing and my attitude. When he first hired me, he hired three drummers to do the “Ram” album and he booked each guy for a week. After the first couple of days, I was the first guy in the studio. After the first couple of days, he called the two other guys and just canceled them. He said “I’m going to use this Denny guy for the rest of the record.” We hit it off right off the bat and had a great time making that record. It was one of the highlights of my life. It is the best record that I’ve ever made of all the records I did make. “Ram” is by far the best recording.

Denny Seiwell – From interview with Classic Bands, 2013

Paul came to town and asked a “folky” friend of mine, guitarist Barry Kornfeld to provide him with a list of 10-12 top guys that are doing the best recordings; the “first call” players. I was on that list. So, when Paul set up the audition, nobody knew it was audition. We got a call from our registry answering service, and they just told us that I had a demo for Barry Kornfeld.

I just had a cancellation, and I usually didn’t do demos but I had an open slot. I got there, and it’s not a studio. It’s a brownstone way over on the west side, looking like It’s about to be renovated. What is this?!?

I go up to the lobby’s desk in this uninhabited building. This guy points me downstairs and there’s Paul and Linda sitting in a dirt floor-basement and a ratty set of drums from SIR Studios. I say, “You’re Paul McCartney!” He say’s “Yeah, I know! We’re in town and going to record an album, so we’re looking at drummers. Do you mind playing for me? No guitar or anything; just you. Play some rock and roll time for me.”

I went right into my Ringo bag, and he put me through the paces of a couple of different styles. We had a bunch of laughs; he could see my willingness to do whatever he needed. He liked my attitude about it all.

I then started hearing that all of the guys were getting called to do it, so I figured I’d never get it, as these other guys are great. Three days later I get a call and it’s him! He said he wants me to do his album. I’m in shock at the time, and tell him to let me check my book!

Denny Seiwell – From DENNY SEIWELL: ON SIR PAUL’S WINGS – Jazz Weekly, April 2019

Going further

The McCartney Legacy: Volume 1: 1969 – 73

In this first of a groundbreaking multivolume set, THE MCCARTNEY LEGACY, VOL 1: 1969-73 captures the life of Paul McCartney in the years immediately following the dissolution of the Beatles, a period in which McCartney recreated himself as both a man and a musician. Informed by hundreds of interviews, extensive ground up research, and thousands of never-before-seen documents THE MCCARTNEY LEGACY, VOL 1 is an in depth, revealing exploration of McCartney’s creative and personal lives beyond the Beatles.

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The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years

With greatly expanded text, this is the most revealing and frank personal 30-year chronicle of the group ever written. Insider Barry Miles covers the Beatles story from childhood to the break-up of the group.

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The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After The Break-Up 1970-2001

An updated edition of the best-seller. The story of what happened to the band members, their families and friends after the 1970 break-up is brought right up to date. A fascinating and meticulous piece of Beatles scholarship.

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Maccazine - Volume 40, Issue 3 - RAM Part 1 - Timeline

This very special RAM special is the first in a series. This is a Timeline for 1970 – 1971 when McCartney started writing and planning RAM in the summer of 1970 and ending with the release of the first Wings album WILD LIFE in December 1971. [...] One thing I noted when exploring the material inside the deluxe RAM remaster is that the book contains many mistakes. A couple of dates are completely inaccurate and the story is far from complete. For this reason, I started to compile a Timeline for the 1970/1971 period filling the gaps and correcting the mistakes. The result is this Maccazine special. As the Timeline was way too long for one special, we decided to do a double issue (issue 3, 2012 and issue 1, 2013).