David Spinozza

About

From Wikipedia:

David Spinozza is an American guitarist and producer. He worked with former Beatles Paul McCartney and John Lennon during the 1970s, and had a long collaboration with singer-songwriter James Taylor, producing Taylor’s album Walking Man.

Spinozza worked with McCartney during sessions for McCartney’s Ram album during 1971. When the chance came to work with Lennon two years later, as Yoko Ono prepared her Feeling the Space album and Lennon his Mind Games, Spinozza discovered that Lennon was not aware he had previously worked with McCartney, and was afraid he would be fired if Lennon found out, given their recent feuding in the media. When Lennon did learn of it, his only comment was that McCartney “knows how to pick good people.” […]

From Guitar World, September 21, 2012:

I am now obligated to ask about a few momentous sessions in your career and hear what you have to say about them. Let’s start in 1971, Paul McCartney and Ram.

Who’s Paul? [laughs] Oh yeah, he was the cute Beatle! Yes I did that record with him.

But do you remember anything about it?

He was very cute. But all kidding aside, he’s as talented as he is cute. I was not a big Beatles fan, but having done the record and worked with him, he’s everything we think he is. A brilliant songwriter and singer, a very creative man.

David Spinozza participated to the recording of “Ram” in 1971, before being replaced by Hugh McCracken. Denny Seiwell, drummer on the “RAM” sessions, explained what happened:

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 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.” We were all real busy, but Spinozza saw that we’d be sometimes finished by two or three in the afternoon. So he took a date, like a four o’clock session or something. And one day he said to Paul, “You mind if I take off? I have to do something.” And Paul thought, “Oh, that’s not what we agreed on here.”

Denny Seiwell, interview with The Morton Report, 2012

Last updated on February 2, 2022