The Letterman Podcast 061 Paul Shaffer 

Nice shoutout to Don! He deserves his own Mark Twain prize!

I'm glad that you had this opportunity to interview Paul. I'm also glad that Don Giller was present for this. I watched Late Night beginning in 1986, and watched The Late Show all the way through the end in 2015. I was able to attend one Late Night taping in 1989, and one Late Show taping in 2005. I play the drums and am a great fan of the World's Most Dangerous Band and the CBS Orchestra. As top-tier professional musicians, they were (and still are) my role models. The music on David Letterman's shows was of primary importance to me. When Dave moved from NBC to CBS, I felt it would be a natural progression for Paul to add a horn section, based on his addition of horns for special occasions on Late Night - such as the anniversary shows and Late Night's week of shows in Las Vegas in May 1987 (with the Uptown Horns). Plus, he occasionally had the Tower of Power horns sit in with the WMDB, and they sounded amazing together. So it was interesting to me to learn here that he had declined to add horns for The Late Show at the outset. I understand his reasons behind his decision. By the way, if you haven't seen it, there are a couple of videos on RU-vid of Paul and the WMDB on the Tonight Show in January 1990. They combined with Doc Severinsen and the Tonight Show horns to play the "Late Night" theme, and they blew the roof off.

It was awesome to get Paul for your 1st anniversary podcast. 😎 Loved the guest/play-on music part of the conversation. My favorite play-on's over the years were Jimi Hendrix "Purple Haze" for Richard Lewis, The Beatles "Julia" for Julia Roberts and of course Tommy James's " Hanky Panky" for Tom Hanks. Can't wait for Paul's return! Thanks Mike and everybody involved! 😎

Neat, you got the guy from "A Year at the Top!"

Paul is the best. I'm sure he could do a full time podcast and it would never get old. So much knowledge and stories and insider information about showbiz.

Paul is my musical idol. So talented and skillful. He was also the funniest sidekick. Great interview.

Paul was at the ground zero of music and pop culture for forty years. Incredible career.

Thanks, Mike! Thanks, Paul!

holy shit, I thought I was seeing things , the great Shaff. Not only a great musician but a great comedian.

Great to see and hear from Paul again.

I get Mike's enthusiasm, it's infectious. But cripes, let the guests talk! Especially self starters and showbizz professionals like Paul don't need a 90+ second lead up to a question.

Check out Don's Lyle the Intern compilation! Comedy gold!

Don asked about the transition from Hiram Bullock to Sid McGinnis on guitar. When Paul comes on again, you could ask about the transition from Steve Jordan to Anton Fig. I love the music talk on this show.

Whoa, a huge get! Paul is the man!

I can't believe you got Artie Fufkin from Polymer Records!!! I remember being 9 years old in the summer of '82, playing Dungeons & Dragons in the "rec room" with my brother all night until my mom would call us saying "Letterman is starting!" Then we'd race downstairs and the three of us would laugh until our sides hurt. I miss those wonderful summer nights.

Fantastic discussion! When Paul returns, would love to hear about the making of Dress Cool and You Kill Me. Those songs and videos are great Late Night history!

Great stuff. God, I remember seeing “Song for Herb” on the green monochrome mainframe terminal for the copyright catalog after Don called me at The Library in 1994 and asked me to look up all the names of the players with Paul and band. Nutty.

Wow, Rupert looks exactly the same, hasn't aged a day!

I'm a bigger fan of Late Night than Late Show... And I'm glad to hear Paul says he likes living in the past and nostalgia. I got disappointed when my second favorite group lead singer, REM's Michael Stipe, said that he despises nostalgia.... I'm so glad of Paul's nostalgia and I hope he continues to get more and more clips from Late Night on RU-vid... And let me add one more time, I truly have thought about Paul and everyone he's played with....I don't think anybody is collaborated as much as he has.

Wow, you said that you had a big guest for your anniversary show and I figured it might be Paul. I am sure he was in your top 5 list of ultimate guests. You mentioned Paul's book, and it is indeed outstanding. My 2 favorite autobiographies are by 2 Canadians who made it big in the states and have been friends for decades...Paul and Martin Short. Both books are highly recommended for anyone with an interest in show biz.

Interview begins at 12:08 ⏭️ Paul first talks at 13:40

@12:05 "...Paul Shaffer." yw

Various session players from, for instance, The Wrecking Crew and The Section have played with WAY more musicians than ever appeared on Late Night/Late Show. They played four and five sessions every day for years. They just weren't doing it on TV.

Paul has more talent in his small finger than most musicians have in both hands ~

Can you get me a Letterman jacket? I want one of those more than anything.

1:13:00 Jane Byrne, mayor of Chicago from 1979-1983.

Mike, I hope you can think of a respectful way to ask Paul to recount his story of the ghost of his beloved grandfather coming to him in college when he needed to be inspired, and convincing him that he would be able to have a great career in music. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HQ53OS63gSU.html

A for enthusiasm, but a 15-minute non-intro?

Ok ok.