The Genius of Paul Shaffer

I'm a fan of the Late Show with David Letterman. One of the best things about the show is the (short) music that Paul Shaffer and his band play (when guests are introduced, or at the end of a joke, etc.). He always comes up with songs that are pertinent to the moments.

For example, last night, Dave was talking about an audience member (whose name is Denise). At the end of the joke, Paul played the song "Denise" (Randy and the Rainbows, Blondie). Dave then mentioned that Denise said that her and his (i.e., Dave's) birthdays are eight days apart, at which point Paul played the Beatles' "Eight Days a Week."

As another example, a month ago, Robert Downey Jr. came to promote his Sherlock Holmes movie. As he was introduced, Paul played "Baker Street" (Gerry Rafferty).

It's always a joy to watch him come up with these songs. I wonder whether he has a database of songs in a computer, or in his head. In any case, he's a genius!

 

Paul has been doing this for more than 20 years. I agree, his knowledge of music is almost encyclopedic. And sometimes, his musical jokes are so "inside," it takes you five minutes to figure out what he's saying. I've never seen a talkshow bandleader be able to spin on a dime as fast as he does.

 

I loved it when he played Push Push In the Bush as Barbara Bush's intro years ago. A sly one that Paul!

 

His bio got a nice review in the Sunday NYT, but I can't recommend it from personal experience. It does look good, and the sample interview on amazon is terrific. Check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/Well-Here-Res...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265160648&sr=1-1

 

You don't think those musical bits get determined and rehearsed in advance? I seriously doubt all of those are ad-libbed. Just saying....

 

I'm sure that some (or even most) are determined in advance (especially the songs when guests are introduced). But that doesn't diminish my admiration for him. It's the connections that he is able to make that I enjoy. Sometimes the connections are very subtle.

 

Agree that his musical knowledge is impressive. My comment was not made to downgrade him.

 

My favorite cut by Paul-

his solo piano accompaniment(sp?) to John Belushi singing "Guilty" on the second Blues Brothers album.

Nothing earth shattering. Just perfect.

.

 

Paul was also the musical director in the Blues Brothers.

He's the man as far as music, but he's a bore when he continually repeats verbatim the words that just came out of Dave's mouth.

 

Guess that's the curse of Wacky Bandleader Sidekick.

I presume the blessing is a fat paycheck.

Well earned. He really is a supreme musician.

 

Well nobody is perfect

 

He's a walking encyclopedia....

 

Watch the Top Ten lists with an outside presenter some time; Dave does the same thing!

 

I've seen Julia Roberts a few times on Letterman and Paul always plays Julia (Beatles). I wonder if she's ever heard it!

 

Dissed?

I'll never forget Captain Beefheart's reaction to Paul's
playing when he was guest on the Letterman show in
the early 80s. Classic stuff. Can anybody post the clip?

 

That is incorrect, Paul didn't join Dave until "Late Night"

 

It's an homage to Carson/McMahon, as they would do it during "Karnac". It's absurdist comedy, and a trademark of the show since the beginning. I actually enjoy it, and I would imagine most Letterman viewers do as well.

 

If you want a taste of his musical mimicry skills, tune in during a PBS pledge drive when they're playing Ed Sullivan's Rock & Roll.

Evan

 

It was on youtube, dunno if it's still up. That's when Letterman introduced each member of the band to the Captain and every time CB responded with "you're good!". That is, until Paul was introduced---Beefheart just said "hi."

Brilliant! It's exactly how I feel toward Schaeffer. To say more would be a threadcrap, I suppose.

 

I think we can discuss a person's strengths and weaknesses in a fair manner and without it being a threadcrap. I'm not familiar with the episode that you described. Are you talking about his ability to play musical instruments? Thanks.

 

It's obvious that he can play musical instruments, but I see absolutely no evidence of genius. I hear nothing that rises above the pedestrian in his playing. It's just my personal taste, but I have never cared for his work. I also find his personality to be unctuous and smarmy, and this informs the music he plays. To me, Paul is the musical equivalent of William Shatner.

I apply the term "genius" to folks like Beefheart, and thought CB's reaction to Schaffer was just perfect. I took it as vindication for my appraisal of Schaffer's alleged talents.


Here's the link to youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agY5futKyoI

Check out CB's reaction when the video for Ice Cream for Crow is cut short.

 

Why would anyone want to compare Paul Shaffer to Captain Beefheart, much less become disagreeable over which, if either, is a 'genius'? And by the way, the OP isn't saying Shaffer is a genius, he's saying that Shaffer has some kind of genius. At least that's the way I read it.

 

It also acts as a vindication of my opinion that Beefheart was frequently petty towards musicians that were far more successful than he, but with less talent (in his view). Lets face it, CB could be a real jerk at times. Sorry for the threadcrap