#10 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS
I was recording at the Record Plant studio complex in L.A. many years ago. Out of the studio next to the one I was working in walks Paul McCartney, who invited me in to listen to a track he was working on. Cool guy.
Flash forward to the Super Bowl pregame show in 2005. All of the sudden, I leaned to looked closer at the TV. "What the heck?!" There on stage was a buddy of mine playing with Paul. I emailed him a few days later and asked how that came about (he was flying to their base in Paris on a Gulfstream :-)
Cool story. That show was his AUDITION. He'd never rehearsed with Paul.
He told me he'd woodshedded for two months after being told he'd have an audition (thanks to his friendship with Abraham Laborial, Jr, Paul's incredible drummer with whom he'd been doing low paying pickup gigs with in Europe before Abe got the gig), learning every part on guitar, bass, and background vocals, not knowing the audition was going to be the SB party.
"I was sure that after the gig Paul would clap me on the back and say, "nice to meet you," he said, and that would be that. Paul did get up after dinner, clap me on the back, and say, "great job! We'll see you at rehearsals." Still with Paul after 20+ years. I flew up to Detroit for a Paul gig several years ago. Gotta tell ya, he's is one of the nicest people you could ever meet.
My friend went from being a semi-poor 50-ish musician to building a beachfront house in Santa Monica a few years ago. Couldn't have happened to a better guy.
