Why Paul McCartney Rejected a Legendary Drummer for Being Too Good for Wings

When Wings began to take flight from the ashes of The Beatles' demise in the early 1970s, Paul McCartney was tasked with crafting a band that could harbour his creative ambitions.

The release of RAM in 1971, a collaborative album between Paul and his wife, Linda McCartney — along with a group of hired session musicians — reignited the musician's desire to return to a membered musical group, one that would eventually tour the world performing, as his former band once did at the height of Beatlemania.

The solution for McCartney, rather than reaching out to his rolodex of successful celebrity friends, was to hold a small, private audition for local musicians in New York City. The auditions ended with McCartney eventually hiring drummer Denny Seiwell for what would be known as Wings (sometimes stylized as Paul McCartney + Wings) - a name that came to McCartney during the traumatic birth of his daughter Stella that same year, in which he prayed his baby girl would be delivered "on the wings of an angel".

Paul McCartney “Didn’t Want Heavyweights” for Wings

After collaborating with wife Linda on RAM, McCartney leaned into the homemade quality of their recent collaboration, as well as that of McCartney, his debut album recorded and released in secret during the last months of The Beatles in 1970.

Linda, a talented rock music photographer, had expertise in showcasing the cultural importance and craftsmanship involved in making music, but didn't know how to play music for herself until her husband taught her keyboards during the recording of McCartney, eventually hiring her as a permanent member of his new band.

McCartney wanted a similar, casual vibe for the remaining members of the band, and the invitations were thus equally informal.

“I just put the word out through my office that I was in town and wanted to look at drummers,” McCartney recalled in an interview with Billboard in 2001.

One hopeful auditionee who showed up was Bernard Purdie, a titan of modern drumming who worked alongside Aretha Franklin and James Brown, and pioneered the "Purdie Shuffle" backbeat. As strange as it may sound, Purdie was too qualified for the job, and McCartney opted for that scrappy quality of passionate rock music that would match Linda's level of expertise and earnestness.

“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, Paul's personal choice, was the right kind of chemistry the icon was looking for. "[Denny] 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."