Denny Seiwell (born July 10, 1943) is an American

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

and a founding member of

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

. He also drummed for

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

and

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy ...

and played in the scores for the films ''

Waterworld ''Waterworld'' is a 1995 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Kevin Reynolds and co-written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. It was based on Rader's original 1986 screenplay and stars Kevin Costner, who also produced it with Charl ...

'', '' Grease II'', and ''

Vertical Limit ''Vertical Limit'' is a 2000 American survival thriller film directed by Martin Campbell, written by Robert King, and starring Chris O'Donnell, Bill Paxton, Robin Tunney, and Scott Glenn. The film was released on December 8, 2000, in the United ...

''. His drumming was used in TV shows such as ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most succ ...

'' and ''

Knots Landing ''Knots Landing'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of ''Dallas'', it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles and initially centered on the lives of ...

''.

Biography

Seiwell was born and raised in

Lehighton, Pennsylvania Lehighton () is a borough in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Lehighton is located northwest of Allentown and northwest of Philadelphia. Due in part to water power from the Lehigh River, Lehighton was an ...

, the son of Donald Seiwell and Fay Carrigan. He is a graduate of Lehighton High School and was a member of the first Carbon County Band in 1961. After graduating from high school, Seiwell enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, in the rate of Musician, playing in the Navy Band. He moved to New York City and caught the eye of McCartney, who recruited him to be in his band Wings and according to Seiwell, the band was like one big family living between

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and the McCartneys' farm in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. After leaving the band, Seiwell eventually moved to Los Angeles, where he has resided since 1975. Seiwell stated in 2019 that he and McCartney have kept in touch since 1993. In 2021, Seiwell produced ''Ram On – The 50th Anniversary Tribute to Paul and

Linda McCartney Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, vegetarian cookbook author and advocate, and entrepreneur. She was the keyboardist in th ...

Ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

'' with

Fernando Perdomo Fernando Jose Perdomo (born August 17, 1980) is an American musician best known for his work as a producer and session bassist and guitarist. Career Fernando started his career as a session guitar player after playing in Miami Bands, Avenging ...

Discography

Paul Paul may refer to: Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
and
Linda McCartney Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, vegetarian cookbook author and advocate, and entrepreneur. She was the keyboardist in th ...

* 1971: ''

'' (

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

)

Paul McCartney and Wings Wings were a British-American rock band formed in 1971 by former Beatle bassist Paul McCartney, his wife Linda McCartney on keyboards, session drummer Denny Seiwell, and former Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine. Wings were noted for their co ...

; Studio albums: * 1971: '' Wild Life'' (

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

) * 1973: ''

Red Rose Speedway ''Red Rose Speedway'' is the second studio album by the British–American rock band Wings, although credited to "Paul McCartney and Wings". The album was released by Beatles-owned label Apple Records in April 1973, preceded by its lead single, t ...

'' (Apple/EMI) ; Singles: These are singles that have not appeared on any official album except on compilations. * 1972: ''C Moon'' * 1972: ''Mary Had a Little Lamb'' * 1972: ''Hi, Hi, Hi'' * 1972: ''My Love'' ; Compilations: * 1978: ''

Wings Greatest ''Wings Greatest'' is a 1978 compilation album by the British–American rock band Wings and their eighth album as well as Paul McCartney's tenth since leaving the Beatles. It was the band's last release through Capitol in the US. The album is n ...

'' (EMI) * 1987: ''All the Best!'' - Performs on ''C Moon'', ''Another Day'', ''Live and Let Die'' and ''Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey''. * 2001: ''

Wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

'' (EMI) * 2016: '' Pure McCartney'' - Performs on ''Heart of the Country'', ''Dear Boy'', ''Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey'', ''Too Many People'' and ''The Back Seat of My Car''. ; Soundtrack: * '' Live and Let Die'' - Plays on the title track. ; Single: * 1973: '' Live and Let Die'' (Apple/EMI) - Single

Various

* 1969:

Kai Winding Kai Chresten Winding ( ; May 18, 1922 – May 6, 1983) was a Danish-born American trombonist and jazz composer. He is known for his collaborations with fellow trombonist J. J. Johnson. His version of "More", the theme from the movie ''Mondo Ca ...

/JJ Johnson – ''Betwixt and Between'' (

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

) * 1970:

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...

– ''

Take Me to Tomorrow ''Take Me to Tomorrow'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter John Denver. It was released in May 1970. Track listing Personnel Musicians *John Denver – electric and acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, vocals, arrange ...

'' (RCA) * 1971:

Astrud Gilberto Astrud Gilberto (; born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, March 29, 1940) is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She gained international attention in the 1960s following her recording of the song "The Girl from Ipanema". Biography Astrud Gilbert ...

– '' Gilberto with Turrentine'' ( CTI) * 1971:

– '' Cold Spring Harbor'' ( Columbia) * 1973:

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

– ''

Essence to Essence ''Essence to Essence'' is the eleventh studio album, and thirteenth album overall, from British singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in both the UK (Epic SEPC 69050) and the US (Epic KE 32800) in December 1973. History By late 1973, Donov ...

'' ( Epic) * 1975:

Keith Godchaux Keith Richard Godchaux (July 19, 1948 – July 23, 1980) was a pianist best known for his tenure in the rock group the Grateful Dead from 1971 to 1979. Biography Godchaux was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in Concord, California ...

and

Donna Godchaux Donna may refer to the short form of the honorific ''nobildonna'', the female form of Don (honorific) in Italian. People *Donna (given name); includes name origin and list of people and characters with the name * Roberto Di Donna (born 1968), Ita ...

– '' Keith & Donna'' (Round) * 1975:

Art Garfunkel Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, poet, and actor. He is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Highlights of Garfunkel's solo music career include one top-10 ...

– '' Breakaway'' (Columbia) * 1977:

Rick Danko Richard Clare Danko (December 29, 1943 – December 10, 1999) was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. During ...

– ''

'' ( Arista) * 1977:

– '' Tropical Nights'' (Columbia) * 1982:

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known Rock music, rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage ...

– ''

Farewell Song ''Farewell Song'' is a 1982 collection of nine previously unreleased recordings of Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Kozmic Blues Band, and Full Tilt Boogie Band. Tracks include ''Cheap Thrills (Big Brother and the Hold ...

'' (Columbia) - Posthumous compilation * 1984: Deniece Williams – ''I'm So Proud'' (Columbia)

Production

* 2021: ''Ram On - The 50th Anniversary Tribute to Paul and Linda McCartney's Ram'' - With Fernando Perdomo

References

External links

Denny Seiwell's web siteDenny Seiwell Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2016)
Paul McCartney and Wings members People from Lehighton, Pennsylvania Living people 1943 births American rock drummers American session musicians American expatriates in the United Kingdom 20th-century American drummers American male drummers World Classic Rockers members {{US-drummer-stub