When you’re with the giants, like Paul McCartney, Elton John, do they share stories or is it all business?
They do. Not so much stories but Paul McCartney said when we finished playing “The Girl Is Mine,” he said, “You guys remind me of my band when we used to be mates and we’d drive around in a van all the time together, the four of us in the back of the car.” That was really endearing.
I’d imagine you’d want to pepper them with questions.
Oh absolutely, I wanted to but it wasn’t the time. I got George Martin aside by myself and asked him questions, different things.
Would you give me one great insight?
I was talking to him about Lennon and McCartney, trying to find out how really great they were and he told me they were unlike anything he’d seen before. It was like Rodgers and Hammerstein or Lerner and Loewe. He said they were spinning out songs, and they were all hit songs, so fast that it was hard for anyone else to get songs on the album.
David Paich – From David Paich on Songwriting & First-Ever Solo LP, ‘Forgotten Toys’ (rockcellarmagazine.com), August 12, 2022
One of my greatest memories is collaborating with Michael Jackson on the best-selling album of all time, Thriller. Helping arrange the Jackson/Paul McCartney duet, ‘The Girl is Mine,’ is still a musical highlight in my career.
David Paich – From David Paich on Songwriting & First-Ever Solo LP, ‘Forgotten Toys’ (rockcellarmagazine.com), August 12, 2022
Albums, EPs & singles which David Paich contributed to
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By Michael Jackson • Official album
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By Michael Jackson • 7" Single
