The Rosado Reader-Book Review - The Cultute of Pop, DVD, Movie, TV, Pop Culture Review

The Rosado Reader-Book Review

Posted: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 23:57:05 PST

We'll Be Here For The Rest Of Our Lives:

A Swingin' Showbiz Saga

by Paul Shaffer (with David Ritz)

Doubleday/Flying Dolphin Press; 322 p.

Although it's been out for a while, long time David Letterman musical sidekick Paul Shaffer's book We'll Be Here For The Rest Of Our Lives has been on my must read list forever. If there's ever been an upside to being unemployed, it's having lots of time to catch up with biographical tombs like this one, especially given my adoration for one of Canada's greatest entertainment exports to the good old USA.

You see, Paul is the original music geek...Not unlike guys like me that write blogs enthusiastically raving about musical, literary and movie faves with a childlike enthusiasm we hope becomes contagious...and that's a term which never fails to come to mind whenever I see Shaffer on television. Unless you have a heart of stone, you gotta love this guy.

I didn't think it possible that my respect for Shaffer could increase, but We'll Be Here. has.. Written in an almost musical tempo with a narrative that goes back and forth in time at lightning speed, Shaffer's childhood was blessed with hip musical parents who encouraged his passion from an early age, even letting him tag along on a Las Vegas trip to be enthralled by the likes of Louis Prima, Keely Smith, and a late night set from Sarah Vaughn.

Gee, my over protective parents only let me go as far as the record section of the department store..

So thank God for characters like Paul that I've been able to live thru vicariously for years, and there are dozens upon dozens of funny, hilarious and touching Shaffer recollections as he crosses paths with everyone from a stoic Bob Dylan (with a most unusual request I won't spoil here) to Mickey Rooney. There's also great tales from his days at Saturday Night Live, including his now infamous accidental flub that resulted in him being the first known person to say the dreaded “F” word on live television.

Speaking of comedy, Shaffer writes in great detail about his lifelong friendships with Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, and Gilda Radner, all of whom bonded together in their pre-America salad days in Canada. Music lovers won't be disappointed as he rattles off behind the scenes stories with Ray Charles, James Brown, B.B. King, and Sammy Davis, to name but a few...but perhaps one of the most entertaining music related tale in the book is Shaffer's relationship with recently dearly departed music mogul Don Kirshner, who talked like an over caffeinated auctioneer in public, only to freeze in front of the camera, speaking in halted bursts of speech while taping intros for his Rock Concert television series, which in turn, provided the basis for Shaffer's brilliant impersonation in the original heyday of Saturday Night Live....

...and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention another amazing musical accomplishment Shaffer achieved during his SNL tenure: The Blues Brothers; the classic collaboration between blues fans John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd, whose band was hand picked by Shaffer. Though the companion album became an unexpected number one smash, the project eventually broke Shaffer's heart in time, a period he writes candidly about when forced to make a decision to play, arrange and act in the Blues Brothers movie or stay behind and help Gilda Radner record the soundtrack for her Broadway debut.

Hint: Let's just say Joliet Jake was not a happy camper with Shaffer.

If there's any disappointment in the book is the lack of David Letterman related stories. Oh, Dave's not completely absent; there's a terrific bit on Shaffer's first meeting with his new boss, a touching story of a hush-hush Late Show holiday visit to Iraq with beloved stage manager Biff Henderson in tow, and a memorable night where he bloodied Mel Gibson pretty good when he tried to turn the Oscar winner's pants into shorts.

But my hope is Shaffer has a multitude of additional adventure in reserve for a second volume of star studded anecdotes. Even though the book is filled with many a superstar, 300 pages pages barely scratches the surface of the whole picture. Still, We'll Be Here For The Rest Of Our Lives more than suffices for now. It's a breezy, endlessly entertaining quick read that you'll go back to again and again like a vintage Phil Spector single.

-J.R.

Jeffrey Rosado is a writer, pop culture historian, performer and all around nice guy....until he misses Letterman's Top Ten list. Oh, you can read it online the next day, but it won't have the same seasoning.

Follow Jeff on Twitter: marquee_man