Paul Shaffer was David Letterman's on-air right-hand man on Late Night with David Letterman from 1982 to 1993. He was also the musical director and band leader for the NBC show.
From 1993 to 2015, Shaffer was the band leader and musical director for the CBS show Late Show with David Letterman.
Before his successful career with Letterman, the musician served as a featured player on Saturday Night Live from 1975 to 1980. And starting in 1986, he was the musical director and producer for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony for the next 25 years.
Shaffer has become a staple in the music industry, but he has no formal training. "You know, I didn't go to a music school. I studied sociology in college. Piano lessons and the like (are) really my only training," Shaffer said.
His entire career almost looked completely different because the musician initially turned down working with David Letterman.
While working with David Letterman, Paul Shaffer had unusually free rein to do what he pleased, including interrupting guest interviews.
"He [Letterman] said in the beginning ... 'Say whatever you want,'" Shaffer stated. "Basically, he gave me carte blanche, and he said at one point, 'If you have anything, even if I'm in the middle of interviewing a guest, barge in.'"
Shaffer continued, "He [Letterman] said, 'You know if you have anything to say, jump in, even if I have a guest.' I couldn't believe he said that."
"I don't know how many bosses would say that. So, as a result, I had a confidence working with him and improvising with him that I didn't have anywhere else," said Shaffer.
Shaffer's 33 years with David Letterman were almost nonexistent. The musician had initially passed on the job to be Letterman's sidekick.
Shaffer recalls the first time he heard of David Letterman, "In the '70s. The late, great Howard Johnson, the musician, who we just lost last year, was in the house band at SNL on tuba and bari sax. He had a crazy idea around '78 about a special about tubas. He was going to sell the NBC network on it: Tuba Special."
He continued, "That was the main thing he had, except for the host. He said, "I want this guy David Letterman. He's a new comic that seems like he'd be open-minded enough to get a special like this."
After that happened, Shaffer says that was the first time he truly noticed Letterman, "I had heard of David before that, but that was the first time I took note of that name."
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When he got the first offer for Letterman's show, Shaffer passed on it:
"Then I got called for the morning David Letterman Show. It was going to start right after my five-year Saturday Night Live tenure had ended, and it didn't seem right for me to jump right into another show. I passed on it. Then I started watching in the morning and thought, Oh my goodness, this is hilarious. Then when they got canceled, and they didn't give a damn anymore, they got really hilarious."
Shaffer's love of the show led him to reconsider his initial "no," and the rest is, as they say, history.
Perhaps two of the most famous men in late-night television, these two had quite the run, and their relationship seems to be a smooth ride.
When asked if he and Letterman get along behind the scenes, Shaffer said: "Yes, we do. He wants to keep the friendship going, and I think it's just terrific."
"We always got along great, hit it off great. He was so encouraging to me." Shaffer said.
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"He really gave me a lot of confidence. It was really improvising with him every night, but he is one of the fastest and funniest guys that I have ever run into. Getting to improvise with him every night was really great. I couldn't do it with anybody else."
While doing a show in Vegas with Letterman, Shaffer said, "This is show business friendship of the highest order, and it goes beyond show business friendship into an actual friendship," Shaffer said in his introduction for the talk show host.
"This guy, I gotta say over the course of 33 years that I worked for him night after night on NBC and then on CBS, he has become my best friend in the world."
What does Letterman have to say about Shaffer? In the same show, Letterman said, "Paul Shaffer and I met years ago at a Scientology mixer," he joked.
"Let me convey to you how lucky you are to be here. This man did for me for 33 years something that I will never be able to repay - what a friend - you know he is a musical great because all of the musical greats know Paul and have worked with Paul, and that is how you know you are dealing with a great musician."
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Suffice it to say, the relationship between the two and their past working together was a positive experience.