Staff Favorite Moments: Bassist Will Lee | Letterman

The bassist for The World's Most Dangerous Band and the CBS Orchestra remembers jamming with the Godfather of Soul, "Dress Cool" and more.

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Welcome to the Letterman YouTube Channel, home to all your favorite clips from Late Night and Late Show - as well as conversations with the writers, producers and performers who helped make it all happen. And for those of you who like Miscellaneous, you may very well find some Miscellaneous here.

[thelettermanpodcast]

Our boy Will Lee is a legend!
We’ve had him on our show, and look forward to having him on again.
These moments of reflection are so special, thanks so much for all the thought and care put into these staff favorite moments!

[kstepko]

Good to know that Will was the vocalist for those theme songs. They were one of my favourite parts of the show!

[JCO]

Wow, he's got a hell of a vocal range! Couldn't believe it when he hit that last note in McCarthur's Park. Incredible!

[davewestner]

Jeez, that last note on McArthrur badass.
One thing that Will didn't mention about the jumping section of the LNWDL theme is that he would occasionally throw in the "NBC Chimes" melody on those three "bah bah bam". Always love a little musical Easter Egg.
And I've probably written this in the comment section of every one of these that the band's been in, but these guys are huge heroes to me. The way they'd back up artists on Late Night as if they'd played the songs 1000 times before always blew me away. I learned a lot about the spirit of music from watching Will, Anton, Paul and and Sid pull it off night after night.

[porcorosso]

Absolute legend! Thanks for sharing Will. The band was just as much of a reason to watch the show every night. Can't wait for more of these!

[UniversalExports]

OMG! I totally forgot about Kamar the Discount Magician!! Those segments were always comedy gold! Thanks for your walk down memory lane Will -- you were the coolest cat in the World's Most Dangerous Band. You still look and sound as great as ever! Thanks Will! ❤

[mattfoley]

I remember watching Will hit that high note on Macarthur Park and being amazed.

[andypalumbo]

I remember being blown away by the MacArthur Park performance that night.

[MemoSelf]

I met Will Lee one afternoon in NYC sometime in the mid-80s (and I believe he'll remember it). It was a concert on a small boat docked on the Hudson owned by the International Center of Photography. About fifteen people showed up to hear... Etta James. And we were among the fortunate few, years before she was thankfully rediscovered. I always wanted to see Mr. Lee again to share that memory (and she was GREAT). So here I am doing it!

[hinthegroove]

Unsung heroes, thanks for the smiles.
It almost hurts to smile so hard 😊

[amymalina]

He’s got a great sense of humor in addition to being such a killer musician

[nickstarkey]

Will Lee is my bass playing hero. an absolute master

and if he hit that bass slide during a joke, you know it delivered

[jef]

Great interview. Loved Will on the show.

[renhoek]

That NBC band were amazing. I wish there was a collection of all their bits between adverts!

[DrLumpyDMus]

Thanks Will. It was a blast watching 30 years of your musical career.

[arthurlevine]

I told myself that I wasn't going to allow the Darlene Love snippet to give me chills/goosebumps like the full song versions always do - but I still couldn't control it.

[QBAN]

Will Lee singing MacArther Park was the high water mark for this show! Sublime! Darlene Love was always special too….

[lacheraqui]

Will, what a great segment! I remember every one of your choices, including the thrill I got when you made that last MacArthur Park note...and my concern while watching the final NBC show. "What's Francisco doing there?" I wondered. "Where's Will???" You were so fortunate, and deserving, to have had that gig...and they were even luckier to have had you! ❤ xo zan

[mikeinmaryland]

I couldn’t agree with Will more. I still love the first time Darlene performed that song. That said, I dig the fact Paul and (Dave) but probably mostly Paul, said we’ve got something here. I still get teary when I watch her performances.

Ps. I seen the Fab Faux 5 times. Here’s a teary thing for Will. My daughter is 22. A friend asked her and her group. What was your first concert. She said. The Fab Faux when she was 12❤

[rockturtleneck]

Will is the man, I was hoping he would do one of these. What an incredible blessing to play with so many musical legends and have a better-than-front-row sea to virtually every David Letterman show. And go see his Beatles band the Fab Faux if you get a chance, they are amazing, especially when they do special theme shows like playing the White Album in its entirety.