Beatles Tribute Bands

britye · Post by **britye** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 9:46 am

saw 1964 The Tribute last Feb. in Port Charlotte Florida.. They were great. Jimmy Pou ( George) quit and is now working with a Trib band in Branson. I was talking to the guy who plays John after the show about his 325 it was really beat up looking. He said he built it years ago to look like Lennon's road weary Ric. He was into talking guitars with me, but some goofy dude came up and started asking if his hair was real and that was it, the goof was really annoying so we said goodby and that was it. At the break I had asked the guy who played George about his 12 sting Ric if it was a c63 or v64. The guy told me he did'nt have a clue it was'nt his guitar. Really a fun show

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 12:20 pm

Hey Dave... go for it!

I guess there are two catagories of Beatles bands. Ones that really try to do a recreation (like the ones we've been talking about) and ones that are fun bands that cover the material (like the Eggmen).

Also, In my mind, a Beatles recreation/cover band of any sort does paint themselves into a corner.... its a wonderful corner to be in, but a corner nontheless.

Lots of bands will do a few Beatles songs without ever trying to sound exactly like the original (like my little band for instance), but the ones who are trying to sound like the real thing are (a) trying to capture somebody else's sound instead of finding their own, and (b) will never be able to sell their own recordings without legal complications.

Having said that, I know a Beatles cover band who did a reasonably good job of recording some Beatles songs (in a home studio) and they packaged the cd's fairly well and sell them at their gigs. Clearly a copyright violation, but they do it anyways... under the radar I guess.

sloop_john_b · Post by **sloop_john_b** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 1:01 pm

I can't believe how great "Paul" is the Fab Four!

revolver323 · Post by **revolver323** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 1:04 pm

I have no designs on selling anything. In fact, I'd play for free. It's more a fun thing for me. I kicked around in enough cover bands and original material bands over the years that I've lost the need to do that. I've been in many band that covered the Beatles, but never one that really went for THE sound. I do understand why a guitarist would want to do his own solos rather than just cop one from George or Paul, but those songs are so ingrained in the public consciousness now that any other solo -- like a different one in "Day Tripper," for example -- would sound strange. Some solos, like the one in "I Saw Her Standing There," might actually be improved upon. I'd be more than happy to play Paul's bass lines note for note.

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 1:08 pm

Man... there are more serious Beatle tribute bands than I thought. Here are just a few:

http://www.backbeatatribute.com/

http://www.upbeatbeatles.co.uk/

http://www.beatlemanianow.com/

http://www.fabbeatles.com/home.html

and then there is this curiosity....

http://www.aharddaysday.com/

Who are making a short film:----"about the 'day in the life' of a Beatles tribute band---The mockumentary depicts a day in the life of a Beatles tribute band, shot in the spirit and style of 1964's "A Hard Day's Night." In the nine-minute short, these Beatles look-a-likes flee their fans, lose their Ringo (who's Chinese), cavort with a gaggle of other celebrity impersonators."

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 2:38 pm

>>Some solos, like the one in "I Saw Her Standing There," might actually be improved upon.

yup... and the first one to agree would probably be George himself.

lennonon · Post by **lennonon** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 4:42 pm

Is that Ricky Vacca in that Beatlemania NOw shot? Anyone know?
Thanks.

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 5:40 pm

When I saw my first Beatles "tribute" band, that word wasn't even used. Back then, when there were far fewer in the genre, I remember they were called simply "Beatle" bands, and when the first one I was aware of popped up near me, it was a novelty.

It was the fall of '77, a Chgo area band called Sgt. Pepper's. At that time I don't even think Beatlemania was out of NYC yet.

I told one of my brothers that they were going to play at my high school and he said "go see them. They played our frat party and they are great."

They were as good as any such band I've seen. And it being, by comparison, so close to the actual time when the real Beatles broke up, it was just cool being in a big gym with a thousand or two high school kids who just dug the Beatles because so many of the songs were still on the radio and the band was still so... seemingly...current.

I saw Rain and 1964 in later years. Great acts but that first one seemed less stiff, like they were doing it just because they were so into it. And they broke up not long after I saw them. Some of these others hang around and perhaps that's where the stiffness comes from? They seem kind of vegas-y, like it's overthought. Anyway, when I saw 1964 I thought "wow, these songs sound so great live. Imagine how much better the actual band sounded." (Of course, that is if you could hear them.)

What's with all the John's cheating with 350s?

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 7:13 pm

>>John's cheating with 350s

ha.... good point, but I cant hold that against them too bad... that 325 must have been made with munchkins in mind. My fat fingers just cant handle it.

Here's another serious tribute band

http://www.fabforever.net/

you can see a good clip of them here... for me it was on

http://youtube.com/watch?v=TKv4kShmQAU&search=beatles

or find it on this page:

http://youtube.com/results?search=beatles&sort=relevance&page=11

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 8:32 pm

Question: What's the opposite of a serious Beatles tribute band?

Answer:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Nv1nDO7x9zA&search=beatles

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 2:44 am

Seven or so years back I was out at my Mom's house in the suburbs when I still lived in the midwest.

It was on a weekend. I was channel surfing and happened upon the local public access station. They were showing a tape of a local Beatles tribute band that was nothing less than amazing.

The band was made up of high school kids. They had most of real gear (I think only the drum set was not Ringo's black oyster kit.) And they were excellent, even down to the between song banter, though it made them laugh and fall out of character.

And they must have been playing some Jr. high auditorium. The kids in the audience all looked like pre-teens, but they were bopping in the isles. I just looked on in amazement. It was really incredible and cool to see guys so young that were so good.

As per the 350 vs. 325, I'm six ft. four but have thin fingers. After a day or so I got quite used to my 320s scale. I think the 325 is fine if you're 5' 11" and not built like a fullback.

The problem with a lot of these bands, visually, is they have Lennon's who are my height. And even if you cheat that with a 350, it still doesn't have the perfect visual symmitry of the real thing.

>>Here's another serious tribute band<<

Very good, Kent. Is it me, or does their imitation John looks like the real Ringo?

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 9:24 pm

haaa... yup. I think both their John and Ringo have a bit of the real Ringo in them.

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 5:07 am

Of the six bands shown above, four of the Pauls are wearing their basses too low.

winston · Post by **winston** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 5:09 am

The two fellows being discussed seem to be related. Check out their last names when the credits roll. They are a very good band overall.

The drummer in particular is a dead ringer for Ringo.

iamthebassman · Post by **iamthebassman** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 6:55 am

Well, as a long-time member of this forum I would have figured on more than one,passing mention, so I guess we don't qualify as a Beatles trib band.

We don't try to look like The Beatles, it would never happen, we're in our 40s. We do wear matching suits and Beatle boots for the early set, and psychedelic garb for the 2nd set, but certainly no wigs. We do try for the "right" instruments as they're the best way to get "the sound".
We really care about getting the music sounding right, not easy to do live, that's why we have a 5th member to play the orchestra and keyboard parts on the synth. Tho' we do on occasion, play with a full orchestra.
And, we have a lefty bass player. But he's NOT named Paul.