The Beats

mclennon · Post by **mclennon** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 1:46 pm

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to share this link with you. This is an Argentinean tribute band and it's really amazing. (maybe you know them, I didn’t) They have the perfect sound, the perfect voices and ALL the equipment. It’s almost like hear them again in today’s sound quality. Enjoy!

http://www.thebeatsonline.com/principal.htm

Cheers

Javier

rickfan63 · Post by **rickfan63** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 3:46 pm

I just listened to the songs on the website. "Here Comes The Sun" sounds incredible! This guy has Harrison down like no one else I've ever heard. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is wonderful! Those two songs are note for note perfect! Very impressive indeed!

roadrunners · Post by **roadrunners** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 4:32 pm

yes, i very much enjoy the fact that they have a hofner with the "bassman" sticker slapped on it....ive never seen a tribute band do that

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 4:46 pm

There's a group from the Czech Republic called "Backwards" (?) I can't find their website...may have the name wrong, but they are tremendous..heard some mp3s of theirs last week. I'll check on my office computer and post a link later.

The Beats are fantastic!

bosifis · Post by **bosifis** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 5:40 pm

I found the site- "www.thebackwards.com". Pretty good!

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:56 pm

Yeah, Brian-that's them. (I was looking for www.backwards.com. Duh.)

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 8:58 pm

I live part time in Lima, Perú and The Beatles are huge there, I have seen some Beatle tribute bands there that were unbelievable. I think they are huge all over S. America.

ratso · Post by **ratso** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 9:02 pm

I saw a Brazilian Beatle Trib band in Liverpools Beatle weekend '95. Can't remember their name but they had it down!

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 9:56 pm

Another South America story. I live part-time in Natal, Brazil. A friend owns several restaurants in town and one of the restaurant/bars does a wild business every Wednesday night because it's "Beatles Night" there. They have a different Beatles record collector spin his favorite rarities. These guys are second only to the Japanese in their obsessions.

Occasionally, they have a Beatles tribute group in to play live. In this city of one million people, there are probably a dozen Beatles trib bands. The only one I've heard recently had the music playing technique down pat, but the lyrics mangled, as they had learned phonetically. Ricks, Hofners, and J-160s are impossible to obtain in Brazil outside of Rio and Sao Paulo, so these guys played Squier Strats and J-Basses. The sound was unique, to put it politely. Oh, well...

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 6:39 am

Yeah the accents definitely come through in Lima also and there are no Rics, Hofners, Gretches etc. but they have the parts and harmonies down cold, very inspiring. Every year there is a big Beatles festival at the colliseum there, with the Filarmonica de Lima playing, one year they did the whole second side of Abbey Road. Bands from all over S. America take part in it.
I actually played in a tribute band there for a few months, it was fun.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 8:06 am

Just like so many countries in S. America, there is a huge difference between being in a big city like Lima or Rio (or Sao Paulo, the FIFTH LARGEST CITY in the world and the largest by far in Latin America, with around 20 million people) and being in a smaller city like I was, connected only by two lane roads and air to the capital a couple of thousand miles away. I've no doubt that were either of us in SP, Ricks, Gretsches, and Hofners would be sourceable.

But, perhaps not too oddly, they would still be difficult to find. And the prices would knock your socks off. The Brasilian government slaps import tariffs onto anything that could be made at home, unless a nation has favored nation status. France does, so they sell a lot of French cars there. (Next to a Honda or Nissan van, a Citroen Picasso is a work of art!) The USA most definitely does not, so you will not see a Ford Taurus on the streets except driven by a very wealthy citizen--a new Ford sedan costs more than many houses there!

And so it is with other stuff like guitars. We Americans take it for granted that if we have the cash, we can buy whatever we want. It just takes a bit of searching on the web to find it. In Brasil, however, since there is little cash floating around except for necessities, there is little to no supply of items to buy with disposable income. Sure, you can buy well-distributed brands like Sony and Sharp, lots of cheap Chinese-made goods, locally-produced stuff which is mostly ****, and the veneer of gentility is present. But try to buy something really special (e.g., "ANY" Rick) and the veneer breaks down immediately. In my city of 1 million, I saw a few $30.00 Strat knockoffs for sale at the local Costco-type warehouse store around Christmas, and every electric group I saw had one. Name stars often play real Strats or Teles, but more often electrified jumbo flattops like the J-160s, although Takamine has a strong following.

Bass players are a different matter entirely. (You already knew that, right?) JOKE. Bass players in Brasilian bands (mostly new music, which most definitely is NOT samba!) have amazing rigs, eschewing typical JB and PBs and going for the really exotic 5-and 6-string powerhouse handbuilt out of oiled koa wood type of instrument--the crazier the shape, the better. And the amplification is superb at nearly every concert I attend, even in backwater cities like Natal. (The Chamber of Commerce would have me deported for that...)

Still, Can't Buy Me Gretsch. Or Rick. Or Hofner. For the most part, at least.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 11:21 am

Lima has about 7.5 million people, US made instruments cost almost double there what they cost here in the USA. The most popular basses there are Squires, old Fenders (not a lot of them, they think a 70's Fender is a vintage desirable bass, haha!) and Yamahas which are ubiquitous in Lima. I brought a couple of Ric basses there along with a couple of Ampegs and people stared at them and spoke about the stuff like it was the holy Grail. Lima is not exactly the richest city in the world either, that's another reason you don't see them, but there are no Ric dealers there and if you want an American Fender you have to order it, no one stocks them. I saw one other Ric bass while I was there, a mid 70's FG 4001 which had had a different bridge pickup put in it by the owner who was a very talented luthier. This bass was a real POS though and had not been played for many years and had a wicked backbow in it, the middle of the neck was higher than either end. He played his own handmade basses, the keyboard player in his band wanted me to fix the Ric for him as he thought it sounded much better than his own hand-made basses. They were an art-rock type band, very good and famous in Perú.
I have seen Ric's and the like for sale from Brasil online but the prices were sky high compared to the States.

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 12:06 pm

" I brought a couple of Ric basses there along with a couple of Ampegs and people stared at them and spoke about the stuff like it was the holy Grail."

Bob....what's your point? You mean they AREN'T the Holy Grail? haha!!

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Fri May 13, 2005 2:08 am

I just listend to HCTS... you sure that's not The Beatles? WOW! Day Tripper is dead on!