They were those mop-topped young lads that had taken the world
by storm on the front line of the British Invasion, capturing the heart
of every young girl in America.
They were, of course, the Fab Four - Mark, Gary, Tom and Terry,
from Akron, Ohio. Wait a minute. It was John, Paul, George and Ringo. And
it was Liverpool, England, not Akron , Ohio. And it was years ago
today, more or less, that the band refused to play.
Enter Mark Benson, Gary Grimes, Tom Work and Terry Manfredi as John
Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, respectively.
Together they are 1964.
"Most of us had been in band after band and grown tired of playing
Top music. We wanted to put on more of a show", Benson said. All four grew
up in the area when the Beatles were heroes. They knew the excitement
- the magic, as some called it. So the group studied the songs and hours
of videotapes of the boys from Liverpool. Their equipment, while not the
actual pieces, is the same make and model that the Beatles used.
And in the true spirit of the Beatles, 1964 picks up the music by
ear because according to Benson, most written versions of the songs are
filled with musical inaccuracies. Benson said he's seen other performances
that tried to imitate the Beatles but missed the mark either in appearance
or the music. 1964 strives for what some might call obsessive perfection.
"Our forte is live performance", said Benson, who has perfected the character
of Lennon right down to his spread-legged stance and gum chewing during
songs. He said that 1964 fills a void since there are no more Beatles concerts.
The real fab Four stopped touring in 1966 and moved into studio performances
until their breakup. 1964 performs the songs the Beatles immortalized during
and after those tours. The band has toured coast to coast in Canada and
North America since premiering at a September 1984 Beatles convention in
Pittsburgh, Pa. In May, the group will travel to Berlin to work with a
popular television show.
March 31 marked the beginning of a new era for 1964 and the Beatles.
At an appearance in Hickory, N.C., they introduced a new show that brings
the post '66 Beatles to the stage, complete with the Western Piedmont Symphony.
As any fan knows, the Beatles studio years produced music that was impractical
if not impossible to transport to the stage. Songs such as "A Day In The
Life" require large symphonies if they are to sound like the recordings.
In Hickory, the audience heard what even the Beatles couldn't deliver -
a live performance from all the later albums, employing mostly technology
from the years they were produced. To add to the "fantasy", as Benson described
it, 1964 carried the show further by "creating what we think the Beatles
would be like today, had they not broken up and Lennon not died", he said.
College students in particular seem to appreciate 1964's performances.
Last year, they were voted "Contemporary Music Artists of the Year" by
the National Association for Campus Activities. "Everybody seems to like
it. We get a lot of comments like, "Thanks for making me feel 15 again.'
" He said most audiences range in age from senior citizens to young children.
"It's wonderful to see. This music really speaks to all generations; grandparents
and 7 year olds are singing the same songs".
Beatles fans range in age, but the songs remain the same. "Ten minutes
after we're on stage, none of the guitars,Vox amplifiers or Ludwig drums
matter. We rely mostly on our ability to sell the characters. We put this
show together with the idea that it's a show we'd like to see", Benson
said.
Each member of 1964 is committed to portraying the Beatles as accurately
as possible. Right-handed Gary Grimes even learned to play left-handed
guitar so his Paul McCartney would be more authentic. "We're on-stage singing
'Nowhere Man', and Gary hits those high notes at the end, I want to rush
over and yell, 'Yeah, Paul!' " Benson said. Work's George Harrison has
the stiff rhythmical movements that characterizes the quiet Beatles.
But even an average of three shows a week, accurately depicting
a live Beatles performance requires more than acting naturally. "There's
a tendency, after you've been playing songs for a while, to play them in
your own style", Benson said. But, he said, "We're constantly going back
and improving. When people come to see our shows, they're paying to see
the Beatles".
When 1964 hits the stage, they are not just singing Beatles songs.
The musicians, to the best of their ability, become the boys from Liverpool,
and in the process take us back to yesterday.