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"It was marvellous being at Carnegie Hall to see "1964" reinact that historic Beatles debut there. Atmosphere,music,an enthusiastic full-house,star guests and the classic songs interpreted like The Beatles performed them......what more can I say? Don't miss this show." -Bill Harry  Bill Harry of www.mersey-beat.com and Marilyn "Mandy" Johnson at Carnegie Hall. READ MORE:
“How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people? Now that you know who you are...” - John Lennon and Paul McCartney “Baby You’re A Rich Man” It’s a frigid New York night and the walk to Carnegie Hall, while only a few blocks from our hotel is tricky to navigate as the ground is beginning to freeze. The forecast is for snow and the city is prepared. Despite the weather, a crowd is congregating outside the auditorium. All sorts of ‘beautiful people’, discerning concert-goers, some wearing mink, some rattling jewelry as John Lennon would have noted, others wearing jeans and parkas as if this was just another coffee house. However this is the Isaac Stern Auditorium of Carnegie Hall, known for its stellar classical performances and in keeping with their current “expanding musical horizons” ideology from Bach or Bartok to The Beatles, it’s the time to ‘get back’ and not forward, to 1964. The beautiful people have reached their destination and hawkers are plying their trade outside, assured of success because the concert is once more sold out and tickets are in great demand. This is the ninth Carnegie appearance of the magical, mystical troubadours “1964... The Tribute”, hailed quite appropriately by Rolling Stone Magazine as “The Best Beatles Tribute Band On Earth”, who in the flash of an eye transport the old, young and forever “gear” audience back in time to celebrate the original Beatles invasion of America on February 12th, 1964 at Carnegie Hall. They restore vintage instruments to recapture the original Beatle sound. Their wit, mannerisms, authentic Liverpool accents (no mean feat), clothing, makeup and hairstyles replicate those of the Fab Four when they stopped (not stooped, due to the tightness of their pants and the crippling Beatle boots) to conquer forty-five years ago. They capture the essence of Beatlemania at its height in 1964, before the insanity of fame took hold. It’s not just the amazingly accurate interpretation of the songs, but these four Ohio natives, Mark Benson as John Lennon, Gary Grimes as Paul McCartney, Tom Work as George Harrison, and Terry Manfredi as Ringo Starr become the Beatles with the skill of award winning actors. All trained musicians, they have for almost twenty five years toured the world paying their tribute and keeping the music alive. They reenact a time in musical history that brought about social change, and it is that which sets them apart from those who simply perform the songs of the Beatles. As a former Liverpool teenager and a proud Cavern member lucky enough to “live” the Beatles before the rest of the world caught on, I can testify that “1964... The Tribute” authentically recreates the past. I am fortunate to have seen the Beatles perform “more times than most have had hot dinners” and to relive that experience, as it was, forty-five years later is, in itself, pure alchemy. A case in point is their new CD, “Bootleg”, a compilation of Beatle songs recorded live on the road. I interviewed Mark Benson a few days before the Carnegie Hall show to let him know I considered their new CD sheer genius and that oddly enough it contains some of my personal favorite Beatle songs; “The Night Before”, “No Reply”, and “When I Get Home”, for example. The point being that there is no band touring today who could deliver these songs as authentically or as poignantly as “1964... The Tribute”. Moreover, my husband, a recording engineer and musician since the Beatle days maintains that the quality of the performance, both musical and technical is as authentic as it could be. “George Martin would be proud.” The “Bootleg Volume One” mix was done at their soundman’s studio through plenty of vintage tube gear for authenticity and then mastered with Chandler/EMI EQ and compressor plug-ins. Mark Benson oversaw the mixing and mastering with Dave Stephenson and Mike Purkhiser. The end result is astonishing! Here at Carnegie Hall the audience is restless and eager to start. Promoter Mark Johnson, who produces their phenomenal shows takes his cue and appears onstage, elegant as ever, giving thanks to all the show’s supporters from radio stations to the “ever calm in emergencies” Chima Travel Coordinator Charlotte Stoll and announces the opening act, comedian Gary Mule Deer, brilliant and looking like a cross between The Sopranos’ Paulie Walnuts and Johnny Cash (whom he impersonates flawlessly). An amazingly funny man with the gift of perfect timing, Gary Mule Deer is a comedian’s comedian and no doubt a master of his craft. Then the lights are lowered and the stage is set, a little Cavern and a lot Carnegie but blessed with modern technology that didn’t exist in the days of Mr. Kite. Looking around in anticipation I’m recalling the “Baby You’re A Rich Man” lyrics, “How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people...” and I realize the seats next to me are occupied by Jerry Seinfeld and his children. As he was a mere ten years old in 1964, I’m hoping he’ll be able to sing along without too much of a problem and later note to my great joy that he in fact knows every song and takes delight in singing them to his little ones! And then it begins, the count-off that opens “I Saw Her Standing There”, a song written for sister of a friend, Iris Caldwell, by McCartney as a pre-Beatle school boy at Liverpool Institute and originally titled “Seventeen”. Her brother, Rory Storm, had a drummer in his band at the time named Ringo Starr and the curious circle of connection was already forming. But it’s not McCartney or Lennon singing, it’s “1964…The Tribute” and if I close my eyes I’m fourteen years old again in The Cavern in Liverpool. And in my teenager reverie, “I Want To Hold Your Hand”, “From Me To You”, “Please, Please Me” and “All My Loving” are all too perfect. Gary Grimes who by now really, is Paul, announces that the next song, “This Boy” is slower and Mark with his practiced Liverpool wit remarks with plausible deniability that it’s in “D” and as usual my heart skips a beat. I was a teenage extra in the film “A Hard Days Night” where an instrumental version of this song was used during the Ringo escape scenes, and it always makes me smile. Lennon wrote “This Boy” and McCartney has said that it was influenced by fifties do-wop band The Teddy Bears’ “To Know Him Is To Love Him”. As in the original version Paul, George, and John sing three part harmony. But this evening the song is just as it was forty five years ago when first performed live on The Ed Sullivan Show February 16th 1964. Mark (or is it John) defiantly cries “ Oh.. and this boy would be happy just to love you...” and I look around and women still scream, and a few of us wipe away a tear. The mood changes rapidly when Terry Manfredi as Ringo takes on “Act Naturally” and he really does just that! His performance is flawless. “Eight Days A Week” which allegedly got its title from McCartney’s chauffeur commenting on his working hard eight days a week leads into “A Hard Day’s Night”, attributed to Ringo’s comments on his own working hours. A few members of the audience are standing as they sing along, even more are screaming and one wonders if they know that this isn’t really the Beatles. By the time Mark Benson begins “If I Fell” I’m lost in a time warp, thinking of the audience scene in the film where I screamed my head off for John who announced it in the first take as “If I Fell Over”. Gary and Mark have mastered the curious structure of the song together with the unusual chord changes from D flat to D major between the introduction and central part making it no mean task for others less competent to play. Much easier is “Can’t Buy Me Love” and I think of how thrilled John Lennon was with the Ella Fitzgerald version. Then comes The Marvellettes “Please Mr. Postman”, adopted by the Beatles as their own, followed by Beatle standards “Roll Over Beethoven” (given the venue he may be doing just that), “I Feel Fine” and “Paperback Writer”. The band now own the audience with “Twist and Shout” and all semblance to their original form is gone. Mark Benson is lost and John has returned, Gary Grimes is totally Paul, Terry Manfredi rules as Ringo, and Tom Work has mastered the brilliance of both George Harrison’s guitar work and very nasal nuance. This is the real meaning of physical therapy. I’m young again. In true John Lennon fashion, when I asked him last week if they ever considered retiring, Mark responded jokingly, “After every performance.” But to assuage your fears dear reader, before the intermission they announce their return engagement to Carnegie Hall again same time next year and in doing so prime the audience for Lennon’s reflection of his Liverpool past with “In My Life”. Even John would approve of Mark Benson’s irreverent urging of the audience to use their non-circa 1964 cell phones and annoy someone late at night to listen or sing along with phones held over their heads. During the intermission I asked Jerry Seinfeld if he was enjoying the show, and having glanced his way a couple of times, I’m not surprised to hear that he’s having a great time and can’t believe how Beatle-like they are. “They’ve got every mannerism, the accent, and the songs”. He’s noticed my note taking during the performance and I explain that I’m a writer, originally from Liverpool and saw the originals many, many times as a ‘Beatlemaniac’. I give him a brief history of these performers and concur with him that “1964” are the best! Promoter Mark Johnson, their producer, stops by to say “Wait for the second part of the show. There’s new material and it’s great”. Back on stage The Robert Miller Orchestra has assembled and with a powerful count in the entire stage ensemble rips into “Got To Get You Into My Life”.The music echoes through the hall and everyone is singing along.We’re all part of the Magic! Then with an almost baroque French horn introduction, the poignant McCartney ballad “For No One” begins from the Revolver album in which Gary Grimes gives a stellar performance. They follow that with “The Word” from “Rubber Soul” which ends with acapella voices only “Say The Word….LOVE” The audience responds and a church bell rings once…….then again…….(Later I find out this is for John and George) The lights are dimmed and the string section begins the introduction of the lament for all the lonely people, “Eleanor Rigby”, but this rendition is infinitely more powerful than the original George Martin arrangement using a studio octet. A masterpiece, in fact, and the audience is stunned into submission as Grimes demonstrates his amazing vocal versatility. The magic continues with Tom Work’s interpretation of George Harrison’s subtle protest in “Taxman”, followed by the crowd’s favorite sing along, “Yellow Submarine”. The lights dim again, and the focus is on the woodwind section of the orchestra and it’s no longer merely a Beatle song, a Celtic fusion has taken place with acoustic instruments. “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” takes on a life of its own and the audience is captivated. It never sounded so good! The applause was deafening. Gary Grimes, with an innocence we thought left behind in 1964 and his voice breaking as McCartney’s always does with “Yesterday” reminds us that he sings for all of us, and we still believe in yesterday and again the audience is mesmerized. When the applause dies down the orchestra begins to play an underlying suspense motif beneath the main theme of the George Martin orchestral intro to the song “Help” from the movie soundtrack. The Bondlike theme heightens this dazzling arrangement when suddenly “1964” are belting out “Help”, “Day Tripper” and “She Loves You”, and I’m feeling sad because as fast as it began I know the show is coming to a end.
On February 12th 1964 just before their Carnegie Hall performance, Ed Rudy, a broadcaster and news announcer and the only American reporter to travel with The Beatles on the US Tour asked John Lennon, “The whole reaction has been fantastic. Do you feel it’s a fad. Would you call it a fad?” Lennon responded, “Oh obviously. Anything in this business is a fad. I mean we don’t think we’re gonna last forever. We’re just gonna have a good time while we last, you know?” Forty-five years later at Carnegie Hall it’s still alive. “1964... the Tribute”, No fad and perhaps not forever, but working the Magic nonetheless. Mandy Johnson |
1964 The Tribute® Official Web Site
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For Bookings contact Mark Hellman
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