Tribute Bands

Copy-cat bands don’t seem to have begun until more then 10 years after the Beatles stopped touring (1966) and the Beatles seem to be the first band to have been copied (Beatlemania, 1977.) The Beatles considered attempting to stop the production. There are now scores, if not hundreds of Beatle tribute bands as well as a wide variety of tribute and cover bands devoted to just about every pop group you can think of, not to mention about a million Elvis impersonators. *A tribute band usually attempts to sound and look like the band they take their inspiration from although there are some, like Beatallica who play Beatle songs in the style of Metallica. Cover bands do a particular bands music giving it their own style and interpretation.

Among Beatles fans there is a dichotomy between those who enjoy the fun and nostalgia of attending an “almost Beatles” concert and those who either consider it a rip-off or who see no reason to dilute their memories of the real thing. I’ve heard one of the “antis” say that she understands the attraction for people who didn’t see the originals, whether due to lack of interest/opportunity at the time or due to the fact that they were born to late. I was around at the time and actually lived only a few blocks from DC Stadium in 64 – 66 so I could have gone. Being older then most Beatle fans and hating to be caught up in a crowd situation, I never thought of going.

I’ve been to see two tribute bands, courtesy of my daughter, and enjoyed them very much. I was amazed to see that most of the audience at both concerts were probably too young to have been allowed to go to a Beatles concert and a great many too young to remember the 60s. Both concerts were very well done. The group 1964 very simply recreated a real Beatles concert working on a bare stage with only the appropriate instruments and taking the music only to Paperback Writer and Rain as the Beatles as a group did none of their later songs live. They wore the Sullivan show dark suits and white shirts. I felt rather disappointed when they really did not include the Beatles movements and manner in their performance and I got more the feeling of precision from the band then the fun the real Beatles communicates – or course, it could just have been a bad night or disappointing audience.

Beatlemania Now included several costume changes: dark suits, Pepper uniforms and white tie and tails. Visuals, primarily from the Anthology videos, were projected behind and beside them. I enjoyed the multimedia presentation and the performers of Beatlemania Now were far more active and more nearly recreated the way the Beatles performed rather then merely recreating their music. The musician playing “John” had his stance down really well as did the “Ringo”. The “George” looked very much like George but hadn’t quite perfected the way that George curled his upper body over his guitar nor did he do any of George’s attention gathering leg moves. “Paul” was played by “Paul Ramon” indicating to me that he probably was not the “Paul” who generally worked with the band. His voice was excellent as was his bass playing but he did not have the stance, the stretch up to the mike, or the bounce so characteristic of Paul.

I do like tribute bands, perhaps mainly because I didn’t come to Beatles fandom until a couple years ago. I also like the audiences which were mixed in age and apparent economic level if not in race. The audiences were enthusiastic although, thank goodness, not prone to the screaming of the originals. I also tend to believe that tribute bands, far from damaging the Beatles legacy or taking money that should go to the originals, have done a lot to keep their memory alive. I doubt that anyone sees a tribute band as taking the place of the originals either in their heart or pocketbook. They simply are another way of remembering the group that lodged in so many peoples hearts and can never appear for us again.

There is a legitimate question about the ethics of copying a group’s (or individual’s) stage performance and getting paid for it. (Tribute bands no doubt pay composers’ royalties to Lennon/McCartney but you can’t copyright a performance, only the film/tape it’s on.) I suspect that it was the performance that the Beatles originally thought of as writing a song. That’s merely my opinion and although I am a writer and have suffered a good deal of internet copyright infringement, I remain on the somewhat looser side of the question. I sensed that the 1964 band was bored with their own performance – I have the feeling that they have been doing it too long. Many tribute bands are made up of young musicians who want very much to play their own music but the pay, as an “imitation Beatle,” is far better and infinitely more dependable then the pay for an unknown group. It’s easy to understand both the temptation to go for the bucks and the wish that they could make money doing their own thing. Beatlemania Now, in contrast, really seemed to enjoy being the best “Beatles” they could be and their staging kept our entertainment jangled attention span focused for the whole concert.