Watch out! Beatles about... (From Bournemouth Echo)

Watch out! Beatles about...

7:10am Saturday 4th July 2009

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“THE nearest you’ll ever get to the real thing!” As tribute band claims go, that’s some boast on behalf of the Upbeat Beatles who play Bournemouth’s Pier Theatre on Friday, but it’s one that Holly-wood royalty including Michael Douglas would go along with.

“It’s all in the vocals you see, other bands in this bizarre Beatle world we work in just don’t give them the attention they should,” says John Wilson who plays Paul McCartney in the hard-gigging outfit that has performed for countless Beatles fans as well as international worthies like the heads of the Chinese government and Mr Douglas.

“People forget but the Beatles had two of the top five greatest male singers this country has ever produced in their line up. Lennon and McCartney weren’t just great songwriters, they were fantastic musicians and brilliant singers. It takes it out of you to sing Twist and Shout like Lennon did – he must have ripped his throat apart for two shows a night every night. We have to scream it otherwise it doesn’t sound right.”

John demonstrates the vocal technique down the phone line. It hurts his voice... and my ears!

And he’s a man who should know, having replaced the hugely talented Hamish Stuart in the Average White Band and written scores of successful songs for, among others, Cliff Richard and Bill Wyman.

“When I was working with Cliff I got to know Bruce Welch [of The Shadows] very well and he told me he used to hang out with John Lennon a lot in the early ’60s after they found out they were both brought up by their aunties. He said they used to come round his house and play him their songs on their acoustic guitars and their vocals were just as they were on the records – really powerful, note perfect and with some really unexpected harmonies.”

Clearly John has got right inside the Beatles’ canon and has fashioned a set that concentrates on the uptempo numbers.

“We go on stage knowing we’re going to go down a storm – it’s like a machine gun going off, building the crowd up, holding them there, letting them down a bit. Unlike other bands we don’t worry about the order we play the songs in – this isn’t a chronology.

“So we can do Kansas City and Oh Darling and follow I Should Have Known Better with Back in the USSR – what does it matter we’re dressed in black suits with velvet collars when it’s about the songs first and the look second.”

And John has no problem with working hard on the tribute band circuit, although he’s well aware of how disparaging people can be about it.

“Look, I’ve got a garden pressure hose and it broke so I took it to a guy who repairs them. It turns out he used to be a televsion repair man but has had to diversify as times have changed. The Upbeat Beatles uses all my skills and is a really, really good day job. We have a lot of fun, they’re great songs and we get to play all over the world for decent money.

“I still do my own albums and, if anything, the Upbeat gig has meant that when I go on stage on a solo show I don’t feel at all cobwebby as I’m on stage three or four nights a week with this show.

“In that sense it’s not unlike being in a British band in 1960. When the Beatles were starting out there were something like 600 pro bands in Liverpool. There were no discos you see so every function had a live band and not only did they have to play the hits of the day, but they had to know dance tunes, waltzes, crooner songs, a bit of Latin, foxtrots, all that. So the Beatles brought all of that music as well as the black American R&B and rock ’n’ roll influences.

“They aspired to sing like Little Richard and of course they couldn’t but it made them raise their game. These days young bands aspire to play like Oasis, but – much as I like their attitude and some of their songs – they’re not good musicians. Noel Gallagher wouldn’t even get a job in a decent Oasis tribute band.

Free screening of Beatles biopic Backbeat

A FREE screening of the historic pop film drama Backbeat is to take place in Westbourne on Tuesday evening.

Backbeat, which features Stephen Dorff, Sheryl Lee and Ian Hart, emulates the story of the fifth Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe and a love triangle between him, German photographer Astrid Kirchherr and John Lennon.

The film is a reconstruction of a time before Beatlemania, recreating the early days and capturing the time the five-piece spent in Hamburg during the early 1960s.

Alan Clayson, who wrote the book Backbeat and biographies for each of the four Beatles, will also be on hand to offer fans the opportunity to quiz him about the film and the book.

He said: “I played in nearly every major city in Europe during my time with the Argonauts, but I don’t recall gigging in Bournemouth. My literary career, however, sort of took off in Blandford.

“I used to be heavily involved in the film when it came out during the 1990s, and it’s still incredibly influential even now.”

Described by The Independent as “one of the more extraordinary figures to emerge from rock ‘n’ roll”, Clayson is a performer in his own right, and his debut novel and second solo album are due for release in the near future.

Dave Robinson, owner of the Bournebeat Hotel in Bournemouth and Champions in Westbourne, says: “The evening will be very fluid, with live music from The Prairie Dogs, followed by a session with Alan and then the film itself. There will then be another opportunity afterwards the film for people to ask Alan more questions.”

The free event kicks off at 8pm at Champions, Norwich Avenue West, Westbourne.

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