“The Guitar That Launched The Beatles Recap” plus 1

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The Guitar That Launched The Beatles Recap

Posted: 12 Mar 2011 05:15 AM PST

On Monday The Guitar That Launched The Beatles was a top story. Here is the recap: (Gibson) "Love Me Do," The Beatles' first-ever single, announced a revolution in rock and roll. The fresh-faced Liverpudlians — Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr — sounded like nothing else on British radio in October 1962. As Harrison remembered in The Beatles Anthology: "First hearing 'Love Me Do' on the radio sent me shivery all over. It was the best buzz of all time. We knew it was going to be on Radio Luxembourg at something like 7:30 on a Thursday night. I was in my house in Speke and we all listened in."
With its Everly-inspired harmonies, strident bass and thumping drums and that distinctive, bluesy harmonica riff, "Love Me Do" stood out amidst a sea of early '60s British pop mediocrity. And high in the mix is Lennon's chiming acoustic guitar, played on his new and highly prized Gibson J-160E.

1962 was a crucial year in Beatles history. Liverpool businessman Brian Epstein signed on as manager in January, Lennon's art-school pal and the band's original bass player, Stu Sutcliffe, died in April and, after being turned down by pretty much every label in town, they finally signed a record deal in June with Parlophone. They made their first test recordings with George Martin in June. In August, Lennon got married and The Beatles finally became The Fab Four when, Ringo Starr joined the holy trinity of John, Paul and George. - more on this story

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This Beatles tribute skips the costumes

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 12:48 PM PST

This Beatles tribute skips the costumes

By Randall G. Mielke For Sun-Times Media Mar 10, 2011 02:48PM

"Yesterday and Today" will be presented at the Paramount on March 20. | Courtesy of the Paramount Arts Centre

The songs are the same. The notes are the same. But there are two major differences between the Beatles tribute show "Yesterday & Today" and other Beatles tribute acts. The Yesterday & Today band has no wigs, dons no Beatles costumes and its members do not speak with any type of British accent. In addition, the band interacts with audience members throughout the entire show.

"We are not like other Beatles shows," said Billy McGuigan, the leader of the group. "This is an all-request Beatles show. The audience members fill out a form with their name, their favorite Beatles song and their reason for liking the song. We then put a set together based on their requests."

"Yesterday & Today" will be presented on March 20 at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora.

The six-piece band in the "Yesterday & Today" show features McGuigan and his two younger brothers, Ryan and Matthew. In addition, the performances include a light show and 1960s-era scenery.

McGuigan, based in Omaha, Neb., is no stranger to tribute shows. He portrayed rock 'n' roll legend Buddy Holly in the show "Rave On!," which made a stop at the Copley Theatre in Aurora in October 2009. He hit on the idea of an interactive Beatles show several years ago.

"In Omaha, we were doing a Beatles band called Yoko's Fault," McGuigan said. "People wanted to request songs, but if you asked someone their favorite song, they could not just say the song, there was always a story tied to it."

So McGuigan enlisted the help of his brothers and about three years ago "Yesterday & Today" was created. The songs that the audience requests make up the sets each night, and the audience member's stories make up the evening's narrative. McGuigan said the most challenging aspect of the show is scrambling at the last minute to prepare what the band will play.

"Sometimes it's tough coordinating everything five minutes before show time," he said. "The first act is usually more acoustic. The second act we determine at intermission. At intermission people can submit song requests again."

The song requests allow for a customized show each time the group performs, and the comments about why a song is chosen range from touching to extremely funny.

"It's a bit cathartic for an audience," McGuigan said. "The songs are usually related to important times in their lives. We call out their name in the audience and then they raise their hands and identify themselves.

"A lot of times they relate funny things or poignant moments in their lives," he continued. "From a performer's standpoint, there is nothing like it with the audience interaction."

Early on in the show's development stage, McGuigan thought an occasion may arise when the group would have to piece together their own requests.

"I thought maybe there would come a time when we have a rash of crummy requests and we would just have to do our own choice of songs," he said, "but it's never happened that way."

McGuigan believes that the audience response during the show has helped make it so successful.

The Beatles

Sunday, March 13, 2011