'Close Your Eyes and' ... They're With You

Please make welcome Mark, Gary, Tom and Terry … the Beatles?
Not quite.
However, when 1964 The Tribute invades Appalachian Fairgrounds in Gray, Tenn., on May 23 during the Battle of the Pigs BBQ and Car Show, double takes could be in order.
Fans may squint hard, listen close and notice precious little difference between the famed lads from Liverpool, England, and the fellows from … Ohio.
“Rolling Stone magazine has acclaimed them as the best Beatles tribute band on Earth,” said Steven Gardner, press agent for 1964 The Tribute. “They are insanely detailed and accurate.”
Formed in 1984 by Mark Benson as something with which to enjoy occasionally, that 1964 The Tribute took off astounded the band. They had no clue.
“None at all,” Benson – who plays John Lennon – said last week by phone from his home in Akron, Ohio. “We never intended it to be full-time.”
Yet since Beatlemania latched onto 1964 The Tribute, they’ve been full-time John, Paul, George and Ringos ever since.
Credit details. They wear suits made directly from patterns used to clothe the Beatles. They wear mop-top wigs. When they speak on stage, they do so with impeccably British accents.
There’s way more.
“For example, Gary, who plays Paul McCartney, is right-handed, but he learned to play bass left-handed to play like Paul,” Gardner said.
Some may wonder why all the hoopla for a band that broke up nearly 40 years ago. Well, evidence abounds that while the Beatles officially broke up in 1970, the Fab Four remains as popular as during their heyday.
Check this. Cirque du Soleil stages a Beatles show in Las Vegas. MTV Video Games will debut a whole new game based on the music of the Beatles, “The Beatles: Rock Band,” on Sept. 9, 2009.
That may clue the clueless in as to why 1964 The Tribute thrives.
“We do 140 shows per year,” Benson said. “We’ve sold out Carnegie Hall nine times. It’s mind-boggling.”
Not bad for a band that’s never recorded one single note of original music.
“It gives you the feeling that you are seeing the Beatles,” Gardner said. “There are people who have been fooled when hearing their live recordings.”
Little wonder. To sound and look like the Beatles circa 1963 to 1966, they play exact makes and models of instruments as their more famous counterparts. They use amplifiers circa 1964. Movements, banter, accents, jokes – even experts have been fooled.
“The best compliment we’ve gotten was when a promoter said a couple asked for their money back because they thought we were lip-synching,” Benson said.
And yes, even the two surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have heard 1964 The Tribute.
“We’ve heard off the record that Paul and Ringo like us,” Benson said.
Consider something else. Benson’s 1964 The Tribute has played the Beatles longer than the Beatles were the Beatles – twice as long and then some.
Add this to perspective. Much as reading a Charles Dickens book can “transport” a reader back to long-gone Victorian England, 1964 The Tribute can take music fans on a journey back to see, hear and experience the Beatles.
Just use your imagination.
“The idea behind 1964 is to show you what it was like to see the Beatles in and around 1964,” Benson said. “We want it to sound like them. So, the sound you hear coming off our stage was also the sound coming off their stage.”

1964 THE TRIBUTE
Mark Benson as John Lennon
Gary Grimes as Paul McCartney
Tom Work as George Harrison
Terry Manfredi as Ringo Starr
Web: www.1964thetribute.com
Audio: www.1964thetribute.com/audios.html
Video: www.1964thetribute.com/videos.html

FESTIVAL INFO
What: Battle of the Pigs BBQ and Car Show
When: May 22, 4-10 p.m. and May 23, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Where: Appalachian Fairgrounds, 100 Lakeview St., Gray, Tenn.
Admission: $10 for adults, children ages 6 and under admitted free
Info: (423) 538-8191
Web: www.battleofthepigs.com

ENTERTAINMENT LINEUP
MAY 22
4 p.m.: Ralph Jeffers
6:45 p.m.: Grits
8 p.m.: The Beat Daddys

MAY 23
9:55 a.m.: The Mason Dixon Boys
11:05 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.: Grits
1:35 p.m. and 2:50 p.m.: The Mudbugs
4 p.m.: BBQ Awards
6:10 p.m.: Spirit of Soul
8 p.m.: 1964 The Tribute

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at features@bristolnews.com.