4 minute read
The Bootleg Beatles Interview by Martin Hutchinson.
The Bootleg Beatles
Getting Back to Business
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Interview by Martin Hutchinson.
It is the ambition of most music journalists to interview one of The Beatles, and my personal ambition in this regard is to speak to Paul McCartney. The nearest I’ve managed so far is to speak to Steve White of The Bootleg Beatles, who takes the part of Paul in their amazing shows.
The Bootleg Beatles originated in 1980 when the West End musical ‘Beatlemania’ ended it’s run. The four musicians who were playing the parts of the Fab Four decided to go out on tour as a tribute to their musical heroes. It proved to be a good decision because in the years since their formation, The Bootleg Beatles have become the foremost Beatles tribute band in the world. Even Sir George Martin, The Beatles’ legendary producer said that it is “a terrific show”.
The show traces the Fab Four’s journey through the Swinging Sixties, with every detail forensically observed from the costumes and instruments to their flawless renditions of the classic hits from every era of the world’s most famous songbook, this is an incredible experience. But it’s not only their sound that is authentic, they also bear an uncanny resemblance to the Fab Four.
The shows in this tour will include all the hits and more, but also feature a special set dedicated to ‘Let it Be’ (1970), celebrating the long-awaited release of the critically acclaimed Peter Jackson Beatles documentary ‘The Beatles: Get Back’. The set will include a stunningly authentic re-enactment of The Beatles’ famous 1969 rooftop concert, plus the iconic anthem ‘The Long and Winding Road’ and the album’s title track.
Steve White, who plays Paul in the group is celebrating ten years in the group. “It doesn’t seem like ten years, it’s gone so quick”, he tells me. “I’m
the senior member of the band now.”
Like most of other people in the music business, the pandemic hit the band very hard, as Steve explains: “It’s been
very difficult, from the beginning of the first lockdown we’ve hardly done a thing. We did three outdoor festivals. It was strange as the audience was quarantined in three metre boxes. We all had to turn our hands to something else because in our industry, if you don’t work, you don’t get paid. I did a year on building sites.”
The show is usually in four parts, each covering a different era with the appropriate costumes. “This tour is no exception”, says Steve. “But this time,
we have six costumes. It’s pretty manic changing clothes so quickly! The first section will focus on the early ‘Mop tops’ era of 1963–65. And after that we’ll do a ‘Sgt Pepper’ [1967] section. Following that, there will an interval. The second half starts off with 1968 and ‘The White Album’ and the final section will be ‘Let It Be’ both in the studio and recreating the rooftop performance.”
And there will be songs that the band are doing for the first time. “That’s right”, affirms Steve. “I’ve had to
learn two songs on a left-hand acoustic guitar, which is a challenge
for a right-handed guitar player!” It has to be noted that Steve is right-handed and before he joined The Bootleg Beatles, he was in another Beatles tribute band as ‘John’! “Also,
we’re doing ‘Two of Us’ [‘Let It Be’], ‘Another Girl’ [‘Help!’, 1964], and ‘In My Life’ [‘Rubber Soul’, 1965], which we haven’t done for a long time.”
This line-up has been together for a few years now: “That’s right, Tyson Kelly
[‘John’] joined us in 2018, whilst Gordon Elsmore [‘Ringo’] joined in 2016 and Stephen Hill [‘George’] in
2014.” One of the joys of being a Bootleg Beatle is playing the songs of someone you admire: “Yes, and
whenever we do an album in it’s entirety, like we did with ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ [1964] a few years ago, you get to do songs you don’t usually do.”
Sometimes, it can be difficult knowing what songs to put in the set as Steve tells me: “The thing is that some
people who come to the shows aren’t necessarily Beatles fans and don’t know all the songs and we have to cater for the bulk of the audience. There are ‘staples’ that we have to do, but we like to throw a few quirky
ones in.” And as good as they are, Steve says that they could never match the originals: “No, we could never do
that. We are an ‘advertisement’ for The Beatles.”
The Bootleg Beatles’ ‘Getting Back’ tour will be heading out around the country from 23 March to 28 April. For all tour dates and other news visit the links below.
bootlegbeatles.com
www.facebook.com/ bootlegbeatles
