SEDALIA DEMOCRAT
These would-be Beatles’ message of love is real
By JOHN HANSEN
MARCH 2, 2010
It was an honor for me to talk to Louise Harrison by phone recently, because I’m a fan of her late brother George’s band. You know the one — a handful of super-talented musicians shared songwriting and vocal duties and churned out catchy harmonies almost effortlessly, and two of the members are now deceased.
Unfortunately for me, the phone interview wasn’t to talk about the Traveling Wilburys, it was to talk about George’s band before that — but that’s OK; I guess the Beatles were pretty good, too. More specifically, the topic was the Beatles tribute band Liverpool Legends, which will perform Friday and Saturday at Main Street Music Hall in Osage Beach.
“To me, I’m their mom, that’s my function,” Harrison said of her role with this faux Fab Four. “If they lose a button off one of their suits, I’ll sew it back on. Any odd thing I can do for them.”
Actually, she’s being modest. Harrison formed Liverpool Legends in 2006, cherry-picking the best impersonators/musicians from other Beatles tribute bands. She and the band are based in the show-act hub of Branson, a fitting home for one of the best Beatles tribute bands out there.
Harrison estimates there are 300 or 400 Beatles tribute bands in the world, and of course many of them do the costume changes that Liverpool Legends does — taking the Beatles through the Sixties from “The Ed Sullivan Show” to “Abbey Road.” However, Branson’s Beatles are the only ones endorsed by a relative of an actual Beatle.
You might think the sister of a Beatle would be offended by people dressing up and pretending to be the Fab Four. You might think she would find something creepy or sad or shameless about tribute bands.
However, Harrison never saw it that way, even before she assembled her own foursome.
“I’ve always been supportive of youngsters putting together tribute bands, because let’s face it, there is still demand for Beatles music and hearing it live,” Harrison said. “I got the best impersonators I could. Not only are they the best Beatle impersonators out there, but they are the best musicians possible.”
She also wanted good people, and she says she got her wish. Kevin Mantegna plays John, Bob Beahon plays Paul, Marty Scott plays George and Greg George — leading with his nose — plays Ringo.
“When my brother died, it was only a matter of six weeks later that I was invited to a Beatle weekend in Chicago,” Harrison said. “They had a Beatle band there. I was sitting in the back of the theater. When (Scott) came out and played ‘My Guitar Gently Weeps,’ I had tears flowing down my face. That’s when I realized, ‘Well, I’m not going to see my real brother do this again.’ (Scott’s) personality is like George. He’s kind, compassionate, funny. We adopted each other.
“To me, the most important thing, besides looking like the Beatles and being good musicians, is to be the kind of guys George would like to hang out with, like he had fun with the Wilburys. They are very much like my family.”
Aside from the music and the looks, Harrison hopes Liverpool Legends successfully mimics the original mission of the Beatles.
“The whole thing when the Beatles started was all about love, peace, caring about each other, all that kind of thing,” Harrison said. “Over the years, the message gets lost. We’ve made sure what we do is made with love and caring.”
Whenever Harrison gives someone a hug now, she says it’s from her younger brother. Before he died in 2001, George gave Louise a hug and told her to pass it on around the world; she’s still giving out “Harrison hugs” today.
Harrison was in Canada with Liverpool Legends during the Olympics, but on the other side of the country. She was torn when it came to a rooting interest. Her accent clearly gives away her British roots, but she has lived in the United States since 1963. Before that she lived in Canada, where both of her children were born. Because her husband was an in-demand engineer, she also lived in Peru for a while.
Harrison understands the spirit of the Olympics, and the spirit of Beatles tribute bands.
“It’s kind of a brotherhood, not a competitive thing,” she said. “I was de-planing (in December) in Santiago, Chile, and another Beatle band, Simply Beatles, was also at the airport. We became friends with them. Our Paul’s guitar hadn’t arrived, and they offered to lend us theirs. There’s no nastiness or competition. There are enough people interested in the Beatles that we can all make a living doing it.”