Apple Pies

When the Beatles played Rome in 1963 they could never have imagined that nearly 40 years later, 4 Italian guys, would be entertaining the crowds with songs like 'Ticket To Ride', 'Help' and 'Come Together. The Apple Pies are the most successful Beatles band in Italy, playing all over the country. They have appeared on national television many times and in 1995 were honoured to commemorate the Beatles first concert in Rome, at the Adriano Theatre where they re-enacted the show from 30 years earlier. They are the only Beatles tribute band ever to play inside The Vatican and recently appeared on television with Spanish Guitarist Jose Feliciano. This was a magic moment, as Luca Biagini (Ringo) recalls, "It was a very good experience. We played 'A Day In the Life' with him." I met Luca, Antonello Ripepi (John), and The Apple Pies manager, Angelo Di Natale, and we talked about the music that changed all our lives, over an ice cream, in beautiful Rome.

It always amazes me that a band who split up 30 years ago remains one of the most popular. The Apple Pies believe this continuing popularity is because the Beatles are a magical force. "The Beatles are like a religion. They are still as popular today in Italy as they were in the 60's. Our audience ranges in age from 5 to 95!" The Apple Pies are all huge Beatles fans. They love to play the songs live, but do not think of themselves as 'Beatles'. "When I play the drums I am Luca - not Ringo," Luca told me. He was lucky enough to meet his counterpart a few years ago too!

The Apple Pies have a huge repertoire and enjoy performing songs from the entire Beatles career. They often play songs from the Beatles at the BBC and many songs from the Hamburg/Cavern period. They chose the songs for each show with the audience in mind, and happily take requests at the more intimate gigs. During the show Luca keeps an eye on the audience to see how each song is received. If the crowd are subdued they play slower numbers like 'Girl', and 'In My Life', if they want to dance the Apple Pies can entertain with 'I Feel Fine' or 'Revolution'.

The following evening I got to see the Apple Pies in action at a summer festival near the Olympic Stadium where the Fabs played 'all those years ago'. They had asked me to introduce the band in English, which was very nerve-wracking! I stood on the stage in front of the crowd of 700 or so Romans and said; "40 years ago four guys from Liverpool changed the course of music history forever. The Beatles are still as popular today as they were back in the 60's and tonight 'a splendid time is guaranteed for all' as we are taken on a 'Magical Mystery Tour' of the songs of John, Paul, George and Ringo. Please welcome Italy's number one Beatles band - The Apple Pies." The audience cheered and applauded as the band took to the stage and I breathed a sigh of relief and took my seat on the front row.

The band - Antonello, Emanuele Angeletti (Paul), Stefano Panzieri (George) and Luca began the show with the early hits - 'Love Me Do', 'She Loves You' and 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' and worked their way through 1964 and 65 with songs like 'Eight Day's A Week', the wonderful 'Girl' and an assortment of songs from the Beatles movies 'A Hard Day's Night' and 'Help!' Stefano's guitar solo's were all spot-on, and his Gretsch Country Gentleman, and Luca's Ludwig kit ensured that the Beatles sound was re-created as closely as possible. They even included one of my favourite songs, which is a rarity in most Beatle bands sets - 'We Can Work It Out'. Closing the first set, Emanuele sang 'Yesterday' with just an acoustic guitar while the others changed from their grey velvet collared suits into more psychedelic style clothes for the later years.

One of the many things that The Apple Pies do especially well is adapt their line-up to play the post-Rubber Soul songs, which were heavily scored and featured many other musicians, whether they were sitar players or piccolo trumpeters. Antonello takes over the Hofner bass guitar enabling Emanuele to play the keyboard - an exchange which does not conform to the usual Beatles band rules but which works extremely well. One of the highlights for me was 'In My Life'. It was one of the best and most accurate renditions of this beautiful Lennon song I have ever heard. All the parts are played to perfection although Paul, not John is the one playing the harpsichord-style keyboard. The audience were impressed too, as they applauded Emanuele's excellent solo.

The second half of the show opened with another solo spot, Antonello this time performing an acoustic demo style version of John's Imagine. Many bands include this song in their set, despite it being a solo Lennon song, rather than a Beatles record. I personally would rather not see it performed live, because I find it too depressing. Yes, we all miss John very much, but a Beatles tribute should focus on 1963 to 1970 and leave us with the positive thoughts that 'All You Need Is Love', and considering how amazing it is that the most of the best work of these four guys, and the most influential songs of the 20th century were written before the Fabs reached 30!

Things soon lightened up with 'Penny Lane', 'Strawberry Fields Forever', 'Yellow Submarine' and 'Get Back'. Many of the songs The Apple Pies perform are the Anthology or live album versions - or bits of them anyway! Especially fun and unusual was the "a suitable ending I think" ad-lib after 'Penny Lane' and the 'Tripping The Live Fantastic' version of Hey Jude; "You sound so sweet to me" and "You were great, you were great…" It's always like a little in-joke to fellow fans and reflects the groups' own passion for their heroes.

It is very easy to forget that the Apple Pies are singing in a language which is not their own. Of course they have Italian accents, and some words are not pronounced quite right but their English is generally excellent! They even talk between songs in English (not trying to mimic the Beatles in anyway other than the language - they don't do the "people in the cheaper seats..." chat.), except for Luca who introduced the band in Italian before he sang 'Yellow Submarine', referring to the literal Italian pronunciation of their name - The App-leh Pee-es! Emanuele has a really great McCartney voice and showed his versatility with the heart-achingly beautiful 'Long and Winding Road' and the rocking screamers; 'Long Tall Sally' and 'Helter Skelter', which closed the show!! The concert was excellent and afterwards the band was besieged with fans and well-wishers.

They say, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do," and a few days after the show I joined Antonello and his friends to entertain the tourists in Piazza Navona. We sat beneath Bernini's fabulous fountain and sang Beatles songs - Antonello and his friend Harry sang and played guitars, while Giovanni and I joined in. As the bars and cafes around the square closed, people gathered around us including a group of Dutch guys who requested Elvis songs, an Oasis fan who asked for 'Wonderwall', and a couple who jived to 'Rock Around The Clock'. It was great fun and so nice to see people of all nationalities singing along with 'Hey Jude', 'Twist and Shout' and 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da'.

Emanuele joined us briefly for a couple of Paul songs too! The Apple Pies have had many highlights in their career so far, but they still have ambitions. "We definitely want to keep playing", says Antonello "and we'd like to get the MBE!"

It looks as though Italy will be able to enjoy a slice of The Apple Pies for many more years!!

Nina Douglas
TWIL Issue Five August 2001