The Backbeat Beatles
Interview with Chris O'Neill and David Reilly

The Backbeat Beatles have recently been touring their 'Beatlemania' show around the UK. They have packed theatres from Liverpool to Southend, and received standing ovations from Hull to Birmingham. I caught up with them after another fab gig in Nottingham, and they told me all about the film which led to their formation and how they went on to become one of the most successful Beatles tribute bands in the UK! Issue 6 will feature part two of this exclusive interview.

Chris O'Neill ('Paul')
Nina: How did you get involved in Backbeat?
Chris: Two years before Backbeat, there was a film going to be made in Liverpool called 'The Young John Lennon', but Yoko stopped them making it. I went down for an audition for that, just to be a musician in any band that would have been up playing at the time. Dave - who's in our band now and I went down there and had our photographs taken to be extras but the film was never made. Then two years later the same casting company came up to Liverpool and hired the same room to audition for Backbeat. They were looking for a George at the time, and a Paul I believe. This room hadn't been used for two years and the box of photographs was still there in the corner, so they said we'll have a look through here while we here and they just picked mine out by random and I got a phone call… and two weeks later I was a Beatle!

N: Had you ever considered being 'George' before?
C: I was a big Beatle fan: a huge Beatle fan! I just put the records on and started trying to talk like him. I talk a bit like him anyway…
N: You've got to say that line from the film… "They've got food…"
C: "They've got food on the ferry Mum, if the lads know you've given me scones I'll never hear the end of it" But now I'm Paul [impersonation] and I've been John [impersonation]… I was John for six years!

N: When did you first decide you could do the Beatles? Were you a Beatle fan originally?
C: I started playing guitar years ago, with Gary who's our George in the band. Every band I've ever been in Gary's been in. I was a Beatle nut and I taught him how to play guitar but unfortunately he can play guitar better than me now, but fortunately he's still with me! We had a Mersey beat group. We were a bit weird cos everyone was punk at the time and we were just into Mersey beat! We had the 'Star-Club, Hamburg' record and we learnt all the tunes and that's how we learned to play guitar basically. What was quite strange about 'Backbeat' was that when I went for the audition there was all these old tunes that I knew and I knew all the keys of them and I kept telling everyone in the audition what key it was in and they just kept calling me back in the room and I think Ian Hart, who played John Lennon, said to the director, "You've got to have Chris in the film with his knowledge of the music!" I've always been a Beatle fan, and 'Backbeat' was just like coming back home really. Unfortunately I was supposed to be seventeen and I was actually 30 at the time! I'm getting old now!

N: What are your favourite Beatle songs to perform live and why?
C: At the moment 'Don't Let Me Down', because we haven't been doing it very long. I like having a good rock! I like doing 'She's A Woman' and 'I'm Down', but I haven't really got a favourite. My favourite Beatles song is 'Yes It Is', because my mum had it when I was a kid - it's the one record I used to play all the time. The chord structure's lovely. It's very weird.

N: What would you say has been the Backbeat Beatles greatest moment?
C: I don't know really. This year's going to be our best year because we're just doing theatre's so you get people to pay to come and listen to you, which is nice, because you're not in a night club. Greatest moment? There's been a lot! But the biggest moment for me was getting Paul to join from the Cavern Beatles and me going back onto bass. I was always the bass player and doing McCartney instead of Lennon. I did George in the film and I really wanted to do Paul so I'm quite happy back on the bass doing Paul!

N: What's your biggest ambition for the Backbeat Beatles?
C: Doing our songs. We write all the time and I always have. This is the first band I've been in that does covers really, because I was always in original bands. Everybody who's in the group is from original bands. We've all had a little bit of success but nothing great, but at the moment we've got a lot of good songs.

N: What sort of stuff do you do? Is it Beatle inspired?
C: Oh yeah it's definitely Beatle inspired but it's … you know Oasis like the Beatles and they kind of apparently rip the Beatles off …
N: You're not an Oasis fan then?
C: No I like Oasis they're good but…
N: They're not the Beatles…
C: No they're not the Beatles, but our songs sound Beatley because of our voices - and they're very good strong songs. It doesn't sound like Beatles songs but it sounds Beatley because they're good songs unlike Oasis who sound Beatley with bad songs!

N: What is your favourite Beatles album or era?
C: Album… It changes all the time! I do particularly like 'Rubber Soul' and 'Revolver' but you know then I'll flip 'Please Please Me' on. I think that's brilliant. And I like 'The White Album'… see what I mean I like them all really!

N: If you weren't a Backbeat Beatle who would you portray in another tribute band?
C: I wouldn't. I can't because I sound like a Beatle and I always have done and I wouldn't be interested at all it's the best band to be in. If I had to be in a tribute band it wouldn't be Abba!! I wouldn't mind being in a Wings band. I quite like Wings! Years ago when I was with a group which had a brass section - it was original but it was bordering on 'Live and Let Die' kind of stuff. I enjoy that!

N: If you could be your respective Beatle (Paul) at any moment in time when would it be?
C: I think I'd like to be Paul when he fell out of bed and wrote 'Yesterday' that would have been better than any gig!!

David Reilly ('Ringo')
Nina: How did you get involved in the NBC movie 'In His Life'?
David: Chris got asked to do some stuff for the film but he doesn't know anything about drummers so he said, "I'll get a friend to do it," which obviously was me!
N: You were teaching them how to 'be' Beatles? Did you teach 'Ringo' how to drum?
D: Yeah, they were actors. They're not drummers so I had to make them look like they were drummers!

N: What are your favourite Beatles songs to perform live and why?
D: It depends! I like doing the 'Abbey Road' medley. That's cool, and 'Strawberry Fields'. 'A Day In The Life' - I like doing that, but we're not doing that at the moment! And I like 'She Said She Said' but we don't do that!!
N: What about 'Rain'? You've got backwards drumming in that!
D: I know it… but we don't play that either!! There you go!

N: How do you choose the songs you play in the show?
D: Basically it's down to popular consensus. It's what works for the audience that goes in and you have to leave some of your favourites out, because basically you've got to do something for everyone from every era, which is quite difficult really!

N: What has been the Backbeat Beatles greatest moment for you?
D: We haven't had it yet!

N: So what's your biggest ambition?
D: I'll give you the cryptic answer…the King is dead, long live the King!

N: What's your favourite Beatles album or songs?
D: It's a toss-up between 'Rubber Soul' and 'Revolver', it changes quite a bit but I would say I never get tired of hearing 'She Said She Said', that's one of my faves!

N: If you weren't a Backbeat Beatle who would you portray in another tribute band?
D: Absolutely anyone who was paying my wages! John Bonham in Led Zeppelin or Keith Moon in The Who, but I don't really like The Who as much as I like Led Zeppelin!

N: If you could be your respective Beatle (Ringo) at any moment in time when would it be?
D: I'd say '64 to '67 - all that bit! That's when he found his feet and he did fantastic things and everyone should know that he's a top drummer! So all through that bit; any of that. But I'm not going to am I?!
N: No… but you're coming close
D: I'm coming close!!

Nina Douglas with The Backbeat Beatles.
Special Thanks to Reg Heath
TWIL Issue Five August 2001