The Fab Four - Professional impersonators pay tribute to the Beatles

Web posted Friday, April 18, 2003
By CHIP CHANDLER :: Amarillo Globe-News

Ron McNeil only has to look at his family to be reminded of John Lennon's life and death.
"My niece was born the next day" after Lennon's Dec. 8, 1980, assassination. "That really helped me to understand that people die and people are born every day."

Of course, all McNeil really has to do for a Lennon reminder is to look in his own mirror. McNeil's a professional Lennon impersonator - one of The Fab Four, a Beatles tribute band that'll be playing the Amarillo Civic Center Auditorium tonight.

McNeil says Lennon's death made him think of the songwriter in a new light.
"I was just devastated. It got me to think more about John, and I think that solidified my idea to perform as John if I ever were to perform as a Beatle," McNeil said.
He'd been thinking along those lines for about a year, though he'd been a Beatles fan for some time before that.
"As a kid, I borrowed my older sister's records and never gave them back. As a musician, I wanted to learn how the Beatles came up with those great songs - the chords, the lyrics," he said.
"... Then, in '79, I saw 'Beatlemania,' the Broadway show, as a young kid, and I thought, 'Maybe I could do this as a job. ... All of this goofing off with the Beatles could be a career of some sort.' "

At a Glance
Who: The Fab Four
When: 7:30 p.m. today
Where: Amarillo Civic Center Auditorium
How Much: $22, plus service charge
Information: 378-3096 or any panhandletickets outlet

In 1998, McNeil hooked up with Ardy Sarraf to form The Fab Four. Sarraf portrays Paul McCartney, while Rolo Sandoval is Ringo Starr and Michael George Amador is George Harrison.
"We're all really, really good musicians. We all play at least three or four instruments and are good entertainers in our own right," McNeil said.

Which begs the question: Why be a professional impersonator?
"I feel like ever since I was young, I've always had a talent for imitating. I would do voices, like Rich Little or whatever; I'd imitate teachers and everybody," he said. "I feel like that's my forte, and the Beatles are the best music group in the world, so why not do what I'm best at?"

And as for why he and the others chose the Beatles, it's simple: The music.
"The Beatles wrote fantastic songs, period. You can talk about their personalities, their musical background and training and the lack thereof ... and it all comes down to their songs. All over the world people enjoy their songs and they don't even speak the same language," McNeil said.
"... People come to our shows who don't have any memory of the Beatles, myself included, and still enjoy the show, so I would say it's definitely about their songwriting."

None of The Fab Four, in fact, are old enough to have seen the Beatles perform before their breakup in 1970. One of the tributers is 25; the rest are in their early 30s, though McNeil declined to give precise ages.

They've become so well thought of that they were asked to perform "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and other Beatles songs for a CBS movie on Linda McCartney.

Their stage show is divided into three segments: the Ed Sullivan era, featuring such songs as "She Loves You" and "Twist and Shout"; the psychedelic period, with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"; and the breakup period, with "Let It Be" and "Hey Jude."
"It really is the most important music of our time," said McNeil, sincere in his hyperbole. "It's also a show, one of very few shows, that you can bring the whole family to: People who grew up with the Beatles, their kids and sometimes their kids. We'll see 9-year-old kids singing along with every song.
"... You hear them as an entity. That's a unique experience," McNeil said, "especially for those people who aren't old enough to have gone to a Beatles concert."