Beatles fans come together

By Wil Moss, wmoss@nashvillecitypaper.com 3 September 2004 :: Nashville City Paper

Music City gains another aspect of its title when “Fab Four at the Belcourt,” a Beatles festival, takes place Oct. 14-17 at the Belcourt Theatre.

“This town being a music town, it could use a Beatles festival to give some balance to us being the country music capital,” said Robert Earl Reynolds, a member of the country music group The Mavericks, lifelong Beatles fan and panel moderator for the festival.

“Fab Four” will have live music from Beatles’ tribute band 1964 The Tribute; panelists such as Ringo Starr’s producer Mark Hudson, and Ernie Winfrey, engineer of Paul McCartney’s ‘70s sessions in Nashville; showings of Beatles films such as A Hard Day’s Night and Yellow Submarine; and memorabilia ranging from the suits the Fab Four wore during their first Ed Sullivan Show to a photography exhibit by Astrid Kirchnerr who photographed the band during their Hamburg, Germany period. There will also be an open market of Beatles items.

“Nashville now boasts the ultimate Beatles festival and we want everyone to come out and enjoy it,” said Richard Courtney, the festival’s co-chair and City Paper columnist. “The Nashville music community, highly regarded by the Beatles themselves, is now home to several Liverpudlian band members of the Beatles era, as well as a number of musicians who have played on the solo works of McCartney, Harrison and Starr. Thanks to their involvement, this even will rival Beatle fests around the globe as far as the quality of performers, panelists and memorabilia.”

The event grew from a Feb. 9 celebration at the Belcourt marking the 40th anniversary of the Beatles’ performance on Ed Sullivan. Some 250 fans gathered to watch the performance and A Hard Day’s Night. Courtney was surprised by the turnout and decided to launch the upcoming festival.

“We didn’t get much publicity [for the Feb. 9 event], it was a rainy night, and we still had 250 people come by and buy tickets,” Courtney said. “The response was incredible.”

Tickets to “Fab Four at the Belcourt” range from $10 for panel discussions to $100 for full weekend passes and are available online at www.belcourt.org or at the Belcourt’s ticket office, 2102 Belcourt Ave. A complete schedule of events is available at www.belcourt.org.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Belcourt, Nashville’s historic nonprofit center for film, music and events.

“There are a number of these [festivals] around the world,” Courtney said. “We think we’ll have one of the better ones.”

Official Fab Four website : www.fabfouratbelcourt.com