Classical Mystery Tour founder embraces Beatles legacy

Kirk Baird

Friday, March 29, 2002 | 10:03 a.m.

What: Classical Mystery Tour.

When: 8 p.m. today.

Where: Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts.

Tickets: $27, $47, $57.

Information: 785-5000.

Aug. 29, 1966. San Francisco's Candlestick Park.

The date marked the last night of The Beatles' U.S. tour, and, sadly, the final performance the Fab Four made for a paying audience.

Other than the Jan. 30, 1969, impromptu performance on the rooftop of the band's Apple headquarters in London, The Beatles never again performed in concert. It had become too much of an effort for the group to play before an audience.

So what The Beatles wouldn't and couldn't do, others have tried to do for them under the guise of so-called "tribute bands," one of which, Classical Mystery Tour, performs Saturday night at Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts.

"Going back to the 1966 and the last concert, we kind of all knew why The Beatles quit touring," said Jim Owen, a 35-year-old resident of Studio City, Calif., and founder and full-time John Lennon in Classical Mystery Tour.

"It was all crazy and you couldn't hear the band anyway" over the thousands of screaming fans, he said. "The sound technology wasn't there."

More than 35 years later, however, the technology to replicate the band's music live and for the audience to hear it is there.

And Classical Mystery Tour takes full advantage.

For example, in addition to featuring four musicians to play the role of John, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, Classical Mystery Tour also features accompaniment by a full-scale orchestra. This classical addition, Owen said, is what separates Classical Mystery Tour from most other Beatles tribute acts and productions.

"What you get when you go to see your average Beatles band is four guys playing The Beatles," Owen said. "If they do anything from 'Sgt. Pepper's' that requires an orchestra, they're going to use a keyboard or backing track" to fill in for the orchestral arrangements."

A typical set list includes everything from early pop hits such as "Twist and Shout" and "I Saw Her Standing There" to the latter and more intricate "The Long and Winding Road" and "A Day in the Life."

"Think of all The Beatles songs you know and think of which ones would be great to play with an orchestra," Owen said of how he and the other members of the band chose which tunes to feature in the 1 1/2-hour show.

Owen, a classically trained pianist and lifelong Beatles fan, first had the idea for Classical Mystery Tour in 1995 based on his experience with "Beatlemania."

In the mid-'80s Owen played Harrison in a touring production of "Beatlemania," which was the first touring tribute show devoted to The Beatles.

"Beatlemania" opened on Broadway in June 1977 and had a successful run until it closed after the real-life Fab Four won a lawsuit against the show's producers for using the band members' likeness without permission.

However, suits against other Beatles tribute acts and shows were subsequently dismissed, paving the way for Classical Mystery Tour and Las Vegas frequenters the Fab Four, among countless others.

"Now they've (the surviving Beatles) basically given up on trying to stop people from playing Beatles songs," Owen said.

Which made his decision seven years ago to create a Beatles tribute band on his own much easier. The biggest challenge Owen faced was in replicating the symphonic arrangements that accompanied many of The Beatles' later work.

Initially, Owen went straight to the source, Sir George Martin, the legendary Beatles producer who wrote and arranged the scores, to obtain them. But Martin respectfully declined, since he still refers to the scores in the occasional concert appearance.

Owen then talked to a friend, Martin Herman, a music professor at California State University in Sacramento and part-time composer and conducter, about writing the scores himself.

Herman, also a Beatles fan, began work on replicating the intricate symphonic arrangements by listening to Beatles songs repeatedly, isolating each instrument and writing out the piece note by note.

Owen said Herman's diligence paid off.

"(Herman) unbelievably made these charts so good you would not know the difference," he said.

After the scores were put together, the production came together quickly and Classical Mystery Tour made its debut November '96 in Orange County, Calif.

More than four years later Classical Mystery Tour continues to perform all over the United States -- usually once a month -- and either combines forces with a city's symphony or brings its own group of musicians, as will be the case with the Las Vegas show.

After having played the same songs for so many years, Owen said the band members have reached the point they no longer need to practice the material before a concert, with the exception of rehearsing with the orchestra the day of the show.

That's not to suggest, however, playing Beatles music is simple.

"It's a very difficult band to emulate," he said. "You're basically trying to perform as the best band that ever was."