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All you need is love for the Beatles at Nautica show

Michael Sangiacomo
Plain Dealer Reporter

The Beatles may have been gone for more than 30 years, but their music and influence are as much a part of today as yesterday.

 

Need proof?

Check out the Nautica Com plexin the Flats, where thousands of Beatles fans will flock to the Abbey Road on the River Beatles festival today and tomorrow.

 

The festival, replete with more than a dozen cover bands and Beatles look-alikes, is as real as fans want to make it. Promoter Gary Jacob said Beatles fans have come from as far away as Germany and England to stroll among exhibits and purveyors of all things Beatles while listening to bands perform the timeless music of the Fab Four.

 

Everything is named from the Beatles lexicon, from the All You Need Is Lemonade stand to the Tangerine Trees and Marmalade Skies stages. If you don't understand the names, you're in the wrong place.

 

Katie Kelley, 14, of Lakewood, is a second-generation Beatles fan. Her parents, Lisa and Ken, enjoyed the band's music the first time around. "She's a reincarnated '60s person," said Lisa about her bashful daughter, who seemed overwhelmed by the variety of Beatles kitsch for sale. During the first Beatles blitz of America in 1964, photographers followed the boys from Liverpool all over New York and backstage at the Ed Sullivan show.

 

Most of their photos were hidden away in the CBS archives for generations until a few years ago when many of the best shots were unearthed. For the past three years, the poster-size, black-and-white photos have been on exhibition in museums and art galleries around the world. Seventy-one are on display at Nautica.

 

Guests of the weekend include George Harrison's older sister, Louise Harrison, who will talk about her famous brother and give "George hugs" to folks at 4 p.m. today and tomorrow in Desmond and Molly's Patio.

 

The world's leading expert on the Beatles, Bruce Spizer, author of three authoritative books on the band, will speak about the Beatles and answer questions such as "Who was Billy Shears?" at his booth today and tomorrow.

 

He also will autograph his coffee-table books, including the recently released "The Beatles on Apple Records," which recounts the band's later days right up to the release of "1."

 

Shannon, the world-famous Beatles artist whose works command $40,000, will show many of her paintings and prints. While at the festival, she will be painting a 10-foot John Lennon guitar for GuitarMania II at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

 

Last night's finale was scheduled to be a "fantasy reunion" of the Beatles, described by Jacob as part theater, part concert.

 

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

msangiacomo@plaind.com, 216-999-4890

© 2003 The Plain Dealer. Used with permission.

19.08.03

 

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