George
Smith
I was born in the same year The Beatles played their one and only concert
in St. Louis and I grew up in Illinois across the Mississippi River.
I was born in the same month as George Harrison, on the day before Valentine's
Day and the day after Abraham Lincolm's birthday. (Peter Tork of the
Monkee's birthday!)
My love for the Beatles goes back to a night in 1974 when I chanced
upon a movie called "A Hard Day's Night" on TV. I was in awe
of these four blokes with the funny voices. I still am!
It wasn't long before my two older brothers and I were accumulating
quite a large collection of Beatles' records. Along with the records,
I grabbed everything I could get my hands on with pictures and information
on these lads. This was not always an easy task for a kid living way
before the World Wide Web was available!
It was great to listen to the records but before long, I had to have
a guitar so I could try to actually play these amazing sounds myself.
Luckily, my dad played guitar and one of my brothers was starting to
play too. I made good progress learning my chords quickly and soon found
myself plucking out tunes such as Day Tripper, Ticket To Ride and I
Feel Fine.
One day I was invited to visit my brother's friend's house. He was
a drummer in a country band but the bass player had an old violin shaped
Hofner Beatle bass! I got to actually "play" this amazing
looking instrument. I was completely enamored with this gorgeous Beatle
bass and immediately switched my focus from playing guitar to the bass.
Within a couple of years, I found myself playing my first "gig"
at my junior high school Christmas program. I was playing bass (my beloved
Conrad bass that's violin shaped and resembles Paul's Hofner) in a band
called The Beatles Sound-Alikes, though I'm sure we didn't! This was
in 1979 and more Beatles tribute bands followed including Revolver and
The British. These bands also included my brother Bob. In 1984, we formed
a '50s and '60s tribute called Grand Tour that had a lot of success
and lasted throughout the '80s playing over much of Illinois, Missouri
and parts of Kentucky. Along with playing oldies, Grand Tour also wrote
and recorded a four-song EP that enjoyed some radio airplay and even
made an album of original country songs! We also recorded a radio commercial
for a mustard manufacturer!
Throughout the early '90s, I played in a couple of bands that focused
on oldies, new country and Elvis. I also played some shows and recorded
with Eddie Starr on a couple of his great CDs. These bands were fun,
but my heart has always belonged in Beatles' music. In '98, I started
an association as bassist with Pepperland that lasted several years.
In recent years, the desire has returned to play more guitar again
and especially to learn George Harrison's wonderful guitar work. Then,
to my great surprise, I found out St. Louis' best Beatles' tribute,
Ticket To the Beatles" were searching for a new "George."
I had been aware of this band for years and I new this would be a fantastic
chance to see if I could hook up with them. The first night we got together
was a blast and I personally think it's just a sign of a lot more fun
to come!
I've been fortunate and have played with a lot of great musicians in
the St. Louis area including Bob Smith, Eddie Starr and Jeff Stull and
I'm proud to know that playing in "Ticket To The Beatles"
has only added to the list of very talented people I've had the honor
to work with. Honestly!
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Wayne Givens (I
have a different name when I'm hungry)
Date started playing music:
December 15th 7:15pm central standard time.
Visit
Wayne's My Space Page
Musical History
First band was called Half Street, started by my mentor, Kenny Bohannan,
in March of 1976. We started out not so good but we practiced virtually
every day and night and by 1978, we were a very good band. Also featured
in half street was vocalist and guitar player Dave Bohannan, drummer
Steve Shuck,and later keyboardest Joe Bruder. We played a great song
list that went from Marshall Tucker to Led Zeppelin and Montrose. It
was a magical time that I'll never forget. We had a shortage of microphone
stands in those days so Dave and Kenny got the real ones. One day the
band decided to play Birthday by the Beatles and Kenny decided that
I should be singing harmony. So, he rigged up a beat up old microphone
to hang down from the ceiling duct work on a clothes hanger. When I
got within an inch of that thing a huge spark came out and got me right
on the lip. Not only was I in pain, but I got yelled at by Kenny for
not being close enough to the mic. It's probably why Birthday is not
one of my favorite songs.
In 1979, we formed the group Ambush. This band featured high powered
vocalist Randy LaBrott, drummer Kevin Simon, and Dave Bohannan on guitar
and vocals. This was a rock'n'roll band! Later, we added guitarist John
Smith (In my humble opinion, was the most naturally talented musician
I've ever seen) and started playing originals. We had a pretty large
following that got even bigger when we were selected as one of K-SHE's
SEEDS bands. This is where the radio station picked out 10 of St. Louis'
best bands and put out an album. It received pretty much air time and
is still a collectors item to this day. Later, KWK put out a similar
album called Moonshine and we were on that too. We did put out our own
album that did pretty well but our main thing was our live show. We
ran into some bad breaks but overall, we had a great time. Randy and
Kevin are still jamming strong with their own group called Poppies 3,
which play at different venues around town. John Smith passed away a
couple of years ago, but he continues to be a huge influence on me musically.
During my time with Ambush, I got to be friends with Mama's Pride and
in particularly Danny Liston. Whenever I was not playing, I would be
at one of their jobs, like Billie Goat Hill, Stages, Fourth and Pine,
etc. They were so good to see live that I just couldn't imagine why
they were not rich and famous. (I think they would have settled for
rich.) I wrote a song about them called The Pride of St. Louis. One
night when Ambush opened up for the Pride, we threw in the song and
Pat Liston was blown away. We have been good friends ever since. In
1986, I played in the Danny Liston Band and we recorded the EP Every
Beat of My Heart. This group featured Danny Liston, Pat Liston, keyboardist
Paul Willet (also from the Pride), drummer Dave Moulden, guitarist Tim
Scholbe and last but not least, the keyboardist/songwriter from Uriah
Heep, Ken Hensley.We recorded in Kansas City and had a great time. We
opened up for Molly Hatchett at Westport and played a few other jobs
around St. Louis. The EP is still for sale on the Mama's Pride website.
Over the years, I have never stopped performing in public. I have played
different styles with many different musicians and I have always taken
something with me when I left each group. Sooooo, after many years of
not being around each other, an old friend named Dave Bohannan, started
hanging out again and told me he had been jamming with someone that
I should get together with. That person turned out to be Baker Symes.
We would go to Baker's house on Friday nights, drink beer and play bad
Beatle music with a drum machine. After a few weeks of this, Baker wanted
us to become a band and TICKET TO THE BEATLES came to be. After playing
one job with the drum machine, we later grew a drummer named Jim Laverty
and lived happily ever after. Or so we thought.....
Little did we know that the evil little band Green Eggs and Hamm was
planning to kidnap Dave away and make him perform Led Zeppelin and other
such groups, which would force him to sing in a high unnatural voice
for the rest of his days! But.....as fate would have it, Billy Engel
was minding his own business when he saw a distress signal flash across
his computer screen which read, In Search of George! This put him in
a terrible position because Billy had once promised his family that
he would never again play English music. Finally, he gave in after Baker
promised him much fame and money as well as the middle spot on the stage.
Now do they live happily ever after? Stay tuned.
Beatle influences? Not that I am aware of unless it would be the piccolo
player on You've Got to Hide Your Love Away. That was the Beatles wasn't
it?
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Jim
Laverty
I began my musical career like thousands of other kids who wanted to
emulate the Beatles, playing drums in a garage band in 1965. After cutting
my teeth in a variety of soon-to-be-forgotten acts such as The UFO's
The Cross Circle, Free Dirt, and The Poets, I was invited to drum for
a very promising local act known as The Friendly Stranger (beware the
friendly stranger!!!!) To the man, each member of our band brought something
away from playing for a crowd of dancing, smiling faces that money could
not buy. We played birthday parties, sock hops, Bar Mitzvahs, teen centers,
and school dances. We played just about any place that paid hard cash,
and some that did not. We were not too choosey about where we played,
which meant that we worked a lot.
Dave Adderly, our new lead singer and recent transplant from California,
joined up with us in 1967 and gradually weaned us away from the bubblegum
music we had been playing. He got us digging into the real deal, The
Yardbirds, The Grateful Dead, Cream and Paul Butterfield.
The Friendly Stranger played just about anywhere and everywhere in the
two years that we were together (1967-68), with the highlight being
a Saturday afternoon gig at the popular Rio Theatre. Our band was scheduled
to play between the two features, and when the first movie ended and
we were introduced a near riot ensued. We played our half hour set with
throngs of kids rushing the stage and dancing in the aisles. I was hooked.
We then began a successful run at various teen towns including the infamous
Bruno's Bat Cave located in the basement of George Edick's Club Imperial.
During the day, we rubbed shoulders with none other than the Ike &
Tina Turner Review who, like us, were using the upstairs rehearsal rooms
at Club Imperial, to hone their skills.
Hanging out at KDNA-FM with Leonard Slatkin and Jeremy Landsman in the
declining days of Gaslight Square and at The Castaway Club with The
Allman Brothers Band (then known as The Allman Joys) was definitely
enlightening in my early career.
After the demise of The Friendly Stranger, I soon found myself holding
down the drumming chores in one of the most popular groups in St. Louis,
Bittersweet. We toured everywhere and anywhere around the Midwest during
1969-71, sharing stages with the likes of The Grass Roots, Eric Burden
& War, The Velvet Underground, REO Speedwagon, Illinois Speed Press,
Bloodrock and a very young Billy Joel, among others. Touring took its
toll and after two years on the road with Bittersweet I needed a change.
College beckoned and I relocated to Kansas City to further my studies.
While in KC, I kept my chops up with some local cover bands while mainly
concentrating on school and partying.
After moving back to St. Louis, I joined a fledgling outfit called,
The Archland Rock Ensemble which, with the inevitable personnel changes,
later became known as Biz Recording Projects with Greg Minnich and The
Transparent Reflection & Invisible Hologram Band and various pick
up bands kept me going throughout the early '80s.
The Helen Vault Band was formed in 1984 and after nearly ten years together
and a few personnel changes, transmogrified into one of St. Louis' cult
favorites, The Cheese. We played at various clubs around town, but most
weekends found us at 1860's in Soulard. During a break from playing
our last gig with Dave Pace, our original guitarist, at a rainy Chili
Festival at Westport Plaza, I was relating my disappointment at the
potential demise of the band to the sound man in the booth. He said
it was a shame that we were losing our guitarist, and being very impressed
with our music, asked me if he could suggest a replacement.......himself.
This was my first brush with the man known far and wide as "The
Center of the Universe", Kenny Bohannan (older brother of original
TICKET TO THE BEATLES' guitarist Dave Bohannan).
With his Yoda-like appearance, stoic personality, and impressive collection
of flannel shirts, Kenny was to become the heart and soul of The Cheese.
Following the lead of the late great vocalist/guitarist Earl B. Moore
Jr. in fleshing out his haunting original compositions, Kenny B, along
with bassist Larry Drew and myself rounded out the lineup of one of
the finest bands with whom I've ever had the pleasure to be associated.
Like all good things in this world, it was not to last, and following
the colapse of The Cheese in 1995, I then cast about for another group.
I soon found The Sharks on the end of my line. A hard rocking outfit
known mainly for its employment of lots of guys named Roy, The Sharks
worked around the St. Louis nightclub scene until, musical differences
necessitated my resignation in late 1996.
June 1997, the phone rings and there on the other end of the line is
Wayne Givens inviting me to join the newly formed TICKET TO THE BEATLES.
After a quick rehearsal with Wayne and Dave, we were ready for our first
show as a foursome with Baker Symes July 4, 1997 at The Webster Groves
Independence Day Celebration at Hixon School. After many years of blood,
sweat and tears, I am happy to say that I still enjoy performing in
the "Best Beatles Tribute Band (who don't dress up like The Beatles)"
in St. Louis. After six years, we celebrated our 200th show in October
2003, making TICKET TO THE BEATLES without a doubt the most successful
musical endeavor of my career........so far. Grin
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Baker
Symes
In 1964 my mother bought me my first record album when I was 9 years
old. The album was "Songs, Pictures and Stories of the Fabulous
Beatles" on VJ records. This album was released before "Meet
The Beatles". I loved The Beatles and I loved my Beatles album
until someone knocked it off the dresser and it shattered.
I started my first band when I was in 6th grade. We played Sergeant
Peppers, Jumpin Jack Flash, As Tears Go By, My Girl, Little Red Riding
Hood, House of the Rising Sun, Sunshine of Your Love, Foxy Lady, Hang
on Sloopy, etc. On Sundays, we would play on Corky Hanger's back porch
and wait for Holy Redeemer Catholic Church to get out so all the cute
girls could scramble across the street to see us. Once my band played
a dance in the gym of a junior high school. Melvin Inge, the singer
of my band did the splits, and split his pants. He had to take his shirt
off and drape it around his waist to cover up his ripped pants. We got
in trouble with the vice principle for that.
In high school, I was in a church group that was run by a hip youth
minister. We were a bunch of hippies, with a lot of musicians. I learned
to play electric guitar like James Taylor and learned just about every
song on his five albums. Determined to make my own album, I got two
other musicians together and recorded 15 original songs, including "Out
of the Dark", "Where You Are", "Raucous Randy",
"We Must Go On", and other favorites among the 25 people that
actually bought the album. I made500 copies and drove out to California
to distribute them to all the major labels. Unfortunately, the record
was terrible, or should I say terribly boring. I got a lot of "Thanks,
but no thanks". I also recorded a disco type 45 called, "Fast
Fool", with Linda Lange singing back up vocals. I played all the
instruments. It was kinda groovy, if you know what I mean.
I continued to write in my twenties while I got my Bachelor's degree
in psychology. I stopped playing most music when I got my Master's degree
in Clinical Psychology and became a family therapist.
Fast forward to 1989. I moved from California back to St. Louis and
started writing and recording children's music with Linda Lange. From
1989 until 1994, Linda and I wrote and recorded over 63 children's songs
on four cassettes. This was good stuff and we sold several thousand
copies anmd played over 400 children's concerts.
Also, in 1989, I formed the first "TICKET TO THE BEATLES"
with my 6th grade band member Jon Gergeceff. The band also included
Kevin Sullivan and Dan Morrissey. We played a lot of gigs, and wore
the collarless suits. We never quite sounded like The Beatles, but gave
a Beatle impression. That band died after 3 years. I took a hiatus from
1994 until 1997, when Dave Bohannan and I started the new "TICKET
TO THE BEATLES". This time we did it with real professional musicians,
and after a lot of hard work, we started to sound like The Beatles.
The current "TICKET TO THE BEATLES' is the best band I have ever
performed in. Audiences love this band, and we are solid in what we
do. "TICKET TO THE BEATLES" is a joy to perform in. I truly
love listening to the band as well as performing. We have fabulous fans
and some supportive bar owners who are also big fans. Wherever we play,
a crowd is almost always guaranteed. The crowds are great fun. "TICKET
TO THE BEATLES" is an integrated part of my life, which I plan
to continue indefinitely. So much of life's happiness is doing what
you really want to do. I love being a Beatle 4 or 5 times a month. It
connects me with my youth and with people who also love The Beatles.
My thanks to the current line up of Wayne, Jim, and Billy for making
this an incredibly fun and gifted cover band. We are the best Beatle
cover band.
-Baker
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