Beatallica
is a mash-up band that plays music made from combinations of songs of The Beatles and Metallica. A Beatallica song is typically a blend of a Beatles song and a Metallica song with a related title (e.g. "The Thing That Should Not Let It Be", combining The Beatles' "Let It Be" and Metallica's "The Thing That Should Not Be" or "And Justice for All My Loving" combining Metallica's "And Justice for All" and the Beatles' "All My Loving"), though sometimes just a Beatles song will be used as a basis with modified lyrics. The lyrics slip back and forth between the two songs—occasionally neither in lieu of original lyrics comically referencing Metallica, heavy metal music or the heavy metal community—while the scansion and melody are usually Beatles-based, the music is played metal style with some Metallica riffs and solos thrown in. Consistent quirks made in the lyrics also criticize glam metal much in the fashion that thrash metal fans would do.
|
BEATALLICA TICKETS
|
History
The project was founded in
2001 by original guitarist "Krk Hammetson" and singer "Jaymz Lennfield". The EP
A Garage Dayz Nite
was recorded for the annual
Spoof Fest
concert held in Milwaukee, as a memento of that year's concert. A few dozen copies of the EP were handed out to friends. Later that year, one of those CDs made its way to Milwaukee resident David Dixon, who created a that included mp3s of the songs and named the band "Beatallica". The band was unaware of the webpage until Dixon finally met them in the summer of 2002, carrying a stack of fan emails from all around the world. Beatallica gave the webpage its blessings, and after further urgings from its internet fanbase, recorded the EP
Beatallica
, also known as
The Grey Album
, releasing it online on April 1, 2004.
Later in
2004, the band (including bassist "Kliff McBurtney" and drummer "Ringo Larz") started to perform at live venues nationally and internationally, with a stage show incorporating elements from both Beatles and Metallica performances. They also played as an opening act for
Dream Theater;
Mike Portnoy even joined the band on stage for drums on one occasion. Beatallica would go on to perform with likes of Motorhead, Testament, Kreator, Sepultura, LA Guns and play huge summer festivals worldwide, including Milwaukee's Summerfest, Germany's Earthshaker Festival, The Netherlands' Kings of Metal festival, and Korea's Busan International Rock Festival.
In
2007, the band's current lineup of Jaymz Lennfield (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Grg Hammetson (lead guitar), Kliff McBurtney (lead bass, backing vocals) and Ringo Larz (drums) went into the studio to re-record many of Krk and Jaymz' original songs and write some new compositions for their official debut
Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band
.
May
2008, marked the release of Beatallica's single;
All You Need Is Blood
recorded in 13 languages as a worldwide thank-you to the network of Beatallica fans known as Beatallibangers. The band added Belgium, Czech Republic, and Poland to the list of places they have toured.
September & October
2008, saw the release of both
Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band and
All You Need Is Blood in Japan. Both Japanese CD versions contain bonus tracks.
On April 1st, 2009 (Beatallica's birthday) Beatallica met Metallica backstage after Metallica's show in Paris, France. This was the first time that both bands had actually met each other in person. Both bands have communicated with each other over the years, as they continue to do so, but this was the first time in the flesh that they had a chance to hang out together.
August 4th 2009,
Masterful Mystery Tour, the band's second full length album was released internationally. An official music video for the first single, Hero of the Day Tripper, was made with the band starring as hesh 1970's super hero's saving a party from the clutches of four Big Sleazers.
Legal problems
To avoid legal problems, the band maintained a strict non-commercial policy (all songs were available for free download) and shrouded themselves in anonymity (all names mentioned above are, of course, stage names but their real names were revealed in interviews and, hence, also appear in this article). Metallica were aware of the spoof band's existence and never threatened to take any legal action;
Lars Ulrich,
James Hetfield and
Kirk Hammett have all publicly stated that they enjoy Beatallica's music.
On
February 17,
2005, a
cease-and-desist notice was sent to David Dixon (and the band's web host) by
Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a company which holds rights to most of The Beatles' catalog. The notice states that the "music", "news" and "merchandise" sections of the official Beatallica website constitute a
copyright violation and should therefore be taken down. In response to this, a
petition requesting Sony/ATV Music Publishing to retract its threat of legal action was created. The band was saved from further legal action by Metallica drummer
Lars Ulrich, who offered to provide assistance with legal negotiations and also asked Metallica's longtime attorney to try to defuse the situation with Sony. Sony ultimately reached an agreement with Beatallica and their new label Oglio Records, and an official Beatallica recording was released in July 2007 entitled "
Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band".
Members
- Jaymz Lennfield (referring to James Hetfield and John Lennon, respectively, real name Michael "Tinker" Tierney) - vocals, lyrics, songwriting, rhythm guitar
- Grg Hammetson (referring to George Harrison and Kirk Hammett, respectively, real name Jeff Hamilton) - lead guitar. (Former member "Krk Hammetson", real name Michael Brandenburg).
- Kliff McBurtney (referring to Cliff Burton and Paul McCartney, respectively, real name Paul Terrien) - bass
- Ringo Larz (referring to Ringo Starr and Lars Ulrich, respectively, real name Ryan Charles) - drums
Discography
Until 2007, Beatallica's recordings were only available as
MP3 and
FLAC downloads.
- (2001) A Garage Dayz Nite
(EP)
- (2004) Beatallica
(EP) (Also commonly known as the Grey Album
, a mix between the White Album
from the Beatles and Black Album
from Metallica, and not to be confused with The Grey Album
by DJ Danger Mouse)
- (2007) Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band
(Oglio. CD release date: July 10, 2007). See
- (2008) All You Need Is Blood
("Maxi-single" in 13 languages, Oglio. CD release date: May 20, 2008).
- (2008) Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band
(Sony-ATV Japanese release with bonus tracks CD release date: September 10, 2008).
- (2008) All You Need Is Blood
("Maxi-single" in 13 languages, Sony-ATV Japanese release with bonus tracks. CD release date: October 8, 2008).
- (2009) Masterful Mystery Tour
(Oglio. CD release date: August 4, 2009 [1])
References
- Oglio Records Beatallica artist's page. New album avaliable on 08-04-2009