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The Wannabeatles L-R: Bryan Cumming, David Toledo, Dennis Scott and Nathan Burbank (Photograph by Martin O’Connor)

Among the Nashville musicians in this year’s Grammy nominations is a Beatles tribute band. The Wannabeatles’ nomination isn’t for music, it’s for a collection of memories from Beatles fans.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of The Beatles first getting together. By that standard, The Wannabeatles are relative newcomers; they’ve only been around for about two decades. Instead of John, Paul, George and Ringo, there’s Dennis, Bryan, David, and Nathan. Their first gig was playing at a Mexican restaurant, but nowadays you’re more likely to find them playing at venues like Puckett’s in Franklin.

The Wannabeatles are talented and successful artists in their own right– a producer, a jazz drummer, an organist, and a sideman for the likes of The Pointer Sisters and Supertramp. Frontman Dennis Scott says their Grammy journey started around this time last year, with a visit to a Beatles fan club.

LIVE SHOWS AND THE UNEXPECTED

“People were standing up and telling these incredible stories,” Scott says. “How they first went to a Beatles concert and what they had to go through. Some of these stories are humorous and some are heart wrenching.”

Thousands, if not millions, of words have been written about The Beatles before they got together, after the break up, their musical influence, their private lives. Dennis Scott saw little that told the story of the fans who made The Beatles a global phenomenon. So, he and his fellow Wannabeatles set out to document the stories of fans like Leslie Ann Mattei. She saw The Beatles at their only Tennessee concert, in 1966. The show just happened to coincide with John Lennon’s famous pronouncement that that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus.

Mattei says there were an angry group of protestors outside Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis. “They had placards and they were beating on the side of the bus as we went through the gate and saying we were sinners for going to see The Beatles,” she says. “It was a little scary.” Memphis Police added to the tension by telling concert-goers that they couldn’t leave their seats, even to go to the bathroom. “I didn’t go to the bathroom until I got back to Nashville,” Mattei says with a laugh.

The Cover of Fab Fan Memories

Mattei’s story is one of dozens on Fab Fan Memories. The CD has what you would exepect–recollections of seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show or hearing their music for the first time. It also features unexpected close encounters with the Fab Four. Like the time Nashville musician David Allds went to a friend’s house to pick up a drum set, and Linda McCartney answered the door.

While Allds was a little stunned to see Paul McCartney’s wife(Paul was in Nashville recording an album and was renting out the house), an even bigger surprise awaited him inside. “There was a man sitting at the kitchen table, with a newspaper up in front of his face and a cigarette,” Allds says. “I could tell he had a blue robe on. And Linda stuck her head in through the swinging door from the kitchen to the dining room and said ‘oh honey, this is David, Jimmy’s drummer.’ He lowered the paper and there was Paul McCartney.” After Allds let out a pretty loud gasp, Paul invited Allds to sit down and chat for a little while.

A CONTENDER

Dennis Scott is a two-time Grammy winner and he wanted Fab Fan Memories to be in contention for this year’s Grammy Awards. So he and his fellow Wannabeatles raced to edit the interviews and record backing tracks for the album. Scott also scored a coup by getting Louise Harrison, George’s sister and self-described ‘global mum’ of Beatles fans, to narrate. Liverpool Legends, a tribute band associated with Harrison, also performs several covers of Beatles songs heard on the disc.

All of this came together in about three months, just in time for Fab Fan Memories to qualify for this year’s Grammys. The Wannabeatles are no stranger to Dennis Scott’s work ethic. Drummer David Toledo says “He wants it on his desk at 8.15 in the morning, the following morning. It’s a New York Minute. He operates like that He is from New York and he operates in that fashion.”

MEETING A BEATLE

Dennis Scott has a set of Beatles bobble heads, similar to this one. It’s the closest any of The Wannabeatles have come to meeting the real thing. (Image: etsy)

The hard work paid off. Fab Fan Memories is nominated for Best Spoken Word Album. Other contenders include audiobooks by Tina Fey and Betty White and Hamlet read by Val Kilmer.

All four Wannabeatles will travel to Los Angeles for the award ceremony. Paul McCartney is scheduled to be there too. For Dennis Scott and the rest of the group, it’s a chance to check something off their bucket list. “I’m always thinking, before I go to that big Beatles stage in the sky, I’ve gotta meet a Beatle”, Scott says.

To get Sir Paul’s attention, The Wannabeatles recorded a song and a cheeky YouTube video in hopes of getting his attention. Who knows? The Wannabeatles might finally create a fab fan memory of their own and they might win a Grammy, too.