MASTERING MCCARTNEY
The world’s most successful tribute band—okay, with the possible exception of Björn Again and The Australian Pink Floyd—is the Bootleg Beatles, whose near-perfect sound and vision when it comes to emulating the Fab Four will blow your mind. Bassist Steve White, whose job it is to sing, play, talk, look and even dance like Paul McCartney, has put years of commitment into his job, not least while learning to play bass left-handed.
White, from Nottinghamshire in England, has been playing the McCartney role in Beatles tribute bands since 2006, supporting veteran bands from the original era such as the Animals, Herman’s Hermits, Marmalade and more. The line-up of the Bootleg Beatles has fluctuated as time passes, rather like a moptop Menudo, but currently consists of White plus Tyson Kelly (John Lennon), Stephen Hill (George Harrison), and Gordon Elsmore (Ringo Starr).
The group’s founder and former Lennon is Neil Harrison, who now manages the group and who recruited White a decade ago. One of Harrison’s better-known anecdotes comes from the time when the fake Beatles met two of the real ones, McCartney and Harrison, both of whom were apparently on friendly form. When McCartney and the Bootleg Beatles were playing at
