One year after the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ self-titled double album (aka The White Album), several classic rock greats have begun their 2019 tour that celebrates the landmark LP. It Was Fifty Years Ago Today – A Tribute to the Beatles’ White Album features Todd Rundgren, Micky Dolenz, Christopher Cross, Joey Molland of Badfinger and Jason Scheff of Chicago.
The tour, which began September 21, initially listed 17 dates when it was announced on June 5. It has since swelled to 26 shows. The Musical Director is Joey Curatolo, who serves in the same capacity for Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles.
Watch Dolenz sing lead on “Back in the U.S.S.R.”
The artists also perform many of their greatest hits. Tickets for some of the shows are available here. (Other dates appear here.)
And here’s a brief clip of him singing a Monkees favorite…
Watch Rundgren sing lead on “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”
The promoter is the same one that organizes the popular Happy Together tour.
Rundgren founded and fronted Nazz, a quintessential 1960’s psychedelic group. In 1969, he left the band to pursue a solo career. He played all the instruments, sang all the vocal parts, and acted as his own producer on 1972’s Something/Anything?. His biggest hits include “I Saw the Li_ht” and “Hello It’s Me.”
Watch Rundgren sing “Helter Skelter” on Sept. 28
Related: The inside story of the wild success of “Hello It’s Me”
Dolenz is a vocalist and drummer of the 1960s pop legends The Monkees. He sang lead on such hits as “I’m a Believer,” “Last Train to Clarksville” and “Pleasant Valley Sunday.”
Cross won five Grammy Awards for his eponymous 1979 debut album. The singles “Sailing” (1980), and “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” (from the 1981 film Arthur) reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Molland is best known as guitarist, singer and songwriter of classic rock legends Badfinger. He is the last surviving member from the band’s classic line-up.
Scheff is the longtime tenor lead vocalist of Rock Hall inductees Chicago. He joined the group in 1985 (replacing the vocalist/bass player Peter Cetera).
Watch a variety of performances at the Oct. 12 concert in Westbury, NY, via BCB friend Michael Mellon
Tour 2019 – A Tribute to the Beatles’ White Album Dates
Nov 30 – Greensburg, PA – Palace Theatre
Dec 01 – Cincinnati, OH – Aronoff Center
Dec 02 – St. Charles, IL – Arcada Theater
Dec 04 – Grand Prairie, TX – Verizon Wireless Theatre
Dec 05 – Denver, CO – Paramount Theatre
Dec 06 – Phoenix, AZ – Celebrity Theatre
Dec 07 – Las Vegas, NV – Westgate Las Vegas Casino & Resort
Dec 08 – El Cajon, CA – The Magnolia
Dec 11 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
Dec 15 – Jackson, CA – Jackson Rancheria Casino
12 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationNot sure why Todd Rundgren would do this other than he still wants to be Lennon. John Lennon despised him.
Also have read many times todd and joey did not get along when Todd produced straight up..
That’s not true at all. You’re referring to the nasty letters they exchanged in the British press in the early 70s and John was quite clear that he admired Todd’s music (which was only his first few albums at that point). John was certainly sharp in his rebuttal of Todd’s letter, but he showed no evidence of despising him. AS to why Todd Rundgren is doing this tour, it might be that he is a working musician and it’s a fun gig and nothing more than that. Musicians play shows.
Todd Rundgren has always respected and admired the Beatles and their music. He paid tribute by reproducing two Beatles songs on his Faithful album, constructed an entire Beatlesque album (Deface the Music) based on the ‘Beatles sound’ and hooks, travelled for years with Ringo Starr, and performed a stellar live version of ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ with Joe Jackson and Ethyl. Todd Rundgren is an amazing musician, vocalist, and producer/ tekkie. He is worthy of performing this material; the heart and soul is there.
As far as the Rundgren/Lennon ‘thing’; let’s just say they both could be a-holes particularly at that time and particularly with alcohol involved.
Just went to the White Album Tribute Tour last night in Danville Kentucky! What a treat! Amazing talent from all! Todd is a maniac! This group of guys in their 60’s and 70’s can really get down! (Jason Scheff at 57 yrs old was the “baby” of the group.) They were all extremely impressive! Loved every minute of the show!
Saw this act in Akron OH on Sept 28. Save your money. It’s a high-priced cover band that sounds like they never practiced. A total waste in my opinion.
Hey guys, come on down to Tampa this winter….PLEASE!!!
Just saw them last night in Milwaukee. Short of having a young music buff sitting behind us who talked loudly when they were not playing tunes from the album, they were very good.
I have never been too enthused to see an aged rock singer do a revival tour, but they did great justice to their individual “claim to fame” tunes. It helped to frame who they were playing with in the past.
The audience and I thought they did a great job on most all of the songs. All in all a great tribute. They were all very good.
I saw this concert in Meridian Mississippi recently and it was fantastic. hearing the white album live by such accomplished musicians is a real treat. Also enjoyed the collection of personal hits. I wanted see Todd Rundgren and he was very entertaining with his Maharishi and bungalow bill getups and Beatle-ish psychedelic guitar on my guitar gently weeps. Mickey Dolenz monkeyed around and impressed with his singing. Jason Scheff has an amazing voice ( a real standout ) I never thought I would get to see a member of Badfinger ever and of course Christopher Cross all performed the Beatles songs excellently. The backup band were excellent and I would like to know who the drummer is. Everybody left the concert on a high and I think some of the performers did, too. Lots of good energy was on hand.
The drummer is Darin Murphy of Austin, Texas. A wonderful musician and a great guy (full disclosure: he is my next-door neighbor). He plays guitar and vocals for local band SkyRocket, has appeared with local Beatles cover band The Eggmen and also does some acting.
I wondered the same about the drummer, as he stood out hugely to me as being super-focused and talented. His name is Darin Murphy. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/darin-murphy-mn0000317113/songs
Also saw this concert in Akron – loved it!
Thought they did a great job of doing the White Album – sang every song out loud and had fun – why not?