Abbey Road is live – just like Paul
Interview by Marty Rosen
Special to The Courier-Journal

Abbey Road Live is not your typical tribute act; instead of dressing up, they honor the Beatles by playing the entire "Abbey Road" album. They'll be in town next weekend as part of the Abbey Road on the River festival on the Belvedere and at the Kentucky Center.

The Athens, Ga.-based group, which grew out of the band the Fuzzy Sprouts, has been playing "Abbey Road" for eight years. That's long enough to get scratchy, but when the Ruthless Interrogator caught up with him, Michael Wegner (who sings the George Harrison tunes) was perfectly able to "Carry That Weight."

There are plenty of tribute acts, but most of them are paying tribute to an act. You're actually paying tribute to a specific album. Why pay tribute to "Abbey Road"?

I don't remember whose idea it was, but one night the Fuzzy Sprouts decided to cover the entire "Abbey Road" album, and it went over with the audience. We did it again, and then again, and that's how it started. We were a four-person band with definite Beatle influences, and we were all influenced by later-period Beatles. We chose "Abbey Road" because it can easily be done by a four-piece band.

"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" has to be the most chipper, upbeat murder ballad ever done. Do you like that tune?

There's hardly any Beatles tune I don't like. There's something about it. It's super-catchy. It's a sing-along. Like you say, it's chipper, but it's also morbid. It just shows that the Beatles didn't really have any limits to what they could pull off.

When "Abbey Road" was released, a New York Times critic wrote that the album's lyrics were "limp-wristed, pompous and fake" and that on "Oh, Darlin' " John Lennon was "floundering in an orgy of gulps, howls and retches." I'm guessing you disagree?

I think it's great stuff. I find it hard to compare the Beatles to anything in any kind of critical way. I love everything on that album. It seems like a work of genius. … But it's interesting to hear what people thought.

As a student of "Abbey Road," explain why Paul wasn't wearing shoes on the album cover.

I'm a big fan of the music, but I never got into the hype about that. My best guess is they were toying with people. They always had a sense of humor about what they did.

So … Paul's not dead?

Well, I saw him live a couple of years ago.

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