Our own Josh Max will perform this weekend in NYC at The Fest for Beatles Fans. In the press release below, he talks about his “Incredible Beatle Salad Bar.”
Singer-Songwriter Josh Max performs
JOSH MAX’S INCREDIBLE BEATLE SALAD BAR
At the Fest For Beatle Fans
The Grand Hyatt at 42nd St (corner of 42nd St & Lexington Ave,
NYC, next to Grand Central Station.
Saturday, February 8, 2014 6:30 PM
What’s the Beatle Salad Bar?
It’s this 5-minute vaudeville-type specialty I’ve been doing at my live original shows for about 10 years where I stand there with an acoustic guitar and sing and play as many riffs, licks, verses, choruses, mistakes, snippets and whatever I can think of from the Beatles’ recorded catalog from 1957 – 1994 in their original keys. Whoever guesses the total amount of tunes gets a free t-shirt, CD, a shot at the bar, or some other item of value.
How long did it take you to learn this thing?
That’s the weird thing – I didn’t “learn” it. It’s different each and every time. I’m a savant and I stand there and channel and channel, thinking, “1969. 1963. 1967.” When I call up the year in my mind, I immediately see what Beatles album came out that year, and I scroll through the tracks in my mind and pick a section. This all happens in a split second the whole 5 minutes. Sometimes I get stuck and I just stand there a second, but something always comes to me. I’ve never fallen on my face yet! The reference to 1957 and 1994 includes Anthology tracks instead of the usual 1962-70 most casual fans are familiar with.
How did you get the idea to do this?
I was performing at a venue and someone called out “Beatles.” That’s like going to a restaurant and telling them you want “Food.” I asked which Beatles song they wanted to hear, and they said, “Anything.” I said, “Come on, I’m fairly certain you don’t want ‘Wild Honey Pie’ or ‘Revolution 9.’” Finally I just started playing every single Beatles song I knew, each for about 5 seconds, and told them to pick when they heard the one they wanted. I went on for about 10 minutes and when I was done the place went nuts. I thought, “Ah-hah! A specialty for my act.” This year, I made an amateur video and sent it to the guy who runs The Fest For Beatle Fans, and they booked me. As of now, believe it or not, I don’t have the Salad Bar on video. That’ll change after Saturday, no doubt.
Have you ever thought of getting a job in a Beatles Tribute Act? You could probably make tons of money.
I have a phobia about tribute acts the way some people have a phobia about clowns. I once delivered a singing telegram as Elvis Presley to a Korean wedding party and it was the weirdest thing in the world to hear 500 people look at you and scream, “Elvis! Elvis!” No, thanks. Money isn’t why I play music.
