Special to the News Sentinel

Joey Curatolo, Ralph Castelli and Joe Bithorn, from left, perform as "RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles."

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Anyone who knows me knows that I love The Beatles. A child of the '60s, I grew up with John, Paul, George and Ringo. Their music and their lives were intertwined with mine. Their songs were the first songs to which I knew all the words and learned to sing harmony. The Beatles and their music are an integral part of my life, of who I am.

So naturally, when I heard that "RAIN: A Tribute to The Beatles," was coming to Knoxville, I was interested.

And then I talked to Joe Bithorn, the "George" of the group, and realized this was indeed going to be just the kind of concert I was hoping for. Bithorn, a talented musician in his own right who not only plays guitar in the show but also the difficult guitar synthesizer, talked with respect about George Harrison, both as a great musician and a humanitarian and, on a more personal note, about how he could relate to George, a rather shy man with a droll sense of humor.

RAIN's publicist, Merle Frimark, who says she used to work for The Beatles in the late 1960s at Apple in New York, says the concert covers the Fab Four from their first "Ed Sullivan Show" appearance in 1964 to Abbey Road in 1969. The concert is a multimedia, multi-dimensional experience - the music of the Beatles and a fusion of historical footage and hilarious television commercials from that era.

For the four longtime band members - Joey Curatolo (Paul McCartney), Joe Bithorn (George Harrison), Ralph Castelli (Ringo Starr) and Steve Landes (John Lennon), with a little help from their friend Mark Lewis (keyboards, percussion) - the music is first and foremost. For more than two decades, RAIN has distinguished itself by focusing on details, always being faithful to The Beatles with the ultimate goal of delivering a perfect note-for-note performance. All the music is performed live, with no pre-recorded tapes or sequences.

Bithorn says the band feels the weight of the responsibility of what they are doing - playing the music of and emulating The Beatles - and they do their best to keep the memories of the audience intact.

Kim Midkiff is a freelance contributor to the News Sentinel.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel
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