Marty Scott, George Harrison Tribute Artist and Band Leader of the Liverpool Legends, Joins the Club

Marty Scott, George Harrison Tribute Artist and Band Leader of the Liverpool Legends, Joins the Club

Many may not know that Louise Harrison, George Harrison's sister, lives in Sarasota and the leader and "George Harrison" of the Beatles tribute band in Branson, Missouri, the Liverpool Legends, befriended Louise many years ago. Marty Scott joins the club today to talk about his life as a tribute band rock star, his close personal relationship with Louise Harrison, hanging out on a couch and talking with Paul McCartney, the plight the pandemic has had on his band and his performances, and just how hard it is to find a left-handed bassist for a Beatles tribute band! All that and more on this week's episode of the Suncoast Culture Club. Come along and join the club!

• Liverpool Legends Website & Facebook & Instagram & Twitter & YouTube

The Pops Orchestra of Bradenton and Sarasota Website & Facebook & Instagram

• Sharky’s on the Pier Website & Facebook & Twitter

• Selva Grill Website & Facebook & Instagram

• The Columbia Restaurant Website & Facebook & Instagram & Twitter & YouTube

• Anna Maria Island Website & Facebook & Instagram

Support the show (https://scf-foundation.org/suncoastcultureclub/)

Transcript

Robyn Bell:  Today's guests on the Suncoast Culture Club podcast is not one of our normal type of guests. In fact, even though he has performed here with my pops orchestra as a guest soloist, he hails from Branson, Missouri, where he performs as the George Harrison in the Beatles tribute band called the Liverpool legends. Now you may be asking yourself self, why would Robyn be interviewing a George Harrison impersonator who lives in Branson, Missouri? On the Suncoast Culture Club. Well, Marty Scott, our guest today is in Sarasota this weekend, visiting a Suncoast under the radar. Celebrity many may not know this, but George Harrison's sister Louise Harrison lives right here in Sarasota. And we are going to talk to Marty about his connection to Louise Harrison, his life's journey that led him to be the leading George Harrison tribute artist in the country, and some of his favorite things to do and places to see when he comes to Sarasota to visit Lou. So Marty Scott, welcome to the club.

Marty Scott: So good to be by the ocean. 

Robyn Bell: Isn't it. It's a beautiful day to day. 

Marty Scott: Favorite place to be 

Robyn Bell: quickly run down our connection for the listeners. It was about eight or nine years ago. I received a phone call from a lady in Sarasota named Louise Harrison  who wanted to meet with me and Melodie Dickerson about bringing her Beatles tribute band here to the State College of Florida as a fundraiser. She invited Melodie and I to her house for tea. And I have to say it was quite a thrill. We were like sitting in George Harrison sister's living room, having tea and crumpets. Yeah. Yeah. 

I was like, oh, I drink, 

Marty Scott: it must be whole milk. 

Robyn Bell: And we weren't negotiating for your band to come perform here. But at the time her price was kind of high for what we could 

Marty Scott: afford that just for the record. 

Robyn Bell: I'm sure. I'm sure. she said something to Melodie and I about selling ads and a program to pay for it. And you know, Melodie and I were both like, oh no, thank you. We don't sell ads. It was a little out of our, out of our wheelhouse there. And so that was the sort of end of that discussion, but she did give me your contact information as sort of the lead guy in the band. And a couple of years later when I wanted to do a By George concert with the Pops so I reached out to you and I said, can I just get George Harrison without the Beatles? Do you remember this? And you said, well, I've never done that before, but yeah. 

Marty Scott: It was a blast really was, it was really one of the most special shows. Cause you know, George Harrison, sometimes it gets a little under shadowed by John and Paul because they have all these great songs, but that, so that was the first time I ever got to step out and like do a whole show without these guys. It was great. 

Robyn Bell: And you know, kind of thus begin our journey of friendship and music making. And I'm always thrilled when you come to town, we get to meet up for dinner or social hour or so. Thanks for spending time with us. 

Marty Scott: I wouldn't come here without seeing you guys, 

Robyn Bell: when I see your name pops up on my screen. Yay. Marty's back. And we keep saying, we're going to come to Branson. 

Marty Scott: Well, you'll have to do that once we get back open 

Robyn Bell: and tell us all about that. But first Marty, take us back. Where did you grow up? What's your musical background? How did you become the, kind of the George Harrison of the Liverpool Legends, Beatles tribute band, and kind of like a son to Louise Harrison.

Marty Scott: More minutes in your, I guess for the 

Robyn Bell: story I tell everyone I get paid by the hour. So take your time. 

Marty Scott: So I grew up in Chicago area in the suburbs and, a friend of mine when I was younger.  The guy who actually plays John in the group was just a Beatle Even before he was a Beatle he was a Beatle. Like he just, he lived in breeze a little older than me and he just lived in breathe. The Beatles and he, his whole life is sort of based on the Beatles. Like it's hard to explain, but, uh, just, he's just, he never really had any other records, but Beatle records. He's just one of these crazy guys. And when I was a kid, I was a drummer, actually, it was my main instrument. So he's been drums. I bet you didn't know that? 

Robyn Bell: No, I didn't. 

Marty Scott: And he, I think he just thought I looked cool. Like I had sorta Beatlely hair even back then. And, uh, I was in high school and  he had this band and they were playing like professionally and playing bars and fests. And it was really the first band I ever saw. I was cutting through a yard when I was 14 or something. And this group was playing Come Together. Like in a backyard of a, I didn't know it was him until years and years later, I figured out that that was him playing that. But so anyway, When I was a senior in high school, I was just a fan of him. I looked up to him like an idol. It was like the first real band I ever saw. And so when I was a senior in high school, I joined this group and we were not a Beatle group.  But we played a lot of Beatles songs. We were good at it. And, uh, we played a million other types of songs too. And, and we didn't know back then that you can actually be a Beatle if we did. We'd probably be way more well by now. But, uh, put, so we, had a band and we were writing songs and we wanted to be rock stars and we did  everything kind of together. We've been playing together a really long time. Me and this cat, Kevin is his name. So, uh, Kevin, Hey, Kevin. anyways,  like I said, we were in  every kind of band in the world cover bands in that time that we always played a lot of Beatles.

Robyn Bell: It's just, you were the drummer, 

Marty Scott: I was the drummer. Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: You were Ringo. 

Marty Scott: Well, no, there no Ringo because you really want it to be, we were writing songs. We, you know, we made records, we were on like a label that's small, independent labels. Uh, it was called The Critics, which I've never talked about hardly and interview, but, uh, so we were trying to write these in, they were a little bit Beatlely songs.  We weren't trying to do that. We couldn't help it because that's what we did. We're influenced by 

Robyn Bell: Was your goal to make it big and like charts. 

Marty Scott: Yeah. We wanted to do that thing. And back then, there were still people doing that. Now, you know, it's hard to sell records because there are not, you know, there are, but anyway, so. we all, somehow through the course of it, all, there was a group in Chicago that was a little local Beatle group. And, they played little bars and stuff, and they had been around for years and years and years. And we thought, we used to think we saw them. They kind of did like suits and stuff. And we were like, that's kind of stupid. You know, we didn't, we didn't really like it. But at some point, one of their guys got sick and Kevin is just without even trying, he just looks like John. And he seems like a mini he's always spinned his favorite person. So   somebody knew of him. They're like, Hey, why don't you get that guy from The Critics to fill in or whatever that he looks like Lennon. And so Kevin started playing with these guys and, you know, they weren't a real serious act and they weren't, they didn't like it. Wasn't a show like what we do now is just, but they had this guy that sort of looked like Paul McCartney and kind of, he was pretty good. And so when Kevin joined, it was like, wow. Now they've got this guy who sort of looks like Paul and this John Lennon guy. And it was in the guy who was sick. Never really came back. Like he was just immediately like, wait a second. This is something. Yeah. It was like, right. First I in my world, never heard of first chair, but I know what it is now from you, but, uh, or from Lynn probably I'm sure 

Robyn Bell: she's first chair.

Marty Scott: Yeah, of course she is. but anyways, so. He started doing this in it, it was kind of a drag because I knew it was something. Cause you know, I was just like, I thought it was so stupid. I was like, I, I put a button, I had a Beatle button and I stuck Kevin's face on it. I'd just wear it around. Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: Was it breaking up your band? The Critics? 

Marty Scott: Um, we weren't doing it much at the time. You know, I was working in everybody. It was kind of. We weren't doing a lot, you know, it was sort of at a weird, we've had our times where we did a lot. And anyway, so he started doing this and I sort of kept The Critics going without him because he started, they were playing a lot of bar gigs, the news, it didn't make it a little bit of money. And when you're doing original stuff, you don't, it's hard to make money even back then. And so he was doing it and it was cool. And I played guitar too. Cause that when we were writing songs, you it's hard to write a song on drums. So I've played a lot of guitar.  So I was okay at it. Wasn't my instrument. I would just kind of play, 

Robyn Bell: you can get by just 

Marty Scott: yeah, for a writing thing. And that was writing songs too. And we had a cool little writing.  Thing together allow the Beatles or whatever. And, uh, or so we would have hoped for, and he, if something came up where he was trying to get me there, George guy, the guy, or like they didn't have a George Guy, but the guy. They weren't a true sort of impersonator band yet, but they just had this John and Paul and  he started going like, man, you would be perfect to cause  whenever we saying, even when I was drumming, we did a lot of Beatles songs that play half the songs we play. Now we played back then even before we were doing a Beatle act. And so for some reason I always sort of sing  the George ones. It wasn't a, I don't know, we just kinda happy and fit my timber or whatever. A 

Robyn Bell: Timbre,

Marty Scott: timber, timber, timber, 

Robyn Bell: it's spelled the same. 

Marty Scott: Yeah. I've learned so much from you. So I just always would sing, like If I Needed Someone, a Rollover Beethoven, or I would always just, it would be, I don't know. And so he started going like, man, you should do this. And  I was like, no, man, the Beatles, I love the Beatles, but that's. I just thought it was not, 

Robyn Bell: Maybe selling out? 

Marty Scott: Like that's, you're not selling out just that was his thing for one, I didn't think I could do it. I'm like, I'm that wasn't really a lead guitar player. You know, I was like, man, George is really good. He's really good. And especially later on, we're just playing slide and stuff. He was really, I mean, at slide he's maybe in some ways the best there is really, which he doesn't get a lot of credit for, but I didn't know if I could do it. I wasn't, I just didn't really, I was just like, no, man, the Beatles are, that's kind of your thing, you know? And then I was working a job, 

Robyn Bell: like a real job. 

Marty Scott: Yeah, it was, I was working  on the trading floor in Chicago at the Board of Trade. I did that for a lot of years and it  went from really stressful, to not stressful. And it was getting really stressful again where I had,  it was taking years off my life of stress, you know, and I wasn't cut out for it anyway, but  it was a decent job. I was, getting paid well for a kid that played drums and, uh, 

Robyn Bell: more than a drummer. 

Marty Scott: Yeah. Right. So it was getting really weird. And I just said, you know what? I think I'm going to try. So I started learning, like, woodshedding like trying to figure out how to play these rifts, you know, and,  

Robyn Bell: just listening and yeah.

Marty Scott: I mean, I was kind of high-tech at the time, like I, there wasn't like YouTube and stuff. So now, like, if you want to learn how to play anything. Songs that took me years to try to get right. Because I would have to try to find somebody who knew it, you know? Cause there's all different ways to play things on the guitar. You'd have to figure out where's he playing in. Cause we were trying to get it note for note like the record. So anyway,  I just started woodshedding in.  I went, you know, I auditioned for this group and the guy who was the Paul McCartney guy, you know, I looked like not now, but I looked, I had a Beatle haircut, always sort of, and the guy looked at me, I didn't even audition. He was like, you're perfect. You're in play yet, played together. And you know, I was playing guitar like 10 hours a day. Cause  I really had to, my fingers were swelling up. I couldn't bend them at the end of the day. And then I, I could bend them after you're playing for awhile. I was really, I was really affecting you. Yeah. I was really trying and know, you know, I got a mirror and I got some videos of George and I was really just trying to figure it out, how to walk and talk like George, I got all that. 

Robyn Bell: Do a little for us. 

Marty Scott: No, I need money first. , I took like all the lines from George from a Hard Day's Night movie. And I was kind of high tech and I, Made a CEO, uh, tape before CDs even right. Or somewhere around the same time maybe. But I put it in my car. It was, no, it was a CD. And,  back then  I had a studio and I had one of the first guys that have a CD burner. They were like, oh, that was the latest. Yeah. Yeah. And this one was, they were like a hundred grand at the time. I got one hot for like 500 bucks. So somebody threw it off the back of a truck.  When I got it, I didn't even know there was such thing. Nobody knew that you can have a machine that burns CD. So I had it, I was charging studios, a whole nother story, but it was a really nice time. It was a really fun like year because nobody had them studios were paying me like 50 bucks a CD. It was a nice fun thing. Anyway. So I burned a CD of all the lines of George. From a Hard Day's Night, just so I can get his dialogue and, and all kinds of weird stuff was going on. Like  I always feel like George is up there, like laughing that I was trying to, like that CD got stuck in my car on like full volume, like where you wouldn't turn off. He was so I'd be driving around for weeks and he couldn't stop George's dialogue of a Hard Day's Night on full blast. You know, it was just like 

Robyn Bell: Was George alive live still at this point. 

Marty Scott: Yes, he was. So this was 2001, it was right before he died. So long story, I'm going to cut to a lot later, but so I joined this group and  it was a little local band that was playing little gigs and it kind of completed it. It was like, wow. Now there's like this guy who can sort of do the George thing. And we've got a guy that kind of looked like Ringo and it, it just kinda like we met Louise Harrison not long after that. 

Robyn Bell: How did that happen?

Marty Scott: Well,  somehow, like it's a little side band for everybody at the time. And when I joined it, wasn't my doing, it just, it was everyone's doing it a completed it, but when I joined it like that year, it just was a unique view. It looked all of a sudden it looked like something, you know, like while you can, don't have to close your eyes to, you could open your eyes. And it kind of looks like the Beatles and it's, and, we were pretty good in, so that year we kind of like doubled, you know, everybody was making a little side money for that first year. And when I joined. Everybody kinda quit their job. Like everyone, it became like a full-time jobs and not enough money to, we can do this. And then like, we doubled our everybody's income and then like that next year we doubled it again and it just turned into this next thing, you know, we're flying to Japan and we're getting, staying in nice hotels and getting treated well. And it was weird. And then we met Lou, we were playing at like a Beatle convention, Chicago Beatle convention sort of thing. And it was like a three day Beatle festival. And  we were getting pretty big in Chicago. So we were headlining this event and  they brought her in as like the guest of honor  and George had just passed. So it was, uh, 

Robyn Bell: it was a big deal that Lou was there. 

Marty Scott: Yeah, yeah, yeah. He, it was that same. Maybe a couple months before that he, George had passed. And, I've heard Georgia, sister's going to be at this thing and I'm singing all the George songs. And I was like, holy crap. Yeah. They don't suck. Do bad. Yeah. It was just, I was, yeah. I mean, I was nervous  but  it was like, we were doing three different shows each night  cause  it was a convention, everybody staying in the same hotel and they had a room in there which was like the ballroom. And so the first night we did like early Beatles, the second night we did Sergeant Pepper. And then the third night we did like Abbey Road and all of that. So it was a neat three different shows. And still the first night I hadn't met her yet. And after this show, there was all these things going on because all the people that sell the show were staying in this hotel. So there was like Beatle karaoke going on in this room and all these different things. And I walked into. The  restaurant in the promoter is there. And he was like, Hey Marty, uh, Mrs. Harrison would like to speak with you. And I'm like, oh shit. It's just like, you know, this was after the show and she, you know, she's pretty spiritual. And at the time,   she was in a weird state of not grieving yet or something. And she just thought that like I was brought to her first, you know, she's, she's kind of goofy. 

Robyn Bell: The world spins this was meant to be that I'm here. I meet you. 

Marty Scott: She lost her brother. And She got emotional. And we ended up like hanging out together for the whole weekend because we were staying at the same hotel. It was, , it was sure the funniest time for me, I'm like, you know, by then I'm a big Beatle fan. I'm playing George in this Beatle group. And this is it's just me and his sister, you know? And she were hanging out and she was back then she was partying pretty, you know, we were drinking wine and she was telling stories and it was like, it was a really neat time. And, so we hung out that whole week. It was weird because  the fans that were there to see us, we'd be walking around, having lunch in the afternoon. They'd be like, Ooh, that's weird. There's the George Guy with George's sister. That's weird. You know, 

Robyn Bell: I can imagine 

Marty Scott: it was weird. And then on a whim, like we were doing a television show or something to promote it, like in one of the afternoons and we're on this bus. And it just randomly so happened that Paul McCartney was going to be in Chicago that next weekend, just random. 

Robyn Bell: Wow. 

Marty Scott: And,   I had a friend who had tickets. I was going anyway and,  I 

Robyn Bell: was going to perform and 

Marty Scott: He was performing in Chicago, just randomly, you know, that next weekend. And so we're on the bus and I'm kind of joking around with her and I was just getting to know her, you know? And,  I just said, are you going to see Paul the next weekend? And she's like, yeah. Oh, well, you know, his manager called me up to ask if I want to go, but I'm not sure, you know, cause she was living in Southern Illinois at the time. She was like, I wouldn't want to drive. You know, I imitate her better than George by the way.

Robyn Bell: Okay. It's a great imitation 

Marty Scott: I can't do George, but I could do Louise really well, but no, but she, uh, So just on a, when I'm like, well, look, I'm your brother. Well, you just stay at my house if you want  this week and, we'll go together. I was just kidding around. I'm like, I'm your brother? Just stay with my place. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. Knowing she would say no. So, and then she said, 

Marty Scott: she, this was like, Friday on the way to the TV show. So now it's Sunday. I barely knew her at all. Then, you know, this is Sunday. Now this last show is over and it's 10 o'clock at night,  we're packing up and  she comes up to me. She's like, you know, you said that I could stay at your house this week, you know? Well, I think I would like to do that. I'm like what? I was married at the time I had to call my wife, she had like 10 30 at night and go like, um, uh, is the house clean? You know, it was really, she's like, um, like George's sister, she was here and I invited her over was just like, what? You know? So anyway, she 

Robyn Bell: started the divorce proceeding. 

Marty Scott: No, it was funny because at the time I was doing a side thing. I was playing  solo during the week at this crazy college bar doing everything. But Beatles songs, it just,  it was really fun in it. I was doing things like that during the weekend. I'm thinking like, well, if she stays during the week, I'm going to be planning these crazy college bars and what am I going to do with her? You know, anyway, she ended up staying over and we have blast.  I'm playing a Tuesday night. At this packed college bar and I'm thinking like, gosh,  I have to play till two in the morning.  I feel weird about bringing her,  so now  it's two in the morning and  she comes up to me and she's like,  oh, we don't know because we call and find it to this after party. And I thought we would go you, you know? So she was,  fun, you know, she was younger, then we all get she's, don't do that anymore. But, uh,  a week later I'm sitting on a couch between her and Paul McCartney. Like she she's at my house and she's on the phone. Does this moment that I remember is she's on the phone? I, I just was happy just to hang out with her. I didn't really think anything of it, but I heard her on the phone  talking to Paul's manager going like,  yes, I'm going to be coming to the show. And I'll have a young gentlemen with me, so we need to,  get to time with Paul. And I'm just like, whoa, I know it was just a fun time. And literally like that next week, I'm  sitting on a couch for like 45 minutes between them go, go on. Like, this is weird really. And at the time, you know, George had just passed away. So they're both kinda, Paul was really. Special to her because  we've met him a couple of times since then. And for like five minutes, it's like, okay, see you later. But that time he was super cool. Cause George had just died and they were both kind of in shock still. And I was just this like fly on the wall. And then, you know, we had gone out to dinner before. Louise and I, to this  Italian place with the top, Beatle DJ in Chicago. So I was like a bottle of wine in, I was feeling pretty good. So I was kind of good. Like I I'm sitting next to Paul. I made him laugh. I was just, I'm so glad I had a wine me because otherwise I would have been like a home and home and home and home. It just was the right amount of wind buzz to like I've made him laugh.  I was good. It was really cool. And his manager, I mean, it was before a show. We were in his dressing room for like 45 minutes.  There was other people waiting. His manager would come in and go like, Hey, Paul, we got to wrap it up. So-and-so's here. And he'd be like, no, no, it's okay. He kept sending this guy. 

Robyn Bell: Wow. That's a tough job for the managers. Yeah. 

Marty Scott: So. Anyway, that was  at the time I was still freaking out that I was with Louise, you know, but now,  she's become like my mother or no, actually more like my daughter and we've become, she's my longest relationship, which we're 20 years in or something, but, and then  we just started being close and sometimes we would get her to come and do special events with that band. And then because of all that stuff, that guy in that band, everyone was getting mad at me. I was getting so much attention. You know, I just joined this group that had been together for like 15 years. And I'm sitting at a couch with Paul McCartney within like three months of joining, you know, so it all went sideways and weird and I got fired and Kevin was, who was my best friend,  he was like, Screw that I'm out too. So that's when we started Liverpool Legends and Louise  always wanted to do something, a real band. So she, so that's how it all started. Then we auditioned some people in which it's a pretty small world of people who do what we do. So we kind of knew who we wanted because we had her, we can get them. And so that's  how Liverpool Legends began out of that. And we wanted to do a theater show instead of like a bar show and stuff, which is what we were doing. So that, that was it. 

Robyn Bell: And that was about the time when Branson Missouri was sort of building out all of their theaters and really becoming a destination.

Marty Scott: Well,  Branson's biggest boom was kind of like in the nineties for all these countries, like first, like, uh, Roy Clark went there just kind of out of the blue. And then when he went there, all of a sudden, every, but all these country guys,  started to follow  I mean, Johnny Cash  came there, Willie Nelson, all these. So there was a boom in the nineties where there was like 20 or 30 shows there and they were all sold out three shows a day. People would come there and they would take buses in and do a morning. So, and afternoon show culture. Yeah. It was just like a, sort of like a spinoff from Nashville, but And then at one point, Andy Williams opened up show there and when Andy came, he was like the first guy that wasn't really a country act, you know? And then he kind of made that town, his own cause Andy's a big name, you know? And then it started bringing all the seniors and all of it. And when we got there,  we started the band in 2005 and  I never even heard of Branson. We were playing a casino somewhere in St. Louis and random enough, some guy was there who owned a one of the venues and you know, I didn't even like the guy who was a jerk, we went and did a few weeks and he ripped us off and he just, it was just like bad. We never even heard of Branson. We were just like, all right. W you know, we had just started the group, we had an open calendar. So we go to Branson, we do a few weeks. And this guy, yeah, the owner of this venue. But in the meantime, we were different than anything else. There,  so there was Andy, there was country, and then there was magicians and stuff like that. There was no like real rock and roll. I mean, it's funny. Cause we got there in 2005, the Beatles were the most cutting edge thing in Branson you know? And  so  we got a lot of attention and a lot of the theaters were coming out to see us play it just for those three weeks. And then  I started getting offers from theaters  and  after getting ripped off, I didn't really trust anything, but there was one theater there that  was Anita Bryant's old theater and she was gone  and, uh,   this family, this old man and woman and their kids, they own the theater. And it had,  a trap door on the stage, and this is what sold me. Cause in the Beatles movie, a Hard Days, Night  the old man comes through the trap door in the middle of  third big show. And I'm just like, this is meant to be. So we found some investors and , we started doing five days a week there for 10 months.  In, in that time, we learned how to not be a bar band anymore. Like  you do five shows a week at a theater. 

Robyn Bell: You learn to do a show 

Marty Scott: me. We learned how to.  Talk and how  you have to be in this spot at the exact time where the light's going to be. And that's what we learned, how to do a show.  It was like,  an experience that really that's where we learned our craft. 

Robyn Bell: It becomes more theatrical. 

Marty Scott: Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.  And then it just sort of became a whirlwind from there. some guy, you know, that was still a really small theater and we didn't own it. And we met some fellow who was like, uh, there's a lot of Beatle fans in the world. So we met, uh, a guy came and he was like, Hey, I'd like to, bring some of my business associates to see your sound check and I'm willing to pay you guys like. $5,000, just so you know, I'm like, well, we don't really sound check, but  you know what, just come out, we're going to charge you, just call them. I wanted to meet him. You know,  he turns like he was a construction guy. Anyway, he ended up being our friend. He wanted to help us. We bought,  a theater after that.

Robyn Bell: Okay. Your own theater 

Marty Scott: we got in. 

Robyn Bell: So at some point along the way, you had to kind of create a business of this band as a,  business entity. 

Marty Scott: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And  I actually, we do all that. Like I manage the group and I do, 

Robyn Bell: you do all the contracts and 

Marty Scott: everything and, uh,   I just kind of fell into it. Not because I was good it's just because everybody else, whatever everybody else, there was nobody. Yeah, no, really what it was. And so it's weird. Cause now, you know, I got to where I do more of that than playing sometimes. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. Let me ask you this. How do you deal with the copyright stuff?

Marty Scott: So is there, isn't the only issues we've ever had is not copyright because it's trademark. So copying. So as far as the songs go, it's all the same. It's just like, you know, when you guys do these shows, you pay BMI and ASCAP, it's like a blanket thing for the year and they, I don't know how they figure it out, but they, they figure out where that money's going. I don't know. 

Robyn Bell: And Paul gets a check or Ringo, get a check or whoever owns the Beatle catalog at the time. Okay. 

Marty Scott:  There's BNI and there's ASCAP and there's like, George, some of his songs are Harry Fox, but that's like only if you,  like, we put out a CD years ago of us performing Beatles songs, that's a little more complicated.  It ends up being like you pay a dollar, a CD and they figure out who, where it goes, but 

Robyn Bell: the trademark of the Beatles logo and this. 

Marty Scott: So like when we got this theater, which we don't have, by the way, with the theater, that we it's such a long story, but it, instead of this one fellow who was like the greatest investor, because he was just a fan and he loved us, he got all his buddies involved. So it became like there's five different investors with different agendas. And it lasted a couple of years. It was really fun and exciting, but that's when we started getting props.  Like we had a giant yellow submarine that used to go across the stage and characters from the Yellow Sub these big giant,  I met a really kind of like a famous artist that did these big, Things for Broadway shows and he just, he was an English guy that just happened to live in Branson yeah. So we had these, like, we get the giant blue meanie from the cartoon movie. And so those kinds of things, we got some letters from like, Yoko's people saying like, Hey,

Robyn Bell:  oh, Yoko, 

Marty Scott:  Or we think it was Yoko. Maybe it wasn't. Okay. So, you know, it's just so the Beatles have like lawyers on their staff that are just protecting their trademarks. So they were cool. They just were like,  Hey, that. Image of the yellow submarine you're using. Cause you know, we were getting a lot of attention because we had George sister with us.  And we had a venue, like we were the only maybe Beatle group in the world that had their own venue. So we were getting looked at because  it's feels that our business and they,  you know, 

Robyn Bell: and full disclosure, Louise wasn't getting any money from the George Harrison family. I mean, 

Marty Scott: so she was, you say no money, but she was getting, you know, when George was alive, he was taking care of her a bit, not as much as I would have, but he was taking care of him. And when he passed, they pretty much. That was it.  They cut her off when George passed, which was a sad or yeah, but,  at that point, we were kind of doing okay, we had a theater, we were dead a show and,   Louise was part of it.  But some of the things like the subs and stuff, like they're like, well, you are submarine is a trademarked image, you know?  So I'm like, I could probably fight that mean when, cause it really wasn't the same,  but have to spend so much money in court  and so I would just say, okay,  I'll paint it green, what do you want me to do? You know? And so we just make little things like that and they left us alone after that. And, uh, you know, when you have your own venue,   if you're out there in the world, when we're touring, we could do anything we want. Cause you're just doing one off, one off, one off.  They're not going to be looking at your yellow submarine, but  when you have a venue that is set in, you're doing the same show for years.  You know, somebody might take a picture posted on the Beatle website or,  I don't know how it happened, but there was a few of those. But other than that,  I mean, Paul we've given him DVDs. I mean, it's been nothing but cool. He's just like he, we used to have a fellow who. Really looked like Paul. And she also brought Kevin, John to meet Paul. And he's the one who gave him, I think our DVD and Paul was so cool. He looked at the DVD and it was picture of us on it. And he was like, he looked out and he was like, oh, that's you right there.  He's like, yeah, I can pick John out anywhere. You know, we've just, I mean, that was, it. Kevin's life was changed. That was it. He didn't he'd have to do anything else. The rest of his life with Paul told him that, you know, so where 

Robyn Bell: does yourLiverpool Legends band? I mean, you know, pre COVID  what theater do they play in now? 

Marty Scott: So. We have a theater. It's funny because, so we started out in  this family owned theater that I was talking about is called the Caravel theater. And then we got some investors and we  spend a lot of money and bought this other theater. And that was a couple of years. And then all of that went crazy. And then we were about to leave town. And then, the biggest guy in the whole town started coming to the show going like, Hey, come to my theater. And that was called the mansion in and then after that Andy Williams died and then their GM was like, come over in. And I made that deal at Andy Williams,  service I ran into the GM at his funeral, 

Robyn Bell: a funeral service 

Marty Scott: at a funeral. It was, no, it was,  it was a  dedication sort of a party for Andy and that's where you slide. No, but I mean, it was funny cause that's where it happened and his theater was wonderful. And then, so we kind of made our rounds and then that got bought Branson,. We've sort of been on tour in Branson since we've been there, and after making our rounds to all the, we kept going to bigger and bigger and bigger. Andy Williams is probably the best theater in Branson and that's where we were. And then his kids sold it or something  at some point after he died and then we're about to leave town. And then the very first that were, uh, and the old the mother and father had passed by then, but I always kept in touch with his son. He was a Beatle fan. He was one of the reasons why we were there cause  him and his sister loved the Beatles. And,  there was a vibe in that theater was the smallest of the ones that we played holds like 700 people.  But it's like an old school. It almost is like an old school movie theater. It's just not like the rest of the ones, you know? And so there was always a vibe there that we, you know, we're an old school band. Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: You can't duplicate that in some big fancy. Yeah. So, 

Marty Scott: so we ended up going back there to the very first theater and we'd been there for about the last five years and,  it's really been great. Until, you know, 

Robyn Bell: what is your normal season? Cause Branson season is different from Sarasota season, right? This is more of a spring summer. 

Marty Scott:  So when we first started, we were doing 10 months there and then 10 months a year for the first several years. And then what happened was I started getting offers to do like,  you guys, , you want to come play in Alaska, we've got it. And I was like, well, we only have two months to do it. So, and I was missing out on these shows. You know,  so then  that's, when   I put a second cast together so we can 

Robyn Bell: have a touring year. 

Marty Scott: So when I needed to go. Yo like we, now we've done like Carnegie hall. We've done these big shows. I don't want to miss out on those by being stuck,  doing a same show in Branson every day. So I put two casts together. At one point I had three casts, like I'd have like a cast on a cruise ship. We'd be out on the road and then I'd have a cast in Branson, running in that was more stress than it on paper. That's always what I wanted to do. And then when I did it, I was kind of like, whoa, it was a lot of stress. And there was in the end, it was hard to keep the quality, you know, because nobody's as good as me. No, no, no. 

Robyn Bell: But I totally understand you are spreading the talent pool. 

Marty Scott: Yeah. Yeah. And it's hard to find people because with us, it's not just finding a musician. You have to find somebody who looks a certain way and who can. Sing in a certain, like, you know, unfortunately the Beatles or fortunately were really good. Like Paul McCartney, he's a great bass player and he's left-handed and he could sing super high and he can scream his guts out and then he can also sing Michelle. So he has all these voices, you know? And 

Robyn Bell: you can't have a right-handed bass player 

Marty Scott: you can't, you can't. Yeah. So, I mean, we've had guys that had to switch from being right into lefty because you, can't not, in my show, you can, 

Robyn Bell: it was really the look of the Beatles and they were so symmetrical because John's guitar, this 

Marty Scott: George and Paul made this V and there's a million Beatle groups out there that have right-handed guys, you can do it. There's some real successful ones, but for me,  I never thought it looked right. 

Robyn Bell: And then how many shows do you do in a day 

Marty Scott: for the month? Most part we would just do one show a day. It's a lot like singing these songs. You know, you have to sing twist and shout every day for five days, that's almost impossible. Like John Lennon sang it once and he couldn't sing for two weeks. He blew his voice. 

Robyn Bell: You can hear it real crackly on the recording, 

Marty Scott: screamed his guts out and he couldn't sing for two weeks. So it's documented,  and that's so  and you know, Paul's, uh, so we're singing at the top of our it's hard to do. There was one time where we would do five shows like Tuesday through Saturday and two shows on Saturday. And it was tough. The two shows on Saturday were tough and we did that for maybe a summer.   And now for like the last five years, what I decided to do instead of trying to have three casts and manage all that is we're only doing Branson during the week.  So we played Branson Monday through Thursday, and then we go out,  on the weekends and play. Roadshows. Okay. So, it allows us to play places like here and then do our show Branson during the week. And in most of the shows that we do on the road or weekend shows anyway. So that's been our last maybe. Four or five years has been like that. And it's been good because  we've built up a nice following in Branson.  So it keeps our presence there. And it's also allowed me to bring up guys who,  like I call them mini Marty, like, you know, he's a younger guy. Who's yeah. Just started doing George for the last few years. And you know, you do a show four or five days a week.  It's like shooting baskets. It's like, you shoot enough free throws. They're going to start going in. 

Robyn Bell: The Beatles also had a personality about them and you have to,  you have to sing, you have to play, you have to look the part, but you have to be able to interact and be that personality on stage.

Marty Scott: Yeah, no, maybe even more than half of them because  to me, the music's first, like it's got to sound right. And which is hard to do   you know, it might be easy to play Beatle songs. Like you could strum and sing. I want to hold your hand. But if you're trying to really do what's on the record, which is what we're doing, it's pretty difficult to get that. Right. And , so the music is. Maybe the most important, but equally is people hear with their eyes and,  the Beatles were probably the only band where everybody kind of knows their personalities.  So to bring that to the show  is what we try and do as well. You know,  if you've ever watched the Beatles live anyway, I mean, when they played live, cause they only played live in the early parts of their career, but if you've ever watched those shows, they're just laughing and goofing off and it looks like they're, you know, they couldn't hear themselves. And so most of the time, if you look at them, they're laughing and goofing and that's part of it. And that is a really fun thing to do it  makes people have a good time. And then the later part of their career, they were a little more serious. So we try to, you know, I'm smiling and laughing a bunch in the first half of the show. And then the second half of the show, um, Trying to not, you know, I it's hard for me cause my face is a smile all the time, but I really have to concentrate on like serious. They didn't really like each other. So to try to get that part of the show to be correct, we, 

Robyn Bell: you have to become an actor. 

Marty Scott: Yeah,

Robyn Bell: totally.

Marty Scott: For sure. An acting job as well as a, musician singing job. 

Robyn Bell: So when in March, 2020, did you sort of look around and go, oh, 

Marty Scott: the world's over.

Robyn Bell:  We're going to have to shut this down for awhile. Do you know? Do you remember exactly what happened? 

Marty Scott: We  were on tour in Ukraine. At the time 

Robyn Bell: you were in Ukraine 

Marty Scott: We were in Ukraine doing all these like top opera houses, it was a really great last tour. So it's funny. Cause  before Ukraine, we were booked on a cruise ship. I liked doing cruise ships in the winter because they're really, for us, it's like, you don't really work for the ships. W we just go and play a show and then we're guests the rest of the time. It's really, if we get nice, you know, sweets and it's cool. And so I do, we do a few of those in the winter just to have like little vacations. And so I had a cruise booked and then we were supposed to two days later, fly to Ukraine and do this tour of all these opera houses and stuff. And that was right when the ship was. Stuck off the coast of China. You know,  there was the one ship that's kind of where it all started. There was a,  princess ship that was there and, it was starting to get, you know, back then  it didn't seem like it was going to be a big deal. There was only like 3,500 people died so far, you know, and I'm a germaphobe to begin with. So I was looking at, I, I called the agent and going like, Hey, you know, we can't get stuck on this ship because we've got this tour. And they were starting to, like, some of the places were starting to take temperatures and stuff. And I'm just like, you know, you can't be sick on a ship ever, even before all this, if you get sick on a ship and you're working on the ship, you go to like cruise jail, we call it right. Like you have to, they have to inform some room you count. Like, so I was worried about not getting to our show in Ukraine, because that was a much more important, you know, this was a vacation that was, and so I called the agent and they're like, Oh, no,  the viruses, they don't go to the Caribbean. They that's all just in Asia. And, uh,  you would think, oh, well, everybody thought back then. Well, viruses, generally the flu doesn't go into the Caribbean. And so, but like, I just, I got really paranoid about it.  So the day before we were supposed to leave for the cruise. I've never canceled a show in my life. And I had a little cold at the time and I was like, I just don't want to get stuck on this ship. I don't want to jeopardize our,  Ukraine tour. So I canceled the cruise. I said, look, I've, I've got a cold I don't. And the agency was actually really cool. They're like, you know what? We understand. Don't worry about it. I'll let the cruise line know. And so we didn't go, we went to Ukraine and now this is when there was starting to be cases in the U S that week. So this was the last week of February and the first week of March. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. 

Marty Scott: So that was right. 

Robyn Bell: We're only two weeks away from the big shutdown, which was like Friday,  March 13th.

Marty Scott: Right. So, you know, it's starting to get traction. Now there's some hundreds of cases on the west coast, like in Washington or whatever, and we're watching it. And at the time they were still saying like, well, it only affects old people. You know, so, we were mostly concerned about, we had to fly through Turkey and  Turkey's a crazy airport and we were afraid of getting stuck, you know, so we're watching the news every day. And   at the time, there was no cases in Ukraine, but why we're there. And now there's some cases in Ukraine and  we're traveling by train. It was a crazy tour. It was just like a Hard Day's Night. We're we're traveling each city. We would do a show. It was so it was amazing. Actually, we would do a show and then the show would end at like 10 o'clock. We didn't have time for meet and greet. We didn't have to be on the train by midnight to get to the net. And then we'd be on the train for like eight hours. And we, Hey, it was great. We, it was like, we'd have our own cabins and  we learned that we love that more than flying. It was great. We'd grab a few drinks, get some food, get on the train, you know? W it was really cool, but  now they're starting to be some cases in the Ukraine and we had to go to Levine or something. And  that was  where there was a bunch of cases, supposedly. So we were afraid of getting stuck there.  So  there was one city, we almost didn't go to, we,  kind of took a vote and we're like, now let's go. And like I said, at the time we were afraid of getting our parents sick or like, if we get this snuck in to hurt, we're okay. We're young, but we're back then. There was only supposedly old people that were gonna be that's what they were saying. So it was stressful. Cause sometimes we were walking in the rain outside. We're like, shoot, if we get a cold, even they're not going to let us through, we get a fever and he's stuck in Turkey or something like that where they don't even like you they're sort of sometimes, you know, and so. We're  stressful amongst ourselves who were a little fighting amongst ourselves.  It was stressful and wind up it, the shows were great though. And we've never been to Ukraine. It was amazing that it was these old venues historic. It was amazing. And we did all the shows. We flew back on like March 6th and uh, 

Robyn Bell: wow. 

Marty Scott: And, uh, it was scary and it was  things I didn't like.  Cause nobody at the airports really knew how to handle. We had one guy that was like putting his gloves in my mouth and pulling my hair. It was just like, it was, it was bizarre. And we got through Turkey and  nobody's really masked at the time, but  I had brought some masks because we had done, you were always in these crazy situations we were playing in, Ecuador in a volcano was the worlds it's like, you've never been to Ecuador before. It was the first time in one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes it's on the news. Like the week before that's been dormant for 200 years is become active, you know, and there's people running around with masks and stuff. So I bought a bunch of masks. So I had these masks. , and so I gave them to everyone. They were like real N 95 masks man, we tried for five minutes, we couldn't, it was just like a hot sweaty weighty flight from Turkey. I couldn't do it. It was anyway, we made it home and  I could tell you exactly who was coughing and who was sneezing out of the plane. It was, it was, 

Robyn Bell: yeah. 

Marty Scott: You know, it was a flight and we got home and,  then we had a show that next weekend and we were supposed to play in lake of the Ozarks. And that was March 13th and 14th. That was that weekend. And so we had a sold out show in Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. We were feeling pretty good from getting back from Ukraine and the governor came out that day, we were getting dressed for the show  we're getting dressed. Yes. Then the governor came out and said that no events over like a thousand people . And we had like, we're just right about a thousand seats. So in two, we're playing two nights and it was a venue that we been playing for years. My friends run it. And anyway,   right before the show, I just read this article. It was a Facebook post from someone from Italy, like a, one of the other Beatle groups in Italy that I know  and he was talking about how bad it was there. , I know I only know him from Facebook, but  he does what I do just in Italy,  and he was saying like, you know, It's really bad here. It's not just young people. He's like, if you're in the U S he's like you better, it's coming. It's going to be there in a couple of weeks. So. Get your shit together now, you know, and it just freaked. It it's a couple hours. People are coming in to the venue, you know, it was that close to Showtime. We're turning into Beatles,  putting our suits on and I've read this thing. And, I showed it to everybody. I'm just like, look, and then the governor came out and you know, of course the guy who owned the venue, one was to play. He was like, well, we should probably play today, but then we'll cancel tomorrow. And I'm just like, it just didn't make sense. I'm like, wait a second. Why is it okay to play today? But we're going to cancel tomorrow. Anyway,  we kind of took a vote amongst the band members and we said, no, let's, this is the wrong thing to do. It was just like, they're telling us not to gather why is it okay for a thousand in 10 and not a thousand or whatever it was we just, 

Robyn Bell: So, and you haven't played since? 

Marty Scott: Yeah. So we canceled as people that were walking in. Some people got mad at us or whatever at the time, at the time they got mad at us, I think after a while they figured out, oh, something to do. But yeah. And so after that I stopped by on the way home, I stopped I've passed by like a dollar general and stocked up. And I literally, you know, we stayed in for, we haven't, we just started performing a few weeks ago. So we sat for 14 months of, in everybody. I mean, every really, everybody sat, you know, most, every touring act in the world sat.

Robyn Bell: And you know, if anybody listening came to our Pops show two years ago, cause of March, 2019, you, you know, you had the sort of Beatle haircut, it was long and, bowl, I guess you would call it. And I see you today and it's like Gene Simmons long. Yeah. COVID hair. You said you haven't had a haircut in 14 months.

Marty Scott: Well, yeah,  I've always been stuck with this Beatle haircut. It's, I'm sort of like a walking billboard. Most of the guys in the band wear wigs and they don't, it's, it's tough wearing a Beatle haircut, your whole life. It's kind of like having a green Mohawk. You kind of, nobody does that to me.

Robyn Bell: Mr. T always has to have his hair. 

Marty Scott: I'm always marketing and it's like, I always leave my hair that way. And it's, I've just never really changed it. But when this happened, I'm like, wow, what am I going to cut my hair for? And then I went to Chicago, I was hanging out with my mom and it just started growing. I'm like, Hey, I kind of look like I used to look in high school and then when we started playing again, I was like, shoot, I'm going to have to get a cut before we start. And  I had this old, one of the wigs from one of the old Paul guys, they're just pretty much like an early George cut. It was like the wrong color. So I took it from him cause George, his hair was a little lighter. So I've had it all these years and I tried it on and I'm like, Hey, it kind of looks just like my hair. So I've been the last few shows I've been using my long hair for the later. Like a, normally it would be opposite. I would have to get along wig for the later part of the show to do like Abbey Road,  hippie, George hippy did. So now I switched it and it's kind of been working pretty fun. Like I've,  never worn that early sort of. So I just crammed this all up under a wig for the first half. And then the second half I just use my hair and it's so 

Robyn Bell: did it all come back to you, you took that time off and you got to show, and maybe you had one rehearsal and 

Marty Scott: no rehearsals, 

Robyn Bell: no rehearsals.

Marty Scott: I was freaking out because , we didn't spend the time. I spent no time on the Beatles at all this time. Like we were songwriters. So we made a record.  I've been playing drums on other people's work. I spent a lot of time recording and it, which is great things that I haven't got to do in all these years, like write in record. And that was a couple of blessings in this whole last year. One was that the other was spending 10 months with my. 80 year old mother, which was amazing. 

Robyn Bell: I bet she loved that too. 

Marty Scott: Oh yeah, for sure. But, so I didn't play a Beatles song. We did a couple of little live stream things for some corporations that, but other than that, nothing. So it got to be about a few weeks before our shows that we had. And I'm like, I don't know if I should rehearse, like for some reason with me  when I think is when I screw up, you know? So like, if I think about what chord I have to play or what notes I have to play or what harmonies I have to sing, I, I screw up. That's when all my mistakes happened, they are, they're all brain mistakes. And you know, we've been playing these songs for so many years and thousands of times. So it's, I'm like, it's totally muscle memory. So I had to make a decision like one night late at night, I was kind of going over some stuff like a few weeks before we're going, I'm trying to playing Something. Now I've played that solo to Something thousands of times. And I'm like, I couldn't really remember what I did in the middle part. Like, I know what the chords are, so, but I'm like,  oh man.  So it was freaking me out. And I was just thinking, and then I was  thinking about the harmony and I was like singing the wrong harmony. Like I, it was just weird. And so I just decided to not, I'm like, I've got to make a decision, either rehearse or, just go for it. So I chose to just go for glasses of wine and go for it. And I was, it was a risk because I was like, if that don't work, I'm screwed, but you know, it worked like, it was amazing. Like, Nothing was different. Everything was like the only, there were a couple of things we forgot, like a little bit of a dialogue things in what's supposed to happen between, you know, the shows, what happens between the songs. So there's a couple of things like that. We're out of sync, but the music in the singing, I haven't sing like hard since, you know, in 14 months, this has been great. It's been like, I can't tell you. I mean, performing. It's always been fun. Lots of fun. But two, when somebody tells you, you know, we didn't know if we'd ever do it again. I mean, you know, everybody had different thoughts, but 

Robyn Bell: yeah. Well, and there's a lot of people that left the business entirely. I have to find a job. I can't, 

Marty Scott: I was thinking, what else do I read? My only other job was the trading floor and the board of trade. And that doesn't exist anymore. It's all electronic computers, so that doesn't even exist. So I was like, what am I? I literally didn't know because  nobody knew that whatever vaccines would work or that nobody knew or how long it would be. And I'm like, okay, What am I going to work at? I could, I might be good selling shoes or so I didn't know, 

Robyn Bell: scary stuff. 

Marty Scott: And it was, you know, I found out what depression was like. I have too busy in my life has always been too busy to even think about depression. I don't mind my, my, and my, luckily my life's been pretty good.  My gig is pretty good and we do a lot of fun stuff, but man, I'll tell you what,  all of a sudden I'm sleeping in my sister's old bedroom at my parents' house going, going like , I think I know what depression is now and not knowing if there will ever be shows again.

Robyn Bell: Right?

Marty Scott: Like I thought I'm shocked that we're doing shows now. Like I thought in the most perfect world, there wouldn't be any shows happening until the fall. And then all of a sudden things seem like they're working and  now I want to play every show I can, you know, and it's, it's been so much of a, I can't tell you how much of a. Blast in a release of like it is to play. 

Robyn Bell: And you applied for your business, you applied through the government for some funding for employment stuff. 

Marty Scott: So we all, you know, to be a performer during COVID. The one people who didn't work, like most of all my other friends with normal jobs still did their jobs and they got to do them from home. Like my sister is a teacher. She loved it. She, oh, she was teaching, she was on vacation in Florida. Teaching people thought she was in Chicago, but  so most everyone I knew was working, but except for my musician, friends and the ones, you know, people were doing live streams. And I, I couldn't, to me, a concert is about the whole thing is about gathering, you know, of people. And I couldn't,  go for the whole, we're going to put out, you know, I couldn't, it just wasn't fun to me, you know? So,  for us, like, luckily enough, you know, we were able to get unemployment. We got lucky, like in men, I was able to get like a PPP to keep everybody going and in my life. You know, we had, unfortunately, like we had to go dark for our Branson show. So  I'm like you, I'm an actual venue in Branson. So,  I applied for like the government right now is just coming out with, shuttered venue grants, which I applied for, which I'm hoping knock on wood that they haven't like. They're just starting now, too. Disperse them, but they've never done it before the government. So they don't exactly have it altogether. So it hasn't really happened yet, but if it happens, it will really help cause  on top of it, our theater over the winter in Branson, a pipe broke and flooded the whole, like  not the performance area, but all the dressing rooms downstairs and all the, everything  like the walls had to be redone and there's still the carpets paint. And then, and then on top of that, a few weeks ago, somebody broke in and trashed the lobby and all this stuff. So, so. Anyway, if this grant comes in, I'm going to knock on George is up there somewhere. No, I, and it looks like it might good cause I actually, we qualify for it because we were dark for a whole year because of this thing. And so I'm hoping that will be a little boost to get our show back up and running. We were supposed to open June 7th. And then it didn't happen. Uh, and then somebody broke in and stuff. So  I don't know. You know, in the meantime, we're just sort of getting our feedback, doing road shows and it has been the best, the most fun, you know, I'm sure you guys, when you start doing shows again.

Robyn Bell: Yeah. 

Marty Scott: You know, 

Robyn Bell: the orchestra has, 

Marty Scott: when there's an audience 

Robyn Bell: here at the college, we've had performances, no audience, but the Pops Orchestra, nothing, we haven't met. We haven't rehearsed because we rehearsed. 

Marty Scott: Muscle memory. I'm telling you, 

Robyn Bell: unfortunately, we don't play the same songs every time, but,  the college's policy is there's been no visitors on campus. And so the orchestra rehearses here. And so we haven't been able to bring in because the musicians and the Pops would all be visitors, but hopefully that's going to lift and we would start, um, our schedule has us rehearsing around the 1st of October. So I think we're going to be able to, I think we are going to be ok. 

Marty Scott: It's so all over the place it's like in every town is different. Like I drove down here and I came like there Nashville and hung out there for a couple of days. It's like, there's never been any problem in Nashville. Everything, the streets are packed, the bars are packed. Everyone's playing. So, yeah. It's crazy. Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: Well, you drove down here because  you're here this weekend to visit Louise because her health is not so good. Right? 

Marty Scott:  So she's about to turn 90 for 90. It's her house. Pretty good, actually. I mean, I don't know anybody else who's 90.. Who's nice. 

Robyn Bell: Well, no, but I remember when you were here two years ago as our George Harrison,  I think she had just moved into an assisted living facility and she came to the Sunday afternoon show. Yeah. 

Marty Scott: And it was for an afternoon. It wasn't, 

Robyn Bell: and we didn't tell her audience that she was coming. And,  before I think we did one of the last songs we go, you know, we have a special guest with us and that was a thrill, not just for me to introduce her,  and to have her there, but the whole audience was like, what it was really cool. And she was such a sport about it.

Marty Scott:  It's hard because  all these years, Louise has been part of our show. She'd come out during the intermission and tell some stories about George growing up and then take questions from the audience. She lived to do that. I mean, that's what made her. Tick, you know, so  it's heartbreaking a bit now because  she can't travel.  You know, listen, it's happening to all of us. I'm right behind her. I'm sure. But it's hard because that's really all she wants to do.  She wants me to take her in go, she wants to go to our show next weekend. She's just, you know, she can't, traveling. Was hard back then 

Robyn Bell: these bodies and these minds of ours just aren't built to live as long as we're living now. And they, they fall apart on us 

Marty Scott: for sure. But she's still a rocker at heart. Like she that's really, that's probably the only thing that would make her happy and she can't do it. So it's kind of like, she's, 

Robyn Bell: she's very lucky to have you in her life. And,  I'll just never forget that afternoon. I was able to spend in her home drinking tea and listening to her, talk about her brother, you know, that she gets a spark in her eyes and she's, she was just very proud to be his sister. 

Marty Scott:  You know, in all the years I've known her. That's all she's ever showed. Is that like never anything, but, you know, things could go a couple of ways.  You would think she could go like, well,  my life is pretty tough and  she didn't really get taken care of so much by her family, but yeah. Never a bad word about nothing, anything but love for George, which is, I don't know. I mean, if he was my brother, I might be pissed off. I don't know. I mean, yeah. 

Robyn Bell: Where's my trust fund. Yeah. But he got ripped off to the, his accountant, like took all his money, right? 

Marty Scott: No, not all his money. 

Robyn Bell: Oh, that was the story. That was spun. 

Marty Scott: I mean, no, George is fine more than 

Robyn Bell: that's good. 

Marty Scott: I mean, his family is fine. And 

Robyn Bell: so point Louise moves from Southern Illinois to Sarasota and you start coming down here every once in a while to see her. 

Marty Scott: No, actually.  The funny story is I don't even think I've ever told you, but she lived in Sarasota like in the nineties and for a long time, like a good amount of years and she loved it here.   And I,  love Florida. My,  sister just moved down here. She, my sister just moved to Venice like a couple of weeks ago. So all of my family is. Probably going to migrate. We're trying to talk my mom into it downtown. 

Robyn Bell: It's next door to me is for sale. 

Marty Scott: Maybe. So maybe I tell, I can afford maybe, Hey, maybe then the grant comes in. Oh no, you can't use it for real.  So it honestly, so Sarasota,  she's always showing me these pictures and she had a house here  cause her son in  his wife,  they all were in Florida all this time. So she'd always show me these pictures. And it was like these, I call them mustache parties. Cause it was like, it looked like the eighties or nineties and all these guys, there were all these guys with mustaches and uh, Everybody looks like Burt Reynolds and put that was in a time in her life where she was younger and partying. And it was a cool scene down here in Sarasota. And so she had a place near the beach and she'd have pictures of her walking on the beach. And so she would show me all these things. And so it was a place that we'd always talk about. We have to get down there, you know, and then, there was a time we were trying to do this thing with the schools where we were performing with students, which is really fun. And we just were trying to do sort of a 

Robyn Bell: it's like educational 

Marty Scott: and we just never really had enough time to get it off the ground or maybe never the right people like Louise was trying to do it. She was passionate about it, but she's doesn't know anything about business, you know, like she, you said, she'd come up and say what makes them. And so she didn't really have, 

Robyn Bell: I broke out in a rash. 

Marty Scott: She moved back down there for a little while, and then we went back to Branson and when it didn't work out and then in the course of her living down here, she has  a core group of people down here that are 30 year plus friends  and her daughter-in-law is down here. And so it was the only place like that, where there's, I know there's this core of people that love her.  And so like today, when I went to go see her, her daughter-in-law was there and one of her other friends, you know,  it's a nice little community of people that love Lou.  So I 

Robyn Bell: perfect place for her.

Marty Scott:  Her daughter-in-law, his mother was. In a assisted living down here and she knew this place and it was nice. So we got her when she needed some help.  I was like, Sarasota, that's gotta be the only place that makes sense. So that's why she's down here in it's a place where she always wanted to end up in. So she's here. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah, no, obviously when you come down here, the beaches are kind of the big attractions, but do you get to anything else? Are there some favorite restaurants you 

Marty Scott: see? My red face right here was at the beach yesterday. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. 

Marty Scott: Yeah. I mean, I, 

Robyn Bell: which beach do you like? 

Marty Scott: Well, so I'm staying at my sister's house. So today I was, you know, by, in Sharky's wherever they cool bar is. So I've been there for the last couple of days, but,  now, you know, I don't know.   Last time I stayed here,  I don't know what it's called it. The little strip that 

Robyn Bell: Anna Maria Island 

Marty Scott: place was 

Robyn Bell: beautiful,

Marty Scott: maybe where I want to live on. So  one of the things that I'm doing this week, because we're trying to push my mom into coming, because my mom's now she's, I left when we started doing shows again. So my sister just picked up and moved to Florida kind of quickly without really thinking. She came on vacation during COVID and decided, you know what, I'm ready. I'm just going to retire a year early. And they, so they got a smart, bought a house on the internet without seeing it. And, uh, it's really hard to get houses down here. And it's great. It's really great. And I have the place to myself right now because they're gone, which is even greater.  

Robyn Bell: But you're trying to get your mom down here.

Marty Scott: Yeah. So one of the things I'm doing is I'm kind of looking around to see where I would like to go. 

Robyn Bell: Anna Maria Island is so 

Marty Scott: like a better than Venice. I do Venice. I'm not a golfer Venice is like like 

Robyn Bell: it's very extremely different. 

Marty Scott: I'm a beach guy. Like I just I've lived in the Midwest my whole life.

Robyn Bell: Well, and you may not know them, like, like the Moody Blues, when they were on tour, they would come to Anna Maria Island on a week off in all of them. And so Graham Edge, the drummer for the Moody Blues lives here now, and it was all, they would, all those rock stars would come to Anna Maria Island on their tour.

Marty Scott: Yeah. I stayed there when I did your, so I did well, I stayed like. There for a few days. Cause I came and then I stayed with Lynne. 

Robyn Bell: Lynne Lash. 

Marty Scott: You can't beat that. 

Robyn Bell: No, 

Marty Scott: that's awesome. 

Robyn Bell: Great hostess. 

Marty Scott: Yeah, for sure. But I do love it here. I really do. I, you know 

Robyn Bell: yeah. And we're going, I think Sunday night, we're going to Selva Grill downtown.

Marty Scott: We went last time. 

Robyn Bell: It is. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Great little place. 

Marty Scott: And you know what I like,  the Colombian is that 

Robyn Bell: Columbia? Yeah. Yeah. 

Marty Scott: Yeah. I don't know. I went there like with my parents when I was a kid. Louise that place. So I've been there a couple times.

Robyn Bell: Great Cuban sandwiches. 1905 salad. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, Marty, we reached our rapid fire. I got some really hard questions for you. We're going to change the world right here in that 10 questions. Don't break my table. Right? Okay. Best Beatles album 

Marty Scott: for me. Rubber soul. 

Robyn Bell: Good one. What's your favorite song off that one?

Marty Scott: I don't have a favorite Beatle song, but I love it In My Life, but there's too many songs too. I have a  favorite song from every other group in the world, but the Beatles, it's just too hard, man. 

Robyn Bell: You know, you think about the Beatles and you think they were together for like decades, but really it was just, you know, they were on ed Sullivan, 1963. Yeah. And they were done by 1969. 

Marty Scott: All those songs. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. Amazing. Okay. Now when you do the Liverpool Legend shows you do the Beatles and all of their different styles. So you have costume changes and style changes. So strictly fashion speaking, what is your favorite Beatles era? 

Marty Scott: Well, so I would like, like the mid period of psychedelic stuff, but we have Sergeant Pepper suits. So I don't really love those. I wish that we did like the, when you see them at the Sergeant Pepper premiere, where they're wearing like Stripe pants and cool shirts. That's what I want to do. But for the show we do the Sergeant Pepper costumes. So my favorite period is a psychedelic, 1967. 

Robyn Bell: There was a Sergeant Pepper suits are hot and heavy and miserable.

Marty Scott: Yeah. They're just kind of dorky they're like band uniforms, you know, I didn't come from that. Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. What is the hardest Beatles song to perform 

Marty Scott: for me? And Your Bird Can Sing probably, which is this really quick? I know it's a quick belt, but it's three guitar parts that John George and Paul played at once. And. Since you don't have that, you have to play them all at once. So you have to kind of figure out how to play three parts. It's really hard. And I flub it half the time, but it's still fun to do. 

Robyn Bell: It's just technically difficult to 

Marty Scott: play parts on one guitar. So you try it. So you have to match what's on the record and  I'm the only guy, cause Paul was playing bass in John's,  playing rhythm. So it's like a three part lead thing that you have to kind of do it in harmony and do weird things that are not normal for a guitar because it's yeah. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. Here's the fancy word for you? Idiomatic. 

Marty Scott: Oh, am I supposed to tell you what that is? 

Robyn Bell: No. I'm going to tell you, idiomatic means you have to play something on an instrument that does not fit well for that instrument. That's the term we use. 

Marty Scott: Yeah. That's it. And it would fit well, if you were doing all the parts individually.

Robyn Bell: Sure. Yeah. And you could, dub them over. 

Marty Scott: Yeah. Yeah. That's what they did. Yeah. Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. I know you guys tour and you play with a lot of orchestras, but favorite orchestra to perform, with?

Marty Scott: Hmm. Well, the guys that played with us at cart. No, you guys, of course. No. I have to say that the show that I did with you was one of my big, like I said, I've never done just a solo show to get to step out and be George and play like My Sweet Lord. And I've played My Sweet Lord, but not featured like. You know, next to I've Got My Mind Set On You or, you know, that was really, really special for me. That's great. 

Robyn Bell: And the audience, they were standing up clapping before 

Marty Scott: and it was George Michael, George Harrison, George Gershwin. Next time George Jones were asked. 

Robyn Bell: Go ahead, George M Cohan. 

Marty Scott: That's right. 

Robyn Bell: Yeah. We had a lot of Georges, right? 

Marty Scott: Yeah. I learned, I love George Jones lately, so 

Robyn Bell: yeah, he's good. He's good.

Marty Scott: Do part two. 

Robyn Bell: Okay. So we know you're George. He's got to be your favorite, but 

Marty Scott: he's actually my favorite Beatle, 

Robyn Bell: John. Okay. John Paul or Ringo 

Marty Scott: songwriting. John. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For solo John to like post, you know, John didn't get a fair shake because he died when he was 40. So he didn't have  as many records as Paul, but  I'm more of a John fan.

Robyn Bell: I hear you. All right. Beer or wine. 

Marty Scott: Okay. Both. It depends on what mood I'm in. Depends on what beerand what wine 

Robyn Bell: to drink. Mixed drinks. 

Marty Scott: Yeah. Sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. I've been watching my girlish figure. So   it was a skinny guy. So, you know, George was like the skinniest. Yeah. 

Robyn Bell: Did you put on some lbs during COVID 

Marty Scott: actually I lost a bunch of weight because just going out to eat, like I'm a food I go out to eat. I love the social-ness of food, but I also love going out to eat. Yeah. So  I didn't go out to eat or I didn't really even order food for 14 months. I lost like 20 pounds and I was eating me and my mom were eating ice cream every day. I mean, I was eating. We just, it was just 

Robyn Bell: a different kind of food. Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. Okay. I know you don't have a favorite Beatles song, but do you have a favorite George Harrison song? 

 Marty Scott: Here Comes the Sun probably. I mean, it was the best, probably this, you know, that song literally is like the most downloaded song out of all the Beatles song. Like it's got the internet download record of the Beatles, like, which is cool. That's George did that. Yeah. You know, it's not Let It Be, it's not, Hey, Jude. It's Here Comes the Sun. So give him some credit, I guess, for that 

Robyn Bell: fish and chips or sushi. 

Marty Scott: Oh sushi. 

Robyn Bell: I say that because England Ray, the Beatles, it's like fish and chips, fried food. 

Marty Scott: Every time I go to England, the food sucks. 

Robyn Bell: I know it's terrible.

Marty Scott: The best food, both, you know, we played England three times and the best food I've had is on the plane on the way, which is, I don't know. I had Indian food there once. That was great. But other than that, all like the, I don't want beans for breakfast. I'm sorry. I, I like being in character, but when the show's over, I'm not eating beans and sausage and blood sausage for breakfast.

Robyn Bell: My dad and I went to Ireland for a week. One time just together like a father, daughter trip. And I say the best meal I had was the Italian restaurant. We went to a day three. 

Marty Scott: It's pretty much the same thing. Yeah. Yeah. But the beer is good there. We'll say when you have Guinness in Ireland, I don't know if you drink beer. I don't know. But Guinness in Ireland is a whole nother animal. It's not like a Guinness at all. It's like, you might as well have a Coke or a milkshake, dirt, bad, different. It's like, 

Robyn Bell: yeah, sorry. Good. This is your last question. And like, no, you're doing great. No, you're doing great.  This is the last question is the question we ask everybody. So,  there's a lot weighing on this one. Marty roundabouts or stoplights. 

Marty Scott: Um, I have a hard time getting used to those roundabouts. I don't, I know there must be a function to them, but man, I almost died on the way. 

Robyn Bell: I think I'm going to die every time I get in one. And  they put like a hundred of them on 41 between here and Venice.

Marty Scott: I did it. I that's the way I came 

Robyn Bell: and my heart races and my I'm squeezing and I'd get a headache and I am going to, I think I'm going 

Marty Scott: to go down for it, but I don't understand them. 

Robyn Bell: I don't know. Well, congratulations, Marty, Scott, you are now officially part of the clubs. So let's say our listeners want to plan a trip to see the Liverpool Legends. Where can they go to get your schedule of performances 

Marty Scott: best way. Right now it's Liverpool. legends.com is our website. Liverpool legends.com. There's. Videos. There's all our dates are on there. There's a history of the band. There's a bunch of photos and stuff about Louise and cool. It's pretty thorough. So at some point we're going to come here and play art waves.

Robyn Bell: Well, yeah, w we were going to put a link to your website in our show notes. So listeners that are listening on the web can just click and go. If they're listening to this on their podcast players, you'll just go to our website and you can get that link. Marty. Thank goodness Louise Harrison had me over to her house all those many years ago. And today you and I can sit here as friends and fellow musicians chatting it up because of that, I still enjoy working with you and all the Suncoast residents who can't get to Branson to see your show will be excited to hear that we are working on bringing your entire band to the Suncoast in February, 2023 for a Beatles Valentine's show with the pops. All You Need is Love, right? 

Marty Scott: That would be amazing. 

Robyn Bell: That will be such a thrill for me to have all of you here. So please, because 

Marty Scott: the George songs are great, but there are some great Beatle orchestrations on some of these songs. So 

Robyn Bell: yeah, they were one of the first to use orchestra. They use the London Symphony recording.

Marty Scott: The reason they stopped touring because they were making these records like Sergeant Pepper, that they, there was no, like, you know, we travel with a guy, play him on keyboards now, but you can't back in those days, you couldn't do it. So 

Robyn Bell: you can't take a Piccolo trumpet to play on Penny Lane. And exactly. Well, you need to 

Marty Scott: take care of one of those. We got somebody who could do that. 

Robyn Bell: I can play Piccolo trumpet. 

Marty Scott: All right. That's a hard that's solo. Like we had to find a guy who could do it at Carnegie Hall. Like  it's hard to do that. One's a tough one. I think that guy did it in one take or toot. Like, it's a funny story. Like he did it and it was a great solo in Paul. Was like, I think you could try it again or something. And the guy was like, no, I can't. That's it. 

Robyn Bell: That's it. You got it all. Yeah. Yeah. Hope you recorded it. So, yes, we can get a Piccolo trumpet player for Penny Lane when you guys are here for certain. So Marty take care of yourself, keep making the music happening and give Lou our best. When you see her next week. Tell her where. Yeah. Tell her we're all thinking of her. 

Marty Scott: Good. I mean, it's not terrible that I'm here. I'm, I'm happy to be here and look at the sunburn. How bad could it be? Life is good. 

Robyn Bell: Great. All right. Thanks, Marty. 

Marty Scott: All right.