Frank has been a lifelong resident of Ohio, born and raised in a musical family. From his mother's singing talent, to his brother John’s accomplishments on classical guitar, Frank had an early introduction to rock and roll from the family radio, listening to the pioneers Chuck Berry, Ricky Nelson, and the Everly Brothers.
The real revelation was 1964's performance of the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Through his older brothers, Frank was exposed to the Beatles even earlier when all saw the famous "Jack Parr Show" performance, and all thought how strange they looked. Buying the first Beatles record in January of 1964 before they were on "Ed Sullivan" put Frank first in his classroom to have the new sound, and later that year, he formed his first tribute, calling themselves The Jr. Beatles. After playing several instruments in high school, and forming a rock band with his brother, Frank has performed in several professional groups through college and after.
In 1996, he joined Hard Day’s Night to fulfill his dream to one day be a Beatle, and has had a “fab” time ever since. “One of the greatest benefits of the being in this band was the influence on my children”, explains Frank, “who have become Beatles fans themselves.” This has resulted in his son Michael working with his father to learn and perfect the John Lennon sound, and who has joined Hard Day’s Night in the John Lennon roll since 2006.
“It’s true that the Beatles are that rare cultural event, one that can be shared by several generations. It’s a total family experience”.
Born in Miami, Florida, Jimmy’s interest was changed from being an artist to that of a guitar player after seeing the Beatles perform on "The Ed Sullivan Show." So much so that he took lessons, and started his own band, The Bedbugs, to be like the Beatles, performing at teen dances and parties, and dreaming of fame. After his family moved to Los Angeles, he joined other bands, took music courses at college, went on a musical tour to Canada with a local band, and finally started his own group playing the LA club circuit. After an audition in 1977, Jimmy won the part of George Harrison in the west coast Broadway show “Beatlemania,” which performed throughout the US and internationally until 1983 when production of that show was stopped. It was during these touring years that Jimmy met Sir George Martin at the Astoria Theatre in London, Ringo Starr at the nightclub Tramps (also in London), and George Harrison at another nightclub in Los Angeles.
From 1983 until joining 1964 The Tribute in 1993, Jimmy performed with several other groups of former "Beatlemania" cast members. He toured with 1964 until late 2006, when he moved to Nashville, and started production of his own national act, “An Evening with George," as a tribute to George Harrison. Since 1999, Jimmy has released three CDs of his original music: “Four Little Ditties,” “A Dozen Scrambled Daze,” and his latest, “Puddingstone Lake,” under noted record producer Chris Huston, who has produced albums for Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Young Rascals, and James Brown.
Back to the top!
Glenn Birney as Ringo Starr
Unlike his brother, actor David Birney, Glenn’s talent went in the musical direction of percussion. From his early teens, playing drums in the West High School marching band in Cleveland, his desire to own and play a set of genuine Chicago-made Ludwig drums drove him to work the part-time jobs necessary to purchase his first Ludwig Super Classic set as played by Joe Morello in the Dave Brubeck jazz quartet - and by Ringo Starr. Listening to the Beatles perform their big hit “Love Me Do,” Glenn was forever changed by the experience of Beatlemania as millions of other teens were, and was determined to travel down the musical road of performing rock ’n roll. However, performing with two bands after high school and obtaining a college degree at Kent State University, a temporary vocation as a freelance photographer in California, and pursuing a full time working career, put a hold on the rock drumming - until late 1996.
It was then that he decided it was time to start the right band, and what better band to start than a tribute to the number one rock ’n roll band of all time, the Beatles. An extensive search of northeast Ohio through a local ad in "Scene Magazine," combined with a few months time and a countless number of auditions, finally paid off with musicians who seemed to have the talent and passion to build a Beatles tribute band from the ground up. Over time, and with some cast change refinements, the Hard Day’s Night of today is the end result: four talented, authentic, driven, and passionate musicians dedicated to performing a totally live, note-for-note, character tribute stage act to John, Paul, George, and Ringo. “With the current cast addition of Jimmy Pou, formerly with the Beatles tribute, 1964 – Hard Day’s Night is one of the very few truly authentic, all-live, outstanding Beatle groups performing today. We don’t add recordings to our songs. If it can’t be performed live, and sound as close as possible to the record, we don’t play it.” Glenn’s choice for the band’s most exciting venue: “performing for a screaming sing-along crowd at the place Brian Epstein discovered the Fab Four - the Cavern Club, in Liverpool, England, in 1999.”
Back to the top!
