Beatles tribute drummer feels fab about his band

When it comes to a career, loving what you do is more than half the battle.

Ralph Castelli loves being Ringo Starr.

Castelli has been behind a drum set, portraying Starr as part of the Beatles-tribute band Rain, since 1986. Before touring and recording with Rain, Castelli and the band starred in the Broadway smash “Beatlemania.”

Castelli and his bandmates in Rain will perform Beatles classics at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Sangamon Auditorium. The band has mastered more than 200 Beatles songs, and shows last more than two hours.

Music is part of Castelli’s heritage. He was raised in California by immigrant parents who enjoyed a wide variety of music. As a toddler, Castelli pounded on pots and pans until he realized his brother’s drum set was more appealing to play — and hear.

Castelli said his first life-altering moment came in February 1964, when the Beatles made their American television debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

“I knew from that night on I wanted to play the drums,” said Castelli, who had no idea decades later he would play Ringo on stage.

Rain was born in the mid-1970s, when keyboardist Mark Lewis recruited four other rock musicians. The band’s original name was Reign. In the early days, the group toured the Los Angeles/Orange County region.

The original spelling of the band’s name confused people, so the group decided to go with Rain, which was also the title of a 1966 Beatles tune. Rain began its 15 minutes of fame in 1979, when legendary TV host Dick Clark hired the group to record the music for the made-for-TV movie “Birth of the Beatles.”

When Rain formed and hit the club circuit, tribute bands were a rare commodity. Today, hundreds of musicians and singers portray the Beatles or Elvis Presley. And there’s a tribute act for just about any band with a handful of hit albums under its belt.

What separates Rain from most tribute bands is the way the “Fab Five” has taken the music to never-before-seen heights.

The Beatles landed on American soil in 1964 but stopped touring in 1966. The Beatles’ only live show after 1966 was the famous rooftop concert in London, where the band belted out tunes that ended up on its final album, “Let It Be.” Beatles fans did not get to hear live versions of most of the band’s music recorded from 1967’s “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” until its breakup.

The live show is one of the key reasons Rain added a fifth member. Castelli said there is no way the band could pull off some of the Beatles’ more complex music from their later years live without a fifth musician.

Castelli has walked onto the stage as Ringo for more than 23 years. He still looks forward to going “to work” everyday.

“I love what I do,” Castelli said. “I love every song, every set. Some nights I am more enthusiastic than others, especially when we’ve been on the road for a while, but looking back on it all, it has been a wonderful experience.”

The drummer said there is no Beatles era he favors over another.

“There will be nights that I will be getting into ‘Sgt. Pepper,’ and nights I’m really into something from (1965’s) ‘Rubber Soul,’” Castelli said. “It can vary from night to night. I love it all.”

Castelli said Rain began its current tour in January, and the band’s Web site shows it is booked solid through June, playing four to six nights a week.

“I am amazed at the way we have a following from people of all ages. It’s wild. People still love the Beatles as much as they did back in the ’60s,” Castelli said.

Castelli said the economy, U.S. involvement in an unpopular war and other issues have created what he believes is a similar atmosphere to decades gone by.

“Through it all, people knew they could count on the Beatles,” he said. “It’s like people are ready for change and looking for something to gravitate towards.”

Castelli said there is one reason a band like Rain stays together for so long and juggles such a heavy tour schedule: “We are close friends,” he said. “Even on our nights off, we do dinner and things together. I think it shows when we perform.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RAIN: THE BEATLES EXPERIENCE* When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday* Where: Sangamon Auditorium, on the campus of the University of Illinois at Springfield* Tickets: $51, $46 and $41; available at the Sangamon Auditorium ticket office, by phone at 206-6160 or online at http://www.sangamonauditorium.org/.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No Doubt's drummer and me

ANAHEIM With his green-plaid pants and his bright red mohawk and his fame, Adrian Young gets a lot of stares as he walks the lobby of the recent National Association of Music Merchant's trade show.

Hey, that's the drummer for No Doubt, I hear again and again as I walk next to Young. A few people stop to shake his hand or ask for him to pose for a photo.

But, initially at least, fame doesn't get him on the convention floor. The trade show isn't open to the public, and Young forgot his wallet at home in Lakewood. No I.D. No entry. No exceptions.

So we try the information desk. Then the security desk. Then the press office.

"I can't believe this," Young says, laughing, "I guess I'm out of here."

But then a security manager who recognizes Young offers to escort him to an autograph session and, after that, to the booth of the drum company Young co-owns.

We're in.

TWO DREAMERS, ONE DREAM

Young and I can trace our experiences at this annual music convention back to the same era – around 1990.

We were playing together in No Doubt. I was part of a three-man horn section, playing saxophone, and he was the new drummer. At that point, few outside of Southern California knew of the band.

Back then, at NAMM, we were nothing. Just musicians looking at gear we couldn't afford; dreaming. I left No Doubt in 1994, just before the band's meteoric rise, to pursue journalism. (Insert your own joke here. I've heard most, and eventually learned to laugh at them too.)

So Young agreed to hook up with me at NAMM again, nearly 20 years after our first experiences at this convention, to discuss how it has changed.

"I don't think I ever went as myself back then," he says. "I always had to borrow a badge to get in."

Young's status at NAMM rose somewhat in 1993 when Orange County Drum & Percussion offered him a free snare, knowing that No Doubt was achieving some modest success.

"I still own that drum," he says. "I've probably used it on a dozen No Doubt tours."

But at the 1997 NAMM show, No Doubt had released "Tragic Kingdom," one of the biggest albums of the 1990s. Young's status was mega. Fans swamped him and companies like Zildjian cymbals offered all the free equipment he could use.

Fame wasn't free. He spent countless hours at autograph signings and appearances on behalf of the companies that endorsed him.

"I definitely found that I'd spend a lot of time at the beer stand."

PLAYING FOR A LIVING

But celebrity has its surreal moments, too. Like the time he was signing autographs at the booth for Remo drum heads when Latin percussionist superstar Sheila E. came up to him and said she'd always wanted to meet him. Or the year jazz icon Peter Erskine told Young he likes his playing.

"He's telling me 'I like what you do?'" Young says incredulously. "I'm, like, 'I don't even understand what you do.' He's that good."

Young has taken several years off from No Doubt, as lead singer Gwen Stefani pursues a solo career.

But he's kept playing with other musicians, such as Scott Weiland (of Stone Temple Pilots).

And he spends a lot of time on the golf course. A golf magazine recently named him the fourth best "celebrity golfer. But, Young jokes, "they had my handicap wrong. I'm better than Kenny G."

Young makes it clear that despite some gossip that seemed to suggest otherwise over the years, No Doubt never broke up. What's more, the band has a limited concert tour in the works.

"It's fun to be playing together again," he says. "We're lucky we all get along so well still. We are all having dinner tomorrow night."

THIRST FOR FAME

Having worked out the security issues, we head inside the convention hall.

Young admits this is when the activity feels a little overwhelming. He worries that without his wallet he's got no money to buy a beer.

I offer to spot him some cash if he needs it.

We walk about 100 yards without anybody stopping him. But a woman in a No Doubt tank top soon trails him, lingering for about five minutes before asking to pose for a photo. Young obliges.

"Is that a Bloody Mary?" he asks the woman as they shake hands.

"Yeah, you can have it," she says.

Young only wants a sip. And we're on our way again.

Once we arrive at the Orange County Drum & Percussion booth, the scene changes. Young is a one-third owner of the company that gave him his first free drum. He bought in after No Doubt hit massive success.

Here at the booth, some people have heard he's coming.

Audrey Ungaro, 21, a college student from Kentucky, has waited a half-hour to get a photo with Young.

"No Doubt is my favorite band," she says. "I was so excited he was coming."

Young appreciates her waiting. Though he sometimes dreads the idea of such meet-and-greets, in advance, he says they don't feel like a chore when he actually gets face-to-face with people who like his music. So he shakes a few more hands, signs autographs and poses for photos before remembering he needs to leave.

Tonight's his ninth wedding anniversary, and he's headed out to dinner with his wife and 7-year-old son, Mason, before a gig at the Hollywood Palladium, sitting in with the punk band Pennywise.

But first, he makes a quick stop at the Zyldjian booth for an autograph session with about 15 other drummers.

He pulls up a chair next to John Blackwell, who has played drums for, among others, Prince and Justin Timberlake.

Young's got two tools – a Sharpie pen in one hand, and a Pacifico beer in the other.

"I'm all set."

By ERIC CARPENTER
The Orange County Register