Former 'Beatlemania' star to perform in Westhampton Beach fund-raiser

Just one week after The Beatles played their historic concert at Shea Stadium in Queens on August 15, 1965, Bill Ray, now a security guard at Westhampton Beach High School, got to see them play in his hometown of Portland, Oregon.

Though he was only 10 at the time, that concert inspired him so much so that he developed his creative career around The Beatles.

Now, Mr. Ray, 54, plays bass, Paul McCartney’s instrument, in two tribute bands—Strawberry Fields, a Beatles Tribute Band, and Ever Present Past, a Paul McCartney Tribute Band. This Friday, November 13, at 7 p.m., Ever Present Past will be playing at the high school as part of the Westhampton Beach Hurricane Educational Foundation’s Coffeehouse Series.

The foundation is a not-for-profit organization that raises money to support students attending Westhampton Beach schools. Since its founding eight years ago, the organization has raised nearly $250,000. That money has sponsored trips, scholarships and bought a number of items for the district, including a Steinway concert piano, according to Lynn Schwartz, the superintendant of Westhampton Beach.

“One hundred percent of the dollars go to support kids,” he said of the foundation.

The Coffeehouse Series is actually a four-part mini-concert series and the shows are held in the high school cafeteria. Tickets for Friday’s show are $5 each and will be sold at the door. Guests can dedicate a song for $10 or sing along with the band for $20. Coffee and cookies will be provided by the Hampton Coffee Company, Mr. Schwartz said.

The band The Boomers performed the first concert in October, and the final two concerts have not yet been scheduled. Mr. Schwartz said one will be held in January or February, and the last one will be in the spring. This is the first year that the foundation has hosted the Coffeehouse series.

Mr. Ray volunteered his time to play this Friday night because he said he wanted to give back to a school district that has treated him so well for the eight years that he’s worked for it.

“I’ve been with the school district for so long. There’s great people in it,” he said. “Whatever I can do to help out the district.”

Ever Present Past, which formed a few years ago, also includes guitarist Anthony Cacamese and drummer Brian Bechhoff, both from the Valley Stream area, Mr. Ray, who plays bass, and his 17-year-old son, Liam, who plays the guitar. Mr. Ray wanted to try something new, without the members from Strawberry Fields.

“It’s kind of fun to do it with my son,” he said, noting that Liam is going to college next year. “It’s nice to spend time with him.”

Ever Present Past plays songs from Wings, Paul McCartney’s solo album, as well as some of the songs that he wrote for The Beatles, like “Paperback Writer” and “Getting Better All The Time.”

Mr. Ray thinks that Paul McCartney is a great songwriter and composer. He’s written great love songs and upbeat songs, Mr. Ray said. “He has a good, positive, sunny outlook,” he said.

Mr. Ray owns three violin-shaped bass guitars that were just like the ones Paul McCartney played. Mr. Ray also has two Hofner basses, which are manufactured in Germany, and one Rickenbacker bass, which is made in the United States.

Paul McCartney played the Hofner bass while with The Beatles and the Rickenbacker during his solo career, Mr. Ray said. He will have all three with him on Friday night, just in case a string breaks while he is performing.

“I don’t mess around,” he said.

Mr. Ray picked up the guitar when he was 13, and the bass guitar when he was 16. After a brief stint in the Army, he got a job as an understudy for Paul McCartney in the musical/biopic “Beatlemania” in San Francisco. He was then offered to play Paul McCartney in New York City in 1979.

“I’m left-handed, so by default I got to play Paul,” he said. “I got to New York and, as a result, I was in and out of different bands.”

After the show closed in New York City, Mr. Ray followed it around the country once it embarked on a bus tour. That lasted until the early 1980s. He then started playing solo gigs, but that settled down after he got married in the late 1980s and started raising a family.

It wasn’t until eight years ago that Mr. Ray started to look for Beatles’ tribute bands to play in.

Strawberry Fields was formed 17 years ago. Eight years ago, Mr. Ray approached one of the members who was also in the “Beatlemania” show about being a back-up for Paul McCartney. It turned out that the bassist was leaving and Mr. Ray was able to try out for the part.

“And I’ve been working for them ever since,” he said.

That band even played at the 40th anniversary show of The Beatles’ legendary concert at Shea Stadium in August 2005. Mr. Ray played on the stadium field, and in front of 37,000 people, wearing jackets that looked just like the ones The Beatles played in four decades earlier.

“It’s not the same when you’re in the stands and looking down. When you’re on that field and looking up ... that place is huge,” he said. “[The Beatles] must have been scared to death.”

Mr. Ray did note that, unlike the concert in 1965, “there weren’t any crazy, lunatic, screaming fans” at their 2005 show.

Mr. Ray said he is drawn to The Beatles because their music will survive generations. Mr. Ray predicted that when he’s old, there will still be 20-year-olds wearing Beatles’ costumes and playing their music.

“The music is timeless,” he said. “I feel very fortunate that I got to see The Beatles. Not many people get to remember that.”