Seattle tribute band's ultimate tribute: re-creating Beatles on the roof

The chills Susan Guidry felt Friday weren't from the cold air outside Pike Place Market. Watching the tribute band Crème Tangerine on the Copacabana Café's terrace re-enact the Beatles' legendary London rooftop concert on its 40th anniversary, Guidry remembered seeing the supergroup perform in Seattle in 1964 and meeting them afterward.

Guidry, 59, was one of a few hundred people who crowded the street for the lunchtime show, organized by former Apple Records U.S. manager Ken Mansfield, who was on the London roof in 1969 with the Beatles for what turned out to be their final performance.

"It just gives me an upset stomach, because George (Harrison) and John (Lennon) are gone. But it's fabulous, too," Guidry said.

Of the dozen people who gathered on the roof that day, only six are still alive, including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Mansfield, Yoko Ono and Alan Parsons, who at the time was working for producer Glyn Johns.

"To this day, we're friends forever, bound by that moment," Mansfield said of Parsons. "Like two guys in a foxhole."

Mansfield recalled, "I've never been so cold in my life as I was that day in London. But it was absolutely the high point of my career."

He remembered standing beside Ono: "They give Yoko way too much credit for breaking up the band," he said. "They were a rock 'n' roll band and had been through a lot and it was time to break up."

Organizing the Pike Place concert "was my own personal way of paying tribute," Mansfield said.

Crème Tangerine followed a set list similar to the one that the Beatles performed in London, playing "Don't Let Me Down," "Get Back," "Dig a Pony," "I've Got a Feeling," "I Want You/She's So Heavy" and "One After 909."

Guitarist Tim Mushen watched the crowd grow -- along with his own excitement. "Obviously, we have great respect for what the Beatles did," he said. "And it's just fun to have all the people here."

Among them: Stavros Anastasiou, 51, of Bellevue, who watched footage of the original performance on a Beatles video anthology.

"These guys sound great," he said, of Crème Tangerine.

Beside him, Love Israel, 68, of Bothell, called it "beautiful."

"Everyone feels the old feeling of love they felt in the '60s," he said. "Everyone needs to be reminded that love is the answer."

Seattle Times columnist Nicole Brodeur contributed to this report.

Mark Rahner: 206-464-8259 or mrahner@seattletimes.com