Bruce has Beatles bug
Musicial director plays 214 songs
by Tamara Ikenberg
The Courier-Journal

Hal Bruce is a one-man magical music machine. The Halifax, Nova Scotia, man has made a name for himself by perfectly playing 214 Beatles songs in a nonstop medley at Beatle fests throughout the world. It takes two hours to power through all the songs; at this weekend's courier-journal.com Abbey Road on the River, Bruce will be grooving through shorter selections from the Fab Four's catalog. Bruce is also the musical director of Sunday's musical re-creation of the "LOVE" show and Monday's Summer of Love anniversary celebration concert. We talked to the greatest Beatles fan from the Great White North about his beloved band.

Q. What's the most difficult song for you to play in the medley?

The hardest song for me was "Martha, My Dear," on the piano, because piano is not my first instrument, and it's kind of a classical piece. I play them mainly on guitar, and piano for some songs, such as "Let it Be" and "Hey Jude."

How did you become a Beatlemaniac?

When they were on Ed Sullivan, I was just 11 years old. (I liked) the look of them and the accents. Before they came out, rock and roll was starting to feel like it was getting washed up. There were people like Bobby Vee and Frankie Avalon; they were good, it just wasn't rock 'n' roll anymore. They were taking it into more of a watered-down version of pop music. But when the Beatles came out, it was a breath of fresh air. I was smitten with that. They were young, they wrote their own material and played their own instruments, whereas Frankie Avalon and those other guys sat up there with a microphone and just sang

What's your top Beatles album?

"Rubber Soul," for sure. It was right around the time when Beatlemania was just starting to kind of come down. They were playing a lot of acoustic stuff. It was a little bit deeper than "She Loves You" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand," even though I love those tunes. And they seemed to be a little bit more secretive and trying to give you secret little meanings to the songs. They were being tongue-in-cheek.

Who's your favorite Beatle?

I like the early John Lennon. He had a lot of grit in his voice, so you knew it was coming right from his soul. John sang because he had a conviction. (He was the) angry young Beatle, always going against the system. He had the spirit of the Beatles.

Have you ever had a chance to meet the Beatles?

I'm friends with Pete Best, the original drummer, and Julia Baird, who is John Lennon's sister, is a really close friend. I held the first Maritime Beatle Event in Halifax, Nova Scotia, last year, and she was my special guest.

Has anything come close to the quality of "Sgt Pepper's" in the 40 years since its release?

There have been albums that were very monumental since Sgt. Pepper. There was "Rumours" by Fleetwood Mac, "Tapestry" by Carole King and "The Wall" and "Dark Side of The Moon" by Pink Floyd. They were influenced by the Beatles as well.

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