The long and winding soi

Western popular music swept the world in the 1960s, but something came unplugged when it stopped off in Thailand.

A tourist from Manchester or Memphis will hear plenty of familiar tunes, but they’ll usually be bland, safe renditions of standards by the Bee Gees, Carpenters or Eagles. Acts that, in all fairness, weren’t exactly gritty to start with. Their stuff rolls a little, but it doesn’t really rock. 

There are exceptions. Take The Better, a quartet of Thais who have been replicating the sounds and styles of The Beatles for the past decade.

Sure, they’re not averse to playing granny’s sentimental favorites -- "Yesterday,"  "Michelle" -- but they mix up the set list with the sweaty rockers, the left-field album tracks and the B-sides that only the hardcore Fabs geeks remember. 

The Better was formed by members of legendary Thai pop band The Impossibles, who dominated the local charts in the 1970s, becoming notorious for their funky covers of songs by bands such as Kool and the Gang. Only drummer "Ringo" (real name Tang, favorite Beatles song, "I Wanna Be Your Man") remains from that lineup, after the original "Paul," Sittiporn Amanpant, left for an extended sabbatical in Chiang Mai at the beginning of 2010.

Paul's youthful replacement, Oh ("Martha My Dear"), lines up alongside "George" (David, "I Will") and "John," who is always John, and with a cussed attitude befitting his lamented namesake, refuses to name a favorite song. 

What sets The Better apart from any number of hotel-bar harmonizers offering up yet another synthetic take on "Hotel California" or "Yesterday Once More," is the musicians’ profound understanding and respect for how the original Beatles recordings were put together.

This extends to hardware: like the Beatles, The Better use Gretsch and Rickenbacker guitars and a trademark Hofner violin bass to create a blend of jangle and fuzz that’s authentically Beatle.

Not that they are stuck in time. Modern electronic effects allow the band to play the post-1966 tracks that their predecessors never performed live. Thus does "George" gives us the trumpet solo from "Penny Lane" from the safety of his Gretsch Country Gentleman.

The band’s stage suits are, of course, note-perfect -- three-button, collarless jackets, gun-metal gray. 

'Emotional, pint-waving terrace chants'

The Better play regular midweek sets at the Royal Orchid Sheraton, but they’re probably at their best at their Friday night residency at O’Reilly’s Pub, near Sala Daeng station.

The crowd is vocal and varied, a blend of Thais and expats, cheerfully beered-up Japanese salarymen, hippy-ish retirees who remember the songs from the first time around and tourists taking refuge from the inevitable disappointment that is modern Patpong. 

Then there's the group's most devoted fan, a man practices his ballroom dancing moves in front of the stage with a revolving cast of leggy lovelies.

It’s not quite The Cavern Club in Liverpool or the Hamburg Star-Club, where the Beatles legend began, but it’s about as close as you’ll get in Bangkok, especially when the booze levels rise during the second half of the set.

"Hey Jude," "Come Together," even "Yellow Submarine" become emotional, pint-waving terrace chants. 

The real Beatles never played in Bangkok, although drummer Tang, ever the fan, reminds us that they did pop up in Tokyo, Manila (disastrously) and “for about half an hour in Hong Kong”; but The Better fills the gap admirably.

The lineup may change -- Tang himself is starting to feel his 60-odd years, and sometimes lets an understudy take up the sticks -- but the music will always be there. And, yes, they take requests, and no, they won’t play bloody "Hotel California." 

For more details see www.thebetterband.com. The Better play O’Reilly’s, Silom Road (www.oreillyspubbangkok.com), every Friday at 9 p.m. and every Tuesday-Thursday at the Royal Orchid Sheraton's Lobby Lounge.