California musician Jim Owen thinks time has proved the enduring quality of the Beatles’ music.

He would know: He portrays Beatle John Lennon in the orchestral pop show Classical Mystery Tour and still likes the legendary British pop band’s tunes even after playing more than 20 Beatles songs per show for more than 50 shows per year.

The other telltale sign? The number of young people attending their shows who were born decades after the Beatles’ heyday but who still grew up listening to their songs and found themselves attracted to their music.

“Classical Mystery Tour” with the Waco Symphony Orchestra

Performance: 8 p.m. Nov. 5 at Waco Hall

Tickets: $42, $40, $32 and $20. Center section seats are largely sold out, though seats remain in the balcony and main floor side sections. Call 754-0851 for ticket information.

Beatles cover band Classical Mystery Tour

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Owen and his three band mates — Tony Kishman (Paul), Tom Teeley (George) and Chris Camilleri (Ringo) — bring their Classical Mystery Tour to Waco on Nov. 5, performing a pops concert with the Waco Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Stephen Heyde. It’s the tour’s first visit to Waco in 12 years of performing.

The idea of backing a Beatles concert with a symphony orchestra came to Owen back in 1996, and it’s not really a stretch, he said.

“The hard work was done by the Beatles in the ’60s,” he explained in a recent phone interview. “ ‘Yesterday’ used a string quartet, ‘Eleanor Rigby’ had a double quartet, and they used so many orchestra players from Sgt. Pepper’s on,” Owen said.

Not only were there string and brass arrangements to build upon, but the parts were well within the ability level of most orchestra players, said Owen, who grew up playing Beethoven and Chopin on piano at an early age, only to switch to guitar as a teenager. “The charts are pretty straightforward for the orchestra. . . . .There’s only one really virtuoso part, and that’s the piccolo trumpet heard on ‘Penny Lane,’ ” he said.

The Beatles tribute show for the WSO follows on the heels of an ABBA tribute pops concert in the 2008-09 season that proved a sellout success.

Owen, who performed with Teeley in the Broadway production of “Beatlemania,” watched hours of Beatles films like Help! and A Hard Day’s Night to perfect performance styles, mannerisms and Liverpudlian accents.

For the Classical Mystery Tour show, Beatles music and their look fall into three periods: the early club days (dress: black suits), the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band days (bright, colorful jackets and pants) and the late Abbey Road days (casual suits, shirts, no ties).

Their usual set list runs about 20 songs, although they have 35 orchestra song charts to give them some variety on return visits to a city, Owen said. The evergreen appeal of Beatles music continues to refresh Classical Mystery Tour audiences with younger fans. “We see 5- to 10-year-olds who know the lyrics already,” he said, noting that he and his band mates grew up in homes where Beatles music was frequently heard.

As much as Owen loves the Beatles’ music, it’s the effect of that music that gives him the most satisfaction.

“The best thing is the concert itself, how much happiness people go away with after it’s over,” he said. “I think it’s largely due to the music and its message: ‘All You Need Is Love.’ ”

choover@wacotrib.com

757-5749