The Living End's Chris Cheney reflects on the time he met Beatles legend Ringo Starr

The Living End frontman and his family were at a music industry party in Los Angeles where the Beatles' legendary drummer was a special guest.

"My daughter went up to him, because I wasn't going to go up and say anything," Cheney laughs. "What do you say? I thought it would just be cool to see him in person.

"She walked up and said, 'hi Ringo, my two favourite bands are The Beatles and The Living End.'

"He was very sweet and knelt down and spoke to her for a minute. That was my chance and I went over and said, 'hi, nice to meet you'."

Like most music lovers, Cheney has a deep affection for the Fab Four. Not just for John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Starr's incredible music, but for the way they revolutionised popular music.

"I just find the whole thing remarkable," he says. "The Beatles story is the greatest story ever told. It's got everything.

"From the innocent Hamburg days through to them dissolving was only eight years and within that eight years you had an incredible advancement in their musical talent. I don't think any band has accelerated that fast."

The Beatles also continue to inspire him. On the day Weekender chats to Cheney, tickets for McCartney's Got Back Tour were about to go on sale.

"It gives us all hope we can do this music game for a few more years," he says of the 81-year-old.

For the fourth time Cheney and You Am I frontman Tim Rogers, Grinspoon vocalist Phil Jamieson and Josh Pyke are gearing up to go deep inside the Fab Four's most eclectic album, 1968's The Beatles, best known as the White Album.

Depending on your viewpoint, the White Album is either the sound of four musical minds disengaging from each other, or the most thrilling and adventurous moment in their illustrious canon.

There's the white-knuckle rush of Helter Skelter and Yer Blues, next to the fragile beauty of Blackbird and Julia and then the sheer majesty of Harrison's While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

As a teenager Cheney was more of an Elvis Presley and '50s rock fan, but his discovery of the White Album while studying guitar at Box Hill TAFE cemented his passion for the band.

"The thing that really got me on this record, it was John and Paul's versatility in their voices," he says. "It's the hooks in some of the songs.

"That's when I thought there's a lot more to this band than Hey Jude and I Saw Her Standing There. I just knew the basic radio staples, so when I heard this record I just fell in love with it."

Cheney, Rogers, Jamieson and Pyke each take turns performing the White Album tracks, backed by a 17-piece rock orchestra.

Rogers, ever the showman, brings a madcap fun to songs like Happiness Is A Warm Gun and Piggies, Jamieson's cheeky-rock charisma shines on Sexy Sadie, Pyke's charms on Blackbird and Julia, but arguably the show-stopper is Cheney's guitar theatrics on While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

Of course, the track is most famous for Eric Clapton's guest appearance on the beautifully mournful guitar solo.

"It's was definitely daunting," Cheney says of tackling Harrison's classic.

"I'm the only one in the show [who plays guitar] - the other guys play a little bit of guitar - but I'm firing on all cylinders there, trying to sing and play.

"I thought I didn't want it to be an accompanying guitar, I want it to really step out. That's my first instrument, not my voice.

"It's sacred ground you're walking on with Eric Clapton and George Harrison. I was chuffed people reacted the way they did to that song."