The Beatles’ final UK tour begins in Glasgow

The Beatles’ only UK tour of 1965 was also their final one as a group. It began with two shows at the Odeon Cinema in Glasgow.

The tour lasted 10 days, and saw The Beatles perform in nine venues across eight cities. Throughout they played a set comprising 11 songs: ‘I Feel Fine’, ‘She’s A Woman’, ‘If I Needed Someone’, ‘Act Naturally’, ‘Nowhere Man’, ‘Baby’s In Black’, ‘Help!’, ‘We Can Work It Out’, ‘Yesterday’, ‘Day Tripper’ and ‘I’m Down’. Paul McCartney performed Yesterday solo on an electric organ.

In their dressing room at Odeon The Beatles also took the time to record a message for Radio Scotland, a new pirate station.

This was the fourth time The Beatles played at the Odeon; the first had been during the Roy Orbison tour on 7 June 1963. They also performed at the city’s Concert Hall later in the year.

Due to bad weather Brian Epstein decided that The Beatles should stay in a hotel in the city centre, rather than the smaller one further out they had been booked to stay in. The was some concern that the location of the new hotel could have proved a security risk, but the group came to no harm.