She loathes you, yeah, yeah, yeah
Beatles ‘rude’, recalls hotel worker
SHE was a young receptionist at a quiet hotel when the most famous band on the planet at the time arrived late at night.
By December 2, 1965, The Beatles were well used to the near universal hysteria triggered by even their briefest appearance in public.
The following day John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr would arrive in Glasgow to launch their sixth studio album, Rubber Soul, and begin what would be their last UK tour in front of thousands of screaming girls.
Yet, according to a new book on the Fab Four, 19-year-old Maureen Holmes failed to warm to the Scouse superstars during their stopover
‘I did not find The Beatles pleasant’
at the King’s Arms Hotel in Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Miss Holmes recalled: ‘I was really surprised they stayed with us – we are just a small town.
‘The staff were sworn to secrecy. We had no police there – no screaming girls. They were nonentities to me. They kept themselves to themselves, though they came down for the newspapers and didn’t want them delivered to their rooms.
‘I did not find The Beatles pleasant. They were illmannered. I found them quite arrogant. They were used to everybody falling at their feet and there was nobody there screaming at them. The Moody Blues were charming, though.’
She added: ‘There was never any photograph or plaque of The Beatles’ visit put up [at the hotel]. In fact the only plaque commemorates Charles Dickens’s stay.’
When the band played the first of two shows at the Glasgow Odeon a very different reception awaited them.
More than 130 teenage girls were treated by ambulance staff and six fans taken to hospital.
The decision to drive to Glasgow via Berwick was taken because the group were increasingly wary of flying, according to author and Beatles expert Steve Turner, who recounts the stay in his new book Beatles ’66: The Revolutionary Year.
While his book focuses on 1966, Mr Turner included the 1965 tour and the stay at the King’s Arms to set the story in context.
‘The group had just released their double A-sided single We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper and Scotland was the first of their nine-date 1965 tour of Britain. It was to be their last Scottish gig and their last UK tour,’ Mr Turner said.
‘They arrived at Berwick-uponTweed under the cover of darkness and checked in for a night’s sleep at the hotel. The staff and local police had been advised of the visit but were sworn to secrecy. As a result the rest of the town knew nothing.’
En route to Glasgow the next day, one of Harrison’s treasured guitars, a £300 Gretsch Country Gentleman, fell onto the road where it was hit by a truck and wrecked. Mr Turner wrote: ‘Years later George attributed the event to karma, though he didn’t take it so philosophically at the time.’
Once in Glasgow, the band checked in to the Central Hotel and at a press conference, a reporter asked why the group had not flown to the city.
Lennon replied: ‘We don’t like flying. We’ve done so much flying without really having any accidents, so that the more we do, the more we worry.’
Beatles ’66: The Revolutionary Year will be published by HarperCollins on November 3, price £20.