Beatles A Day in the Life Blog posts of '1965' 'December'

Astoria Cinema, Finsbury Park, London

The Beatles' final two London concerts took place before hugely enthusiastic audiences.

George Harrison commented: This is one of the most incredible shows we've done. Not just because of the audience, but because they're Londoners. This is the funny thing. It's always been the other way round - fantastic in the North but just that little bit cool in London. It's incredible. It seems like the Beatlemania thing is happening all over again.

Eleven songs were played, the same as on the other dates of the concert: 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.

Odeon Cinema, Harmmersmith, London

The Beatles played four concerts in London over two days during their final UK tour. The first two took place at the Hammersmith Odeon on this day.

They performed 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.

Also on this day, the New Musical Express announced the results of its annual Readers Poll. The Beatles were voted Best British Group and Best World Group, while John Lennon was voted British Vocal Personality.

Odeon Cinema, Birmingham

The Beatles' drove through torrential rain for their final concerts in Birmingham, England.

They played two shows at the Odeon Cinema on New Street. Their set was, like the other dates on their final UK tour, 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.

This was The Beatles' second appearance at Birmingham's Odeon Cinema. They had previously performed at the venue on October 11, 1964.

Gaumont Cinema, Barker's Pool, Sheffield, Yorkshire

The Beatles performed two shows at this venue, which they visited for the first time on this occasion.

Located on Barker's Pool opposite City Hall, the venue was built by William Edward Trent and opened as the Regent Theatre in December 1927. It became the Gaumont Theatre in July 1946, and was later used for live music events.

It closed in 1985 and was demolished, to be replaced by an Odeon Cinema on the same site. It later reopened as a nightclub.

The Beatles played the usual 11 songs of their final UK tour: 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.

After the show the were joined for dinner at their hotel by The Moody Blues.

ABC Cinema, Ardwick, Manchester

These were The Beatles' final two shows at this venue, which was later renamed the Apollo. They had previously performed twice at the venue, on November 20, 1963 and Octover 14, 1964.

Manchester was covered in thick fog when The Beatles arrived, and they were late arriving at the venue. Backstage they were joined by Walter Shenson, who discussed ideas for their third film with the group.

The Beatles performed the same 11 songs which comprised their standard set throughout the final UK tour: 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.

Three days after its UK release, Capitol Records issued The Beatles' Rubber Soul album in the US.

It was considerably different from how The Beatles had intended it to sound, however, as Capitol reconfigured its tracklisting to create a 'folk rock' album to please the US market. They added I've Just Seen A Face, It's Only Love from Help!, and omitted Drive My Car, Nowhere Man, What Goes On and If I Needed Someone. 

Additionally, the stereo mix sent from England to the US had a false start at the beginning of I'm Looking Through You - this version can be heard on the box set The Capitol Albums Vol. 2, which also contains minor variations in The Word.

Rubber Soul was a huge hit with the American public, spending 59 weeks in the charts from December 25, 1965. It topped the chart on January 8, 1966, and sold 1.2 million copies in its first nine days on sale.

Empire Theatre, Liverpool

The Beatle's last Liverpool concert. Forty thousand ticket applications were received for the two "houses", although the Empire could accommadate only 2550 for each leaving many fans disappointed. It was the sixth occasion that the group had visited the venue.

The group invited many friends and relatives to see their performance. During the second show, Paul briefly joined one of the support acts, the Koobas, playing drums during their version of "Dizzy Miss Lizzy".

City Hall, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

The Beatles had a tough drive through snow to get to their two concerts at the City Hall in Newcastle. It was the fourth and final occasion they visited the venue.

Their setlist consisted of 11 songs: I Feel Find, 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.

The Beatles' other performances at the City Hall were on March 23, 1963, June 8, 1963 and November 23, 1963.

Odeon Cinema, 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.

The Beatles getting ready for the release of "Rubber Soul"