It is more than 50 years since The Beatles played their first and only concert in Aberdeen.
And the gig, on January 6, 1963, at the city’s famous Beach Ballroom, happened before the advent of Beatlemania, with the Liverpudlians not even topping the bill on the posters.
But now Manchester-based author Richard Houghton is asking Aberdonians who attended the concert to get in touch as he prepares to write a new book about the Fab Four’s early shows.
Mr Houghton, who has already had a similar book published about The Rolling Stones’ life on the rock ‘n’ roll road said: “I’m keen to collect memories from people who saw The Beatles live in the 1960s and, so far, I have contributions from people, both in the UK and the US.
“I haven’t yet tracked down anybody who saw them in Aberdeen, but I have found people who saw them in Elgin, Dingwall and Bridge of Allan.
“So it would be good to get some Aberdeen memories to complete the picture of that January 1963 Scottish tour and fill in the blanks before they became international superstars.
“The Beatles book is about trying to capture a little bit of musical and social history by hearing, in their own words, from folks who saw and perhaps met the group.”
The Beach Ballroom concert, for which tickets cost three shillings, was billed as “The Johnny Scott Band Show, featuring The Beatles”.
And, although the band had already enjoyed some chart success with “Love Me Do”, they were not yet A-listers and there were even reports of some spectators booing their music.
But, whatever the truth, Richard wants to hear from Aberdonians at the concert.
He can be contacted at thebeatlesinthe60s@gmail.com or by post at 7 Hartley Road, Manchester, M21 9NG.
As for John, Paul, George and Ringo, they never returned to the Granite City and, collectively, pocketed just £45 for the Aberdeen gig.
Less than a fortnight later, they released the single “Please Please Me”, which surged to No 1 in the charts. And the rest, as they say, is history.