THE woman in the Glasgow east end bar shouted out a welcoming “Come inside love!” Even although we had never met she followed that up with “Come in out of the cold, rest your head on my shoulder.”

Oh wait, I shouldn’t get too excited. I recognise that strident voice. It was Cilla Black as she used to croon at the start of her television show.

But wait a minute, I’m just a day tripper to the east end and was expecting a special Beatles night organised by |The Beatles Appreciation Society of Scotland no less. Surely I hadn’t taken the long and winding road to Duke Street in vain?

You Beatles fans out there though would not have been fooled. Cilla’s Step Inside Love was written for her by Paul McCartney and indeed the Fab Four recorded a quick singalong version which was released on the Anthology 3 album. So we can let it be, even on a Beatles night.

Talking of television, I am standing at The Duchess of Duke Street, which was the name of a TV series some years ago, and is now the moniker of a bar on said Glasgow thoroughfare at Dennistoun. It used to be an old man’s pub dating back to 1870, but was reinvented in 2014 with the walls stripped back to the original stone, welcoming staff and attempting the tricky ride-two-horses-at-once style of attracting young couples buying flats nearby without losing the more acceptable members of the traditional east end clientele.

It was here that, with a little help from his friends, NHS procurement officer Tom Hosie was putting on a Beatles-themed night while trying to resuscitate the old Beatles Appreciation Society. Now Tom, like many of the people there that night, is too young to actually have seen the Beatles perform, so please, please me Tom and explain the attraction.

“When I was 10 or 11 my uncle gave me some Beatles albums. They didn’t mean anything to me, but I played them over and over and just loved the music.

“But it’s hard to explain. Why do you blink? Why do we breathe? I just love the music.” Steady on Tom, you’re going on a bit of a magical mystery tour there with these existential questions. But we get back to reality when he asks: “Did you know that The Beatles actually visited Dennistoun?”

Now I’ve seen pictures of them being mobbed at The Odeon in Glasgow. But Dennistoun? Don’t let me down Tom, I hope this is a good story. He says: “They were taken up to Golfhill Drive to meet the parents of Alan McDougall. His father Ronnie had a butcher’s shop on Duke Street, near Meadowpark Street. Alan was in the music business and brought quite a few pop stars up to meet his mum and dad. People swear they saw The Beatles coming out the close and into a waiting limo.”

How do you know this, I ask Tom. “A taxi driver told me,” he says. Well, to be fair, I’ve written quite a few stories over the years based on what taxi drivers have told me, so who is to say it didn’t happen.

Meanwhile the music of The Beatles, plus versions of their songs sung by other lesser mortals, is wafting over the pub. Playing the music is Joe Kane, not only a DJ, but a guitarist who plays in the Beatles tribute band Them Beatles who play two nights in Oran Mor at the end of April.

Joe plays the part of Paul McCartney in the band. Now this is how serious he takes it. Although he is right handed, he then learned to play guitar left handed the same way that Paul does.

Says Joe: “I’ve been obsessed with The Beatles for 25 years. It dates back to when I was about 11. I was ill and my mum put me on the couch with my Lucozade. She put the telly on and they were showing The Beatles film Help! I was transfixed. I really liked the music then and I really like the music still.”

He doesn’t just listen to the music but plays it as well, of course, so perhaps has more insight into their playing style. “The early stuff is more difficult to play. It is a bit more jazzy, has a bit of a swing I suppose. Then it changed to more of a rock feel.

“Then there is the singing. It’s a bit more difficult being Paul. He has quite a range.”

And as Joe points out: “In these early Beatles gigs they often just played for 20 minutes, half-an-hour. When we appear as Them Beatles it’s a two-and-a-half hour concert at full tilt with costume changes.”

It’s not just the music he’s interested in, it seems. His T-shirt tonight has the word “Grapefruit” on it. Do you want to know a secret? Grapefruit is the name of a book of conceptual art that Yoko Ono produced, and Joe’s t-shirt is a replica of the one John Lennon wore at the book launch.

But back to The Beatles Appreciation Society of Scotland which, if it attracts enough interest, hopes to put on a Beatles Festival in Glasgow. Christine Bonner, who is at The Beatles night, tells me it used to meet in the Glasgow Press Club. Oh my goodness, this is really a night of nostalgia for me. The Glasgow Press Club was a private members club which had premises at the top of a spiral staircase in West Regent Street. How many inebriated journalists who toppled down these stairs is anyone’s guess.

Says Christine: “I think the membership then, back in the early nineties, was pure hardcore as you only knew about the meetings through The Beatles Monthly magazine. The society died but is now being reinvented through a Facebook page.”

Christine says she got into the music of The Beatles through the album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. “That was the first album I ever bought,” I tell her. She looks at me oddly and replies: “It was my dad’s album.”

Suddenly I feel like I’m 64 and I shamble off to drive my car home. But I really hope The Beatles lovers continue to meet. Be honest, that music can really get a hold on you.