NEIL HARRISON’S first meeting with a Beatle plays out like a cheesy video for a Christmas number one. He was carol singing outside Paul McCartney’s father house in 1968 when Macca popped outside with his guitar to join in.

“Then he invited us in and we all sang songs from The White Album together,” recalls Harrison, who plays John Lennon in the Bootleg Beatles.

“He then showed me the chords to I’ve Got A Feeling, which at the time hadn’t been released.

“I told all my mates, but no-one believed I knew a new Beatles song. Thankfully I was vindicated when it came out.”

Almost every musician has been influenced by the Fab Four in some way, but few decide to actually become them.

Yet this is exactly what Harrison, from Wirral, and the rest of the band have been up to for the past three decades. They are off on a 30th anniversary tour this month, playing Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall on Thursday.

His enthusiasm for the group has not waned, he insists.

“I just love the music still. People always ask me what my favourite Beatles song is, but part of the reason I do this is because I love them all,” he says. “Well, not every one, but most. And their writing was so diverse, there are so many that were brilliant.”

With so much material to go at, their set changes regularly. But Hey Jude, A Day In The Life and I Want To Hold Your Hand always put in an appearance.