It's the one bootleg hard core Beatle fans must own; surprising then how many don't. You do not know what you're missing without this fun set, available in several boots and formats. Originally begun in 1963 as a way to show appreciation to members of the Beatles English fan club, these annual flexi-discs became prized possessions, marks of a true fan. Today, they're a gem to pull out at Christmas time, as most casual fans have never heard any of these rare messages. They were fortunately all collected in 1970 by Apple as "The Beatles Christmas Album", an LP offered to fan club members for one dollar. That album (Apple SBC-100) now is worth around 500 dollars in mint condition!
As mentioned before, many Beatlegs exist of these messages; some tack on solo Fabs holiday rarities, some outtakes from the message recording sessions. We'll look at the main records first, then go on to some of the common CD 'additions'.
"The Beatles Christmas Record" 1963, UK., 1964 U.S.
"Another Beatles Christmas Record" 1964 UK only
"The Beatles Third Christmas Record": 1965
"The Beatles Fourth Christmas Record: Everywhere Its Christmas":1966
"Christmas Time Is Here Again" 1967
"The Beatles 1968 Christmas Record": 1968
"The Beatles Seventh Christmas Record": 1969
"The Beatles Christmas Album": 1970. UK title: "From Then To You" (Apple LYN 2154)
The first of the Christmas discs arrived in December of 1963. Lyntone Records pressed these fragile flexi-discs, printed as such since they were easier to mail. The first one set the tone for the following few: Christmas standards skewered by the Fabs, individual seasons greetings from each member (usually going like this: John thanks all for the events of the past year typically sarcastically and funny; Paul greets fans in his usual diplomatic way; George tries to be as naturally funny as John and Paul, but isn't, and Ringo wishes the most heartfelt greetings of them all).This first disc starts with the fabs unforgettable version of Good King Wensaslas, insertng lines such as: "Deep and crisp and crispy , brightly shone the boot last night, on the nasty cruel".And who could forget "Ringo the Red Nosed Reindeer"? Of course, the fabs vocals were well up to snuff that day...they'd just recorded "I Want To Hold Your Hand"! The band cheerfully gets thru the scrpited comments this time, next year writer Tony Barrow wouldn't be so lucky...
The second message (1964) opens with footsteps, and a burst of loud kazoo, piano and harmonica playing, which is supposedly Jingle Bells!. The Beatles have lots of fun with their pre-written comments this year (plenty of "says here"s thrown around) and the usual forced Christmas take offs. Paul mentions they enjoy melting the records as much as you enjoy listening to them! Paul then hits upon the revelation that the studio (Abbey Road Studio 2) they're in is the same one they've always used ("Ah, those were the days", John sarcastically replies.) When Paul asks if John wrote this stuff, he replies "No, its somebody's bad handwroter". After George informs listeners their next movie will be in colour, John lets us know it'll be "Green!". It seems dinner is being interrupted for recording , as during Ringos wishes, someone knocks over some dishes. Starr then wistfully lets us know its been a funny year, which prompts a snicker from John. Its all fun, but the stress of Beatlemania is already apparent, and will be even more so next time....
The third record finds some tired fabs in the studio, singing 'Christmas Day' to the tune of "Yesterday". Producer George Martin had intended to let tape roll during "Rubber Soul" recording sessions to see if they could possibly put together a record from that. Nope, so the band took a few minutes to record this, the funniest disc of them all. John sings several odd songs thruout, often joined by Ringo. After Starr laments they're in the same old studio, with the same old faces and guitars, John goes into a sluggish rendition of the Motown hit "The Same Old Song", which is shot down by the others shouting "Copyright!". An uproarious Dylan impression sung to the tune of "Same Old Lang Syne" follows. They attempt to sing what apparently was supposed to be a new Christmas song written just for this record, but it pitifully peters out after two tries, back into "Yesterday"/'Christmas Day'.
The fourth Christmas disc was a change of pace, possibly inspired by the previous years attempts at writing a holiday song. It opens with the song "Everywhere Its Christmas", which fades into a long odd skit, rather Goon-ish in nature. Exactly what the story is about.. is damn hard to say.
1967s disc, "Christmas Time is Here Again", produced a very cool song, with Paul on piano, John and George on guitar and Ringos drums. Theres again a story, this year about a fictional band called the Ravellers, a send up of the fabs own history. The group hits it big with the much requested song "Plenty of Jam Jars Baby" (!?). What if the Beatles had guest hosted a Monty Python episode? It might have been rather like this. Most memorable line: "You've just won a trip to Denver and five others!" The track ends with some John Lennon gobbledygook that sounds sincere anyway. The song "Christmas Time is Here Again", which is woven thru out the skit, is actually a rambling 7 minute recording. An edited version appeared on the CD single of "Free as a Bird" in 1995, and boots have appeared with the complete take, which sort of goes on and on and on!
The 1968 message opens in a similar way to the '64 disc, with footsteps and a door opening. Its only Ringo, here to wish a happy holiday! Several of the Christmas boots have the title "Happy Michaelmas", which comes from Pauls contribution to the '68 disc. McCartney tried to write his own holiday song, but...it goes quite nowhere, with little melody to spare. After a sped-up "Helter Skelter" (several "White Album" tracks are heard thru-out the disc), John reads his well known poem "Once Upon A Pool Table", complete with veiled slaps at his fellow Fabs. If you haven't got it by now, the band did not produce these messages together anymore. Eachmember recorded their parts seperately, which were then pieced together by DJ Kenny Everett. We do get a nice extra here, when George introduces long time Beatles roadie Mal Evans, who wishes seasons greetings. Its nice to actually have a voice to put with that face we've all seen photos of. Ringos skit is apparently supposed to be a phone conversation between he and his grandmother, which probably only he and his grandmother found amusing. The record ends, oddly enough, with George introducing Tiny Tim, who proceeds to sing "Nowhere Man" is his inimitable style. By the way, we can extrapolate, by several comments made by Tim, that Georges part was recorded in America, possibly at Beatles attorney Nat Weiss' home.
The final disc actually has the four Beatles together at the intro, when John asks "lads, if you'll just shout Happy Christmas into this tape!" Paul, half awake, asks "Whuh...Happy Christmas?" They finally do it, but John seems exasperated by what should be a simple process! Pauls Christmas song is much better this year, with a nice little melody that would not have seemed out of place on his first album. John manages to drag Yoko into the proceedings this time, as they re heard wandering the grounds of Tittenhurst. Thers a discussion about the upcoming decade, when Yoko mentions that "the air is so crisp". This sets Johns memory off, and Yoko becomes confused when he begins singing "Good King Wenslasas", probably remembering the first Beatles Christmas disc! Then theres several minutes of sheer nonsense from John and Yoko, singing about holiday type things in their own strange way.... Ringo manages to get a clever plug in for his film "The Magic Christian"( which he implores disc editor Kenny Everett to leave in), and then back to the Lennons bizzaro Xmas. The whole thing ends with a chorale of "Noel,Noel", and appropriately enough, Ringos infectious laughter. Whats interesting about the 1969 disc is, during the time they would have recorded it (around October) the Beatles supposedly were having little to do with one another, sure that the whole thing was over. So why go to the bother of putting together a fan club disc? And exactly when did the group record the little intro for the record? Either way, its nice to think the band still cared enough about their fans to bother.
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