everywhere it's christmas...(again)

*** back by popular demand, in time for this xmas, is this repost of the 12-1-05 entry...
(with corrections and additions)

...for seven years the beatles released an annual christmas record, on flexi-discs for members of the fan club. it began in 1963 as the four of them sat around a microphone in abbey road studios to record a thank you message, and by '66 they were making it a small epic, of sorts, using audio skits and new songs. for '68 and '69 the beatles weren't even doing it together at all, just piecemealing stuff they each recorded at home, then handing it over to kenny everett (the bbc dj) to edit for release. in december 1970, after the band broke up, apple records released all 7 christmas flexi-records on one vinyl l.p., again, only to the fan club.


for years all of this was really hard to find on any medium (i was lucky to have a friend whose sister belonged to the fan club and had them all, including the l.p., of which she would not part with but let me tape, so i at least it in some form, which was spread as far as i could). now the price for any of the original records is unreal, as you can imagine. but thanks to the wonders of the internet you can find these lil gems on torrent or other various places, (i found a nice cd of the set, along with the other christmas tunes done by each after the split, on ebay a while back, but i'd love to own the l.p. in vinyl before i die)...

***(well, i finally did get the lp right after the original post, the real apple fan club one... heheheheheeee, she treats me so good!)


...the beatles were always big on christmas. they would plan album and single releases for the holidays and even had a kinda off-broadway christmas show in the early years. and as mentioned in a previous post, it meant a guaranteed record under the tree on the morning of december 25th each year. i still miss those times, but at least we've still got the christmas records to fill the house with beatle-christmas cheer when it comes, at the end of every year ...


here are the very hard to find fan club flexi-disc records on mp3 download for you to put under the tree for that special santa-beatle on your list ...

***(these links are now thru yousendit, so that you can save 'em, since the site i was using/hacking flipped 'em to video streams on youtube... i may add links to those later for ya'll (or you can go here now and save me the trouble)... in the meantime, get 'em while they're available, for 100 downloads or the next week or so, or you can just listen to the audio stream to enjoy anytime at all as long as you like... so, garry crimble to all and getty babel dear christmas!

The Beatles Christmas Record (mp3)
(audio stream)

Another Beatles Christmas Record (mp3)
(audio stream)

The Beatles Third Christmas Record (mp3)
(audio stream)

Pantomime:Everywhere It's Christmas (mp3)
(audio stream)

Christmas Time Is Here Again (mp3)
(audio stream)

The 1968 Christmas Record (mp3)
(audio stream)

The Beatles Seventh Christmas Record (mp3)
(audio stream)

The Beatles Fan Club Christmas L.P.

*** and here are some lost (and found, i guess) beatles christmas bits that have been dug up in the last few, in mp3, once more by way of yousendit:



another take of the '64 message



the lost '65 christmas message

(a very long, strange and un-xmas-like piece of bric-a-brac indeed)


an outtake from the '67 message


...and finally, for the completists and fanatics,
a beatles christmas desktop theme