The Beatles Third Christmas Record
| The Beatles Third Christmas Record | |
|---|---|
| The Beatles | |
| publication | 1965 |
| length | 6 min 26 s |
| Genre (s) | Pop rock |
| Author (s) | Lennon , McCartney , Harrison , Starkey |
The Beatles Third Christmas Record ( english , The third Beatles Christmas Record ') is about a six-minute so-called flexi-disc with Christmas greetings to the Beatles that the fan club sent the band on December 17, 1965 exclusively to its members. The record was never on sale and the recording is no longer available.
Emergence
After it was decided in 1964 that the Beatles should record a Christmas record every year for members of the Beatles fan club, the recordings for the record should take place on the evening of November 8, 1965 in London's Abbey Road Studios . The recording session began with rehearsals for the song Think for Yourself , which were also recorded in order to possibly gain material for the Christmas record. However, none of the passages turned out to be useful, and the recording disappeared under the name Beatle Speech in the archives with the note: “This will eventually be issued.” (“This will eventually be issued.”) The Beatles then took Think for Yourself on. It was already after midnight when the Beatles recorded their largely spontaneous speech contributions for The Beatles Third Christmas Record in three takes . The recordings were not complete until around three in the morning and were edited by producer George Martin on the afternoon of November 9, 1965 .
content
The record is opened by all four Beatles, who together sing a slightly weird version of Yesterday . This is followed by various thanks from the four Beatles, who are repeatedly interrupted by their slightly cynical remarks. For example, Paul McCartney asks : “Well Ringo, what have we done this year?” To which Ringo Starr replies: “We've done a lot of things this year , Paul. Well, we've been away ... like last year. "(" We did a lot, Paul. Well, we were on the road ... like last year. ") Then John Lennon plays a little medley, including a quick version by Auld Lang Syne , which ends abruptly with the song It's the Same Old Song by The Four Tops when George Harrison yells: “Copyright Johnny!” The Beatles are now debating which copyright-free song they could sing, and Lennon makes the suggestion : “How 'bout we'll gather lilacs in an old brown shoe?” (“Shall we collect lilacs in an old brown shoe?”). After a suggestion to play something for the boys in the army and the ensuing short parody of a radio show, Lennon agrees on another version of Auld Lang Syne in which he expresses his criticism of the Vietnam War :
- Should Viet quantance be forgot,
- and never brought behind, China
- down in Vietnam where low cannons too
- and look at all those bodies floating in the River Jordan.
The recording ends with the Beatles singing Yesterday again (this time with changed lyrics). John Lennon speaks the final sentence: "This is Johnny Rhythm just saying good night to you all and God bless you."
publication
The members of the American fan club were not given a Christmas record in 1965 because the recording was sent too late to the local fan club. The US fans received a postcard from the Beatles instead. The British fan club members received the Flexi-Disk on December 17, 1965. Another release of the recording took place on December 18, 1970, when they appeared together with all other Christmas recordings on the album The Beatles Christmas Album , which was also only available to fan club members has been sent.
Literature / sources
- Russell, Jeff (1989). The Beatles Album File and Complete Discography, London: Blandford Press, pp. 237 f, ISBN 0-7137-2065-4
- Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions, New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bruce Spizer: The Beatles on Apple Records . New Orleans: 498 Productions, 2003. p. 212.