For as much as listeners pored over The Beatles’ main discography for hints, clues, and deeper insights into the inner workings of the Fab Four, these scrupulous listeners ought to have been spinning the Christmas records that The Beatles recorded for their fan club members every year from 1963 to 1969. Seven novelty singles for just as many years in the spotlight as a complete band, The Beatles’ Christmas records have become fascinating mirrors into the state of the rock ‘n’ roll band in any given year.
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In some instances, The Beatles’ Christmas records even foreshadowed non-seasonal work they would create, like the fantasy world and characters therein of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. With later additions of Yoko Ono and self-recorded entries, the impending breakup of late 1969, early 1970 made itself known, even amid all the holly and jolly.
The Beatles Put Out Their First Christmas Records in 1963
Press officer Tony Barrow was the first to suggest that The Beatles record a Christmas greeting for their burgeoning fan club members. The first single, “The Beatles Christmas Record”, featured the Fab Four in their silly prime. The quartet delivered zippy one-liners and ridiculous lyric substitutions, as they often did in the earliest years of their tenure as a band. They were all still giddy, not yet embittered by the arduous years to come.
The next record, “Another Beatles Christmas Record”, showcased the same zaniness but with better production value. Each musician’s distinct personality was still there, riffing off their colleagues, but their maturity as studio musicians was noticeable.
By the following year, their willingness to goof off for the sake of goofing off had waned. The Beatles were on the precipice of a major artistic shift from teeny bop idols to rock ‘n’ roll pioneers, and the 1965 “The Beatles’ Third Christmas Record” seemed almost like teens experiencing their first wave of embarrassing self-awareness.
The Final Singles Seemed to Reflect the Tumultuous Final Years
In hindsight, The Beatles’ fourth Christmas record, “Pantomime: Everywhere It’s Christmas”, was a natural stepping stone to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which they released five months later in May 1967. Featuring fantastical narratives full of odd characters, the 1966 release gave way to “Christmas Time Is Here Again!” in 1967, which included the same colorful storytelling with more Beatles hits tucked in between the various bits. One of the most telling indicators of the band’s state in these Christmas records is the fact that the 1967 single was the last they recorded as a full band.
The last two records, “The Beatles’ 1968 Christmas Record” and “The Beatles’ Seventh Christmas Record: Happy Christmas 1969”, were pieced together with recordings each musician did individually on their own time. Both of these singles also featured Lennon’s second wife, Yoko Ono, although she didn’t have a vocal role until the latter 1969 release. Ringo Starr used the last record to promote his film with Peter Sellers, The Magic Christian. George Harrison offered a rather unfestive, six-second line that he recorded at Apple’s London office.
The Beatles’ 1969 Christmas album would, of course, be their last. By the time they released their single to the fan club, the group was really only an ensemble in name. Emotionally and creatively, the musicians had already begun to split until a contract legally broke them up in 1970.
As it was with The Beatles, it is with so many of us: few things can bring out someone’s true self (and their admiration or animosity toward their loved ones) quite like the holidays.
Photo by Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images
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