ITEM # : OM195
CONDITION : NEAR MINT
PRICE : $5,250
BEGINNING IN 1963, THE BEATLES STARTED A HOLIDAY TRADITION
OF RECORDING CHRISTMAS MESSAGES FOR THEIR FANS. THE RECORDINGS
WERE EDITED AND ISSUED ON FLEXI-DISCS THROUGH THE
OFFICIAL BEATLES FAN CLUB IN ENGLAND. THE RECORDS WERE NOT AVAILABLE
FOR SALE, BUT WERE DISTRIBUTED FREE TO FAN CLUB MEMBERS.
THIS TRADITION CONTINUED THROUGH 1969, ALTHOUGH THE LAST TWO
CHRISTMAS RECORDS WERE NOT GROUP EFFORTS, BUT RATHER
WERE A SERIES OF SEPARATELY RECORDED MESSAGES FROM EACH OF
THE BEATLES. BECAUSE THE GROUP OFFICIALLY BROKE UP IN 1970,
THERE WAS LITTLE POINT IN ASSEMBLING A NEW SERIES OF
HOLIDAY GREETINGS FROM THE BEATLES. INSTEAD, THE BRITISH AND
AMERICAN FAN CLUBS DISTRIBUTED "THE BEATLES CHRISTMAS ALBUM",
WHICH CONTAINS ALL OF THE PREVIOUSLY ISSUED CHRISTMAS MESSAGES.
OFFERED HERE IS ONE OF THE MOST STUPENDOUS SETS OF
THE BEATLES ORIGINAL U.K. FLEXI-DISCS AND COVERS
SEEN OR OFFERED ANYWHERE !
EACH OF THE THE COVERS, DISCS AND INSERTS ARE STUNNING.
THIS SET IS COMPLETE - 7 TITLES IN ALL - INCLUDING THE COVETED
1963 EXCLUSIVE UK ISSUE WITH THE FOLD OPEN "YELLOW" COVER !
(ACTUAL IMAGES OF THIS SET)
THE COVER FOR THE 1963 ISSUE IS NEAR MINT MINUS AND THE DISC IS
NEAR MINT.
5 OF THE 6 REMAINING TITLES WHICH WERE ISSUED WITH
FAN CLUB NEWSLETTERS/PHOTO FLYERS ARE A FABULOUS NEAR MINT . . .
AND ALL ARE PRESENT HERE IN THIS FANTASTIC SET !
the 1963 AND 1969 flexis were not issued
with a flyer.
THE REMAINING TITLES ARE ALL NEAR MINT WITH GORGEOUS COVERS AND DISCS.
(1963) THE BEATLES
CHRISTMAS RECORD
THE FIRST BEATLES
CHRISTMAS DISC WAS DISTRIBUTED BY
THE OFFICIAL BEATLES FAN CLUB ON DECEMBER 9, 1963,
PACKAGED IN A YELLOW PAPER GATEFOLD POCKET. THE OPEN GATEFOLD
CONTAINS THE FAN CLUB'S NATIONAL NEWSLETTER NO. 2 .
LYNTONE RECORDS PRESSED OVER 30,000 COPIES
OF THE ONE-SIDED SEVEN INCH DISCS (LYN 492),
WHICH HAVE WHITE LABELS WITH DARK BLUE PRINT.
(1964) ANOTHER
BEATLES CHRISTMAS RECORD
THE SECOND
BEATLES CHRISTMAS RECORD WAS ISSUED BY
THE FAN CLUB IN DECEMBER 1964, PACKAGED IN A SEVEN INCH BY
SEVEN INCH CARDBOARD SLEEVE, PRINTED AND MADE BY
MACNEILL PRESS LTD, LONDON. THE BACK COVER HAS TEXT BY TONY BARROW,
WHO WROTE THE LINER NOTES TO MANY OF THE BAND'S EARLY ALBUMS
AND EP RECORDS. THE FAN CLUB'S NATIONAL NEWSLETTER NO. 4
WAS INCLUDED WITH THE HOLIDAY MAILING. BECAUSE FAN CLUB MEMBERSHIP
INCREASED TO 65,000 THAT YEAR, LYNTONE RECORDS PRESSED ABOUT
65,000 COPIES OF THE 1964 CHRISTMAS RECORD (LYN 757).
(1965) THE BEATLES THIRD CHRISTMAS RECORD
THE PACKAGING OF THE BEATLES
THIRD CHRISTMAS RECORD
BY THE FAN CLUB IN DECEMBER 1965, CAME IN A SEVEN-INCH CARDBOARD
SLEEVE FEATURING A BLACK & WHITE PHOTO OF THE GROUP TAKEN BY
BOB WHITAKER. THE LINER NOTES WERE WRITTEN BY TONY BARROW
WHO TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRAISE THE GROUP'S LATEST ALBUM
RUBBER SOUL, CALLING IT "THE MOST VARIED LP PROGRAMME OF THEIR
CAREER".
ONCE AGAIN, THE RECORD WAS PACKAGED WITH THE FAN CLUB'S
NATIONAL NEWSLETTER NO. 6 .
THE FLEXI-DISC (LYN 948) HAS GOLD PRINT ON A WHITE LABEL.
(1966)
PANTOMIME : EVERYWHERE IT'S CHRISTMAS"
THE BEATLES FOURTH CHRISTMAS RECORD
THE BRITISH FAN CLUB'S NATIONAL NEWSLETTER
FOR CHRISTMAS 1966 IS DEVOTED ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY
TO DESCRIBING THE RECORDING AND DISTRIBUTION OF
THE BEATLES FOURTH CHRISTMAS RECORD. THE RECORD WAS ISSUED IN ENGLAND
IN A SEVEN INCH CARDBOARD SLEEVE WITH AN ABSTRACT
COLOR PAINTING DESIGNED BY PAUL McCARTNEY.
THE BACK OF THE SLEEVE LISTS THE TITLES TO THE
ELEVEN SELECTIONS FEATURED ON THE DISC.
THE FLEXI-DISC (LYN 1145) HAS GOLD PRINT ON WHITE LABEL.
(1967) "CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE
AGAIN"
THE BEATLES FIFTH CHRISTMAS RECORD
THE 1967 BEATLES CHRISTMAS RECORD
FOLLOWS THE FORMULA
SET THE PREVIOUS YEAR. RATHER THAN MERELY THANKING THEIR FANS,
THE GROUP PERFORMS A SERIES OF SKITS. THEY ALSO PERFORM AN
ORIGINAL SONG TITLED " CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE AGAIN". THE BRITISH FAN CLUB
PACKAGED THE DISC IN A SEVEN INCH CARDBOARD SLEEVE,
AND ONCE AGAIN, THE GROUP MEMBERS CONTRIBUTED TO THE DESIGN
OF THE SLEEVE, WHICH IS CREDITED TO JULIAN LENNON, JOHN LENNON
AND RINGO STARR. THE PACKAGE ALSO INCLUDED THE FAN CLUB'S
NATIONAL NEWSLETTER FOR CHRISTMAS 1967.
THE FLEXI-DISC (LYN 1360) HAS RED PRINT ON A WHITE LABEL.
(1968) THE BEATLES SIXTH CHRISTMAS RECORD
IN NOVEMBER 1968, THE GROUP HAD NO INTEREST OR DESIRE
TO GET TOGETHER AT ABBEY ROAD FOR ANOTHER HOLIDAY PRODUCTION,
FOR THEY HAD JUST WRAPPED UP WORK ON THEIR TWO ALBUM SET
"THE BEATLES" (THE WHITE ALBUM). THE PROBLEM WA SOLVED BY HAVING
DISC-JOCKEY KENNY EVERETT PUT TOGETHER A SERIES OF SEPARATE
MESSAGES TAPED BY JOHN, PAUL, GEORGE AND RINGO.
IN ENGLAND, THE BEATLES CHRISTMAS RECORD FOR 1968 WAS ISSUED BY THE
FAN CLUB IN A RED, WHITE AND BLUE 7" CARDBOARD SLEEVE FEATURING
A PSYCHEDELIC PATTERNED DRAWING OF A WOMAN'S BODY
AND UPPER BODY. SHE TRULY APPEARS TO BE
'a girl with
kaleidoscope eyes".
DUE TO THE 7:55 LENGTH OF THE RECORDING, THE CHRISTMAS MESSAGE,
FOR THE FIRST TIME, IS SPREAD ON BOTH SIDES OF
THE FLEXI-DISC (LYN 1743/1744). UNLIKE PRIOR YEARS,
THE DISC DOES NOT HAVE A PAPER LABEL, BUT RATHER HAS
THE TEXT PRINTED IN SILVER DIRECTLY ONTO THE DISC.
THE DISC WAS NOT ISSUED WITH THE NATIONAL NEWSLETTER, BUT
RATHER CAME WITH AN ADVERT FOR "SUPERPIX" BEATLES PHOTOS.
(1969) THE BEATLES SEVENTH CHRISTMAS RECORD
THE BEATLES CHRISTMAS RECORD FOR 1969
FOLLOWED THE SAME
FORMULA AS THE PREVIOUS YEAR, WHERE EACH BEATLE SUPPLIED A TAPE OF
HOLIDAY GREETINGS, WHICH WERE ONCE AGAIN EDITED BY KENNY EVERETT.
THE DISC WAS ISSUED IN A SEVEN INCH CARDBOARD SLEEVE,
THIS TIME DESIGNED AND CREDITED TO RICHARD STARKEY
AND HIS SON, ZAK STARKEY. THE BACK OF THE SLEEVE HAS THE
BRITISH FAN CLUB LOGO IN THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER ABOVE
"HAPPY CHRISTMAS 1969". THE JACKET WAS MANUFACTURED BY
WEST BROTHERS PRINTERS, LIMITED, OF LONDON. AGAIN, THE LENGTH OF THE
MESSAGES (7:42) NECESSITATED THAT THE RECORDING BE PRESSED
ON BOTH
SIDES OF THE FLEXI-DISC (LYN 1970/1971).
THE TEXT IS PRINTED IN SILVER ON THE DISC ITESLF.
THERE IT IS ! A TRULY AMAZING NEAR MINT COMPLETE SET OF ALL
7 BEATLES FAN CLUB CHRISTMAS RECORDS, COVERS AND FLYERS !
ONE WOULD BE HARD-PRESSED TO FIND A BETTER COMPLETE SET ANYWHERE -
THE ULTIMATE SET OF THE BEATLES
ORIGINAL 1960'S ISSUED CHRISTMAS FAN CLUB RELEASES !
