The Beatles Christmas Album

by Apple

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Average Rating: * * * * half star
Sales Rank:8906 (lower is better)
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Label:Apple
Binding:Audio CD
Published By:Apple
ASIN:B0011B9EHC
Category:Music

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Editorial Reviews and Product Descriptions

Product Description

Collection of 11 Beatles Christmas messages ("Flex"es) prepared for the original Beatles fan club members; from 1963 to 1969 with a a '64 outtake and a full version of "Xmas Time Is Here Again". Insert includes rare graphics of original Beatle fan club covers.

Customer Reviews

The Beatles' Christmas Album is a classic! - Reviewed on 2008-09-06
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2 customers found this review helpful.

From 1963 to 1969, The Beatles were very busy creating a host of songs that forever changed the structure and landscape of the world of popular recorded music. Classic albums such as "A Hard Day's Night", "Help!", "Rubber Soul", Revolver", "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Bnad", "Magical Mystery Tour", "The Beatles" and "Abbey Road" all helped to shape music in new sound dimensions. For the holidays toward the end of each year, The Beatles recorded a series of unique flexi-discs containing specially-created Christmas messages that were distributed only to members of their fan club. Each of these recordings reflect what was going on within the group at the time. The 1963 and 1964 messages had the boys reading from a prepared script by Tony barrow. Even with this dialogue, their charm still shines through. For 1965, they decided to improvise their own material, which has an out-of-tune rendition of "Yesterday" as part of the proceedings. The discs for 1966 and 1967 are a series of cleverly pantomimed sketches, with a different recurring theme song for each one. By the time the 1968 and 1969 discs were issued, it was clear that the boys were going in different directions, as they had messages from the guys recorded seperately. After The Beatles break up in 1970, the fan club issued a long-playing album containing all 7 Christsmas messages together. This was later issued on CD, with the best sound quality available. It is a special Beatles album, one that belongs in every fan's CD library. Everywhere it's Christmas, especially when you've got "The Beatles' Christmas Album" as part of your holiday festivities!
Not your grandparents' Christmas album! - Reviewed on 2007-12-24
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6 customers found this review helpful.

I didn't think this would be here, but here's my last-minute review.
This is a compilation of Christmas messages sent to fan club members from 1963-69 (released in the UK as "From Then to You"). Someone not wholly familiar may assume a Johnny Mathis/Kenny G affair, which is clearly not the case here. Just greetings, comedy sketches, John Lennon's nonsense vignettes, parodies of carols, clips of old carols, Tiny Tim (the ukulele king, apparently invited by George Harrison even before you hear the clip), and more. Yoko Ono, as we all expected, is on the 1969 track.
Since there are no plans for a true reissue, let's just say you're on your own right now! For true fans only.
I know Marillion have Christmas CDs that go to their fan club members with exclusive material, but they have more room to fill. The Beatles may have inspired them. No one else I know of has done such a thing since.
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