THE OFFICIAL BEATLES FAN CLUB THE CHRISTMAS RECORDS LIMITED EDITION 7 INCH BOX

$

195

The Beatles: The Christmas Records Limited Edition 7-Inch Vinyl Box Set.  This set contains the seven Christmas messages released exclusively on flexi disc by The Beatles Fan Club between 1963 and 1969. This limited edition set presents seven holiday messages remastered and newly pressed on a rainbow of seven-inch colored vinyl singles for the first time, along with the origianl flexi disc sleeve artwork. A 16-page booklet inside the box includes reproductions of the fan club's Christmas newsletters and notes on the disc's contents. In Like new condition. Records have been opened on one edge of the plastic but the records have never been played. This set has been stored in a dry dark closet since purchase in December of 2017. From the smoke free home of an adult collector.  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. In 1964, Beatles (U.S.A.) Ltd., the official national Beatles fan club in the United States, began sending annual Christmas records to its members. Beatles press agent Tony Barrow came up with the concept for the Christmas records and scripted the initial efforts. This tradition continued through 1969. 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 vinyl albums containing all of the previously issued Christmas messageAlthough the Christmas recordings have been bootlegged for decades, they have never been officially released to the general public until now. But rather than duplicating the thin flexi-discs originally issued by the Beatles Fan Club, Apple has pressed each of the Christmas records from 1963 through 1969 on good old fashioned thick vinyl, and colored vinyl to boot. Each 7-inch disc comes in a sturdy cardboard sleeve mimicking the original sleeves from the sixties; however, the 1963 disc is not housed in a pocket sleeve as was the original Fan Club issue. Some of the later sleeves contain art provided by the Beatles: 1966-Paul; 1967-Julian Lennon, John Lennon and Ringo Starr; and 1969-Ringo and his son, Zak.

The vinyl discs are also quite attractive, particularly the 1964 translucent red and the 1967 translucent green pressings. The labels duplicate the original labels from the sixties. The first five discs are one-sided, whereas the last two have recordings on both sides. The discs were mastered from the best sources available, with some of them mastered from the original contemporaneous safety copy tapes archived at Apple Corps. The others were mastered from the 1970 album master, also archived at Apple.

The full details of each of the Beatles Christmas records are:

1963: The Beatles’ Christmas Record (one-sided, 5:00 TRT)
Recorded: 17 October 1963, Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London

1964: Another Beatles Christmas Record (one-sided, 3:58 TRT)
Recorded: 26 October 1964, Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London

1965: The Beatles’ Third Christmas Record (one-sided, 6:20 TRT)
Recorded: 8 November 1965, Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London

1966: Pantomime – Everywhere It’s Christmas: The Beatles’ Fourth Christmas Record (one-sided, 6:36 TRT)
Recorded: 25 November 1966, Dick James Music, New Oxford Street, London

1967: Christmas Time (Is Here Again): The Beatles’ Fifth Christmas Record (one-sided, 6:06 TRT)
Recorded: 28 November 1967, Studio Three, EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London

1968: The Beatles’ Sixth Christmas Record (two-sided, 7:48 TRT)
Recorded: 1968, various locations

1969: The Beatles’ Seventh Christmas Record (two-sided, 7:39 TRT)