Welcome to your Christmas-week BROW!
The Beatles - Another Beatles Christmas Record
The Beatles Christmas Message Flexi-Disc issued on Dec. 18, 1964
As most fans are aware, each year from 1963 through 1969, The Beatles recorded a special Christmas greeting for their fans. The Official Beatles Fan Club in England sent flexi-discs containing the Christmas messages to its members each holiday season. Last year, I featured the 1963 message and so this year I shall post the 1964 message, simply titled Another Beatles Christmas Record. It was recorded on October 26, 1964, which was the same day they recorded What You’re Doing and Honey Don’t for their Beatles For Sale album. It was also the only flexi to play at 45rpm insead of 33 1/3 (for those of you who remember turntable settings).
Of course a newsletter was issued with the flexi-disc. It was written by The Beatles press officer Tony Barrow (who’s idea it was, by the way, to do the Christmas recordings each year, in the first place). Here is what it read:
Just a year ago The Beatles made their first Christmas record for exclusive distribution to fan club members. Now at the end of another splendid period of world-wide pop supremacy our fabulous foursome have made a second equally precious recording as a Christmas gift to the club’s 65,000 Beatle People. This disc will not be in the hit parade. Additional copies will never be pressed. The contents of this sleeve will make each fan club member the envy of numerous friends. Money can’t buy ANOTHER BEATLES CHRISTMAS RECORD – but with membership of the most with it fan club in Britain, the disc comes through your letter-box free of charge in time for yuletide parties and holiday record sessions. This is the uniquely pleasant way in which John, Paul, George and Ringo choose to say Thank You to thousands of their loyal fans throughout the nation. The Official Beatles Fan Club of Great Britain operates from special offices in Central London. National Secretaries Anne Collingham and Bettina Rose have a hard-working staff of full-time assistants to help run the club affairs. And in every country throughout the British Isles there is a local Area Secretary to look after members’ queries on a voluntary basis. Overseas you’ll find a branch of the club in more than a score of countries scattered around the globe. Each branch is run quite independently but with the authorisation and supervision of Anne and Bettina in London.
The four boys find time to pop into the club headquarters despite their hectic schedule of tours, television appearances, recording sessions, film work and broadcasts. The girls in the office still retain vivid memories of the morning Paul dropped in for a chat, joined in with the gang to stamp up a batch of membership cards and then treated the entire staff to an excellent lunch in a nearby steakhouse!
TONY BARROW
It’s been fun bringing you the BROW this year and I thank you all for being a part of my new web site home for these tributary posts. Fab holiday wishes go out to you all from me to you.
Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Visit www.MyBeatlesCollection.com and hit the “Tracks” button and search this massive collection of Beatle-related recordings, then drop me a comment here and let me know what you’d like me to feature. There’s over 7273 recordings to choose from.
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I'm Happy Nat and I'm glad you dropped in! Feel free to listen to the latest BROW (Beatles Rarity Of The Week), watch the latest VOW (Beatles Video of the Week), and join the discussion by leaving comments or 
….I was gonna say i never tire of hearing this…..but thats not quite true. About halfway through it each year….i get tired of it. The children grew up with it around the house here….and they’re not fans anymore either.
…But hey, you can’t post a winner EVERY time, Mark!
Jeff, there are still a few folks out there who have not heard these, in which case they are a treat. You and me are old vets who may have been around the block a few too many extra times to appreciate the freshness of the delivery and there are others out there among us in the same boat. Despite the limited amount of material to choose from, I try to keep the holidays in mind in picking out what to post for the pre-Christmas BROW, and to also consider others who have not heard this as much as us, or possibly not at all. Besides, it’s only once a year. So “bah humbug” somewhere else, old man!
I’ve only been around half the block and this was my first listen!
It was a treat. Best of Holidays to you, my friend
Thanks Rummy, good to see you around! Hope you have a great holiday week too without too much work, of course, and all that stuff we got enough of throughout the rest of the year.
Thanks — never heard this — sounds good. Happy Christmas
Funoka! Long time, no hear from! Glad to see you are still around! Happy Christmas to you too!