I wanted to thank everyone who participated in this year’s holiday contest here at The Beatles Rarity. It was “stepped up” a bit from last year and quite frankly, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a success or not, but, thanks to you, and all of our sponsors, it worked out great! As promised, here is a list of our prize winners and what they won:

1) Chip Morris won a new copy of the deluxe edition of Paul McCartney’s Chaos And Creation In The Backyard CD. It comes with a bonus DVD that contains additional music and footage from the recording sessions.

2) Curtis Honeycutt won a $20 gift certificate from Band-Tees.com. Band-Tees is a great place to pick up tee shirts and other items such as stickers, keychains, guitar picks and more with images and logos of your favorite bands, including The Beatles! This gift was furnished, of course, compliments of Band-Tees and you can find their Beatle-items online here.

3) Cara Schneider won a collector’s item edition of Jude Southerland Kessler’s John Lennon biopic Shoulda Been There. It is the first book ever (of a 9 book series) to tell the Lennon saga with carefully researched footnotes and detailed, informational endnotes, while using a fiction format to keep the reader turning the page. Researched for over 20 years with 7 trips to Liverpool and countless interviews with John Lennon’s friends, early band members, first manager, and club d.j.’s, Shoulda Been There traces Lennon’s life from 1940 to December 1961 (when The Beatles signed with Brian Epstein). This book is the very last copy of the second edition. This gift was furnished by Jude herself and her website, for more info, is at ontherockbooks.com. Hear what Jude has to say about her books in my interview with her here.

4) Anna Beetchenow won a new copy of The Beatles One CD. It’s a nice collection of 27 number one hits by The Beatles and an informative booklet with lots of original cover art images from the singles issued worldwide.

5) Elliott Marx won a copy of the Beatles photo book Unseen Archives. It is one of the best Beatles photo albums I’ve ever seen. It covers that period from 1963 through the breakup, and then up to George Harrison’s death in 2001. Some of the pictures are familiar, others aren’t. It’s a wonderful journey to start at the beginning and see the Beatles’ milestones and how they change. 384 pages. Barnes & Noble edition.

6) Stacia Marlett won a copy of Judith Kristen’s exciting paperback A Date With A Beatle which gives us a charming look back at the glory days of Beatlemania, as seen through the eyes of a loyal and devoted fan. You’ll feel as if you’re right there with Judy: at her first sighting of The Beatles at Kennedy Airport, witnessing their first press conference, sneaking into The Plaza Hotel, drooling over their first appearance on Ed Sullivan, her wild trip to The Beatles First American Concert in Washington, D.C., and the crazy antics she pulled off, all in loving effort to meet her idol, George Harrison – and she actually made it happen! A Date with a Beatle is a hilarious, fast-paced, totally entertaining story of the magic that was created by four lovely lads from Liverpool and the dreams that can come true when tenacity and heart are headed in the same direction. This prize is furnished compliments of the author herself and the book is available from her website at adatewithabeatle.com. Hear what Judith has to say about her book in my interview with her here.

7) Matt Ferrell won a collector’s item edition of Jude Southerland Kessler’s John Lennon biopic Shivering Inside. It is the second book ever (of a 9 book series) to tell the Lennon saga with carefully researched footnotes and detailed, informational endnotes, while using a fiction format to keep the reader turning the page. It picks up where Should Been There left off in Dec. 1961, and goes through April 1963 (the birth of Julian Lennon). This book is the very last copy of the second edition. This gift was furnished by Jude herself and her website, for more info, is at ontherockbooks.com. Hear what Jude has to say about her books in my interview with her here.

8) Austin Heape is the winner of a new copy of the 2011 CD release Ocean’s Kingdom from Paul McCartney. This is an orchestral piece commissioned by the New York City Ballet. The recording was conducted by John Wilson, produced by John Fraser and performed by The London Classical Orchestra. Ocean’s Kingdom is the first time Paul has written an original orchestral score or any kind of music for dance, and is the result of a collaboration between himself and Peter Martins, the Ballet Master in Chief of the New York City Ballet. This prize is furnished compliments of Fab4Radio.

Congratulations to all of our winners!

For those of you who tried but didn’t make it through, what can I say? Thank you for participating and better luck next year when we do it again!

In closing I’d like to thank Simon at Band-Tees, “Beatle Ed” at Fab 4 Radio, Jude Southerland Kessler and Judith Kristen for their wonderful books and (last, but by no means least) Heather, for making this website work the way it is supposed to.

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