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The Christmas Records...
18 December 2014
11.19pm
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parlance
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meanmistermustard said
Yeah but they also didnt post the 1969 message.

Right, because they’re saying that by 1968 the rot had set in, so they weren’t enthused that year or the next.

parlance

Beware of sadness. It can hit you. It can hurt you. Make you sore and what is more, that is not what you are here for. - George

Check out my fan video for Paul's song "Appreciate" at Vimeo or YouTube.

18 December 2014
11.26pm
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meanmistermustard
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I get that and I know its trivial but its these kind of things that irk me. Give me it all and let me make my mind up than posting ’68 as the example that they aren’t very good and not bothering with ’69.

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trcanberra

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19 December 2014
1.47am
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trcanberra
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parlance said

meanmistermustard said
Yeah but they also didnt post the 1969 message.

Right, because they’re saying that by 1968 the rot had set in, so they weren’t enthused that year or the next.

parlance

Is “weren’t enthused” code for “didn’t care about their fans any more”?

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19 December 2014
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parlance
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trcanberra said

parlance said

meanmistermustard said
Yeah but they also didnt post the 1969 message.

Right, because they’re saying that by 1968 the rot had set in, so they weren’t enthused that year or the next.

parlance

Is “weren’t enthused” code for “didn’t care about their fans any more”?

More like they didn’t care too much for each other by then.

parlance

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Check out my fan video for Paul's song "Appreciate" at Vimeo or YouTube.

19 December 2014
2.34am
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If they didnt care about the fans i doubt either of the records would have been made.

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22 December 2014
2.48pm
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Someone posted this a while back to download (so not a youtube video) but its gone. Was listening to it this morning and its exceptional in my view. 

 

All thanks go to @Ahhh Girl for finding it as i couldnt.

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31 March 2015
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So there were flexidisc 7″ records issued for 1963 to 1969.  By Christmas 1970, although any active work as a group had ceased, they were still officially alive (notwithstanding the popular interpretation of the McCartney self-interview), and the Fan Club definitely still existed.

So, for Christmas 1970, the Fan Club issued a vinyl 12″ long playing record (the US version had an excellent new sleeve design, the UK simply repeated one of the flexidisc sleeves).  My question concerns recording quality.

The flexidiscs, of necessity, aren’t hi-fidelity.  They’re better than lo-fi, so let’s call them mid-fi.  But was the vinyl LP mastered from the original recordings, or from the flexidiscs?   How -fi was the LP?

31 March 2015
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A friend got the entire set as a bootleg back in the 1980’s and I’ve been a devout listener ever since. I do find the last two rather depressing. I like the Tiny Tim section in 1968 with George plugging the album God Bless Tiny Tim, but there’s a definite streak of paranoia about Ringo and John’s contributions, and Paul retreats to a song. 1969 is essentially the John and Yoko show because the others had basically given up on the whole thing. It’s a sober reminder that although the music was as great as ever it’s like a personal light switch was turned off in 1968.

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31 March 2015
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They would have needed to create a mastertape for the lacquer of the LP to be cut from. It is most likely the went back to the mastertape of each year’s release, held by EMI and/or Apple. I would suggest a copy was made of each, which were then edited into a mastertape for the album, allowing Porky to set to work.

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1 April 2015
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So the album is likely to be better sound quality than the flexis?

17 July 2015
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 There is 1 for every year from 1963 to 1969.

As a collector, I consider it part of the canon.  Do you??[sp_show_poll id=”75″]

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17 July 2015
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Interesting question, @Bongo. The Christmas records aren’t usually classified as songs so I moved your poll to this thread. I made a note in post 1 of this thread to alert future forumpudlians about this poll.

17 July 2015
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Bongo said
 There is 1 for every year from 1963 to 1969.

As a collector, I consider it part of the canon.  Do you??[sp_show_poll id=”75″]

A moot point……One that nobody else had thought of Bongs……I voted they should….(no surprise there)!

 

Being on the mailing list that they were sent out to, they were the best thing I got for any ’60s Christmas and they are still very precious to me. If they are reduced to outliers or mere curiosities as I suspect they will be….. so be it………Maybe you had to be there at the time. The weeks before the release of Beatles’ Christmas single and the arrival of these little flexi discs ………were a flux of tingling anticipation. Getting to know each one was thrilling.

As much as these wee whippersnappers today love The Beatles and I know they do…….I consider myself so lucky to have been witness to it all.

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17 July 2015
3.27pm
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Beatleva
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I love the Christmas Records (especially the earlier ones where they were recording them together) but I wouldn’t count them as part of the canon.

Firstly because they can’t really be considered songs, there are music fragments here and there but it’s mainly the guys talking.

Secondly they weren’t released as normal records, they were only sent to fan club members.

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17 July 2015
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Necko
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No, for the reasons that @Beatleva said. 

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15 December 2015
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I thought I’d dig out my mum’s old fan club flexi discs. I have two copies of the 1963 disc and one of the 1964. I think the ’63 one didn’t arrive in time and she complained so they sent out another. Here are some scans.

The ’63 one plays at 33 1/3 rpm, whereas ’64 is 45 rpm. You’ll see that the ’63 is billed as national newsletter number two. I wonder how many of those other newsletters survive. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one.

The 1963 disc has a gatefold paper cover, and the disc fits into a small flap on the right-hand side. That makes this the first-ever Beatles gatefold, a full year before Beatles For Sale .

The ’64 disc is in a normal picture sleeve, although with thicker paper than the previous year’s. It has text credited to Tony Barrow on the back. Now, this is where it gets interesting. The ’63 text is credited to Anne Collingham and Bettina Rose. However, there was no AC – it was a name invented by Barrow to divert Beatlemaniacs who phoned the NEMS office. I don’t know who that is next to Ringo in the second picture – anyone know?

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15 December 2015
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Thanks @Joe, these images bring back some great memories. I believe the woman standing next to Ringo is singer Susan Maughan. I don’t know much about her, but I believe she had some connection with Brian’s company. This is a picture of her with the guys including Billy J.susan_fabs_billy.jpgImage Enlarger

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15 December 2015
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Every time ‘Good King Wenceslas’ is mentioned, I hear the Fabs yodelling it my head.

And I’ve been telling people, ‘Merry Krimble and a Happy Goo Year.’ 

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15 December 2015
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I’ve not listened to them this year and probably won’t. Seems like its become a mandatory task every Christmas, a break will be good.

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15 December 2015
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Silly Girl said

Every time ‘Good King Wenceslas’ is mentioned, I hear the Fabs yodelling it my head.

And I’ve been telling people, ‘Merry Krimble and a Happy Goo Year.’ 

It’s been a funny old year you know. One minute we’re in England, next we’re away. ‘Spect you’ve been wondering where we’ve been! So much travelling! But you’ve stayed loyal, haven’t you a-hard-days-night-ringo-15

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