Christmas Time (Is Here Again)

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For other uses, see Christmas Time Is Here Again (disambiguation).
"Christmas Time (Is Here Again)"
Cover of the 1967 Christmas record
Cover of the 1967 Christmas record, Christmas Time Is Here Again!
Song by the Beatles
Released15 December 1967
Recorded28 November 1967
StudioEMI, London
GenreChristmas music
Length6:08
LabelLyntone
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)George Martin
The Beatles singles chronology
"Baby It's You"
(1995) 		"Free as a Bird" / "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)"
(1995) 		"
Real Love
"
(1996)

"Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" is a

Christmas Time Is Here Again! (1967). One of the few Beatles songs credited to all four members of the band, it consists of a blues based backing track as well as double-tracked vocals sung by them, George Martin and Victor Spinetti
. The lyrics are mostly made up of the song's title refrain, repeated across nine verses.

Following its December 1967 release, "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" remained officially unavailable for decades. A planned release in 1984 faltered after the abandonment of the Beatles' then-upcoming album

re-issued on The Christmas Records
, a 2017 limited-edition box set of the band's original Christmas records.

Background and composition

season's greetings to their fans, followed by a poem from John Lennon titled "When Christmas Time is Over".[5] Beatles writer John C. Winn describes it as a Scottish Yuletide poem,[6] while Kenneth Womack calls the work a "Joycean ... nonsensical poem".[5]

The beginning of "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)"
The recording begins with John Lennon yelling: "Interplanetary remix – thr [sic] – page four hundred and forty-four!"[7] The rest of the song consists of a repeating of the title phrase.[6]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

In addition to the script, the band wrote a

children's songs that began with their 1966 track "Yellow Submarine" and reflects a combination of their nostalgia for 1940s Liverpool and the childlike tendencies of psychedelic music.[14] Runtagh states that the song "is little more than a holiday mantra, but the Beatles sell it through their full-throated commitment and a clever arrangement reminiscent of their new single, 'Hello, Goodbye'".[3]

Recording

The Beatles recorded Christmas Time Is Here Again! on 28 November 1967 in Studio Three of

The Lennon Play: In His Own Write,[4] a stage adaptation of the band member's books, In His Own Write (1964) and A Spaniard in the Works (1965).[17] The band invited Spinetti to participate in the record's recording; he performed in the skits and sang on the song.[4] Recorded in a single take,[6] the basic recording features Ringo Starr on drums,[4] George Harrison on a Gibson J-160E acoustic guitar,[18] Lennon on timpani and Paul McCartney on piano.[4] The Beatles, along with Martin and Spinetti, then overdubbed manually double-tracked vocals onto the original take.[4]

Martin, again assisted by Emerick, returned to EMI the day after the session to mix its recordings. From 2:30 to 5:30 pm, they edited several mono remixes of the record, with the total number of remixes unknown. Edited together with the Beatles' skits, the finished version runs 6:08.[6] Martin and Emerick copied their finished master version to tape, then sent it to Lyntone Records for pressing.[4]

Release

Released on 15 December 1967, the Christmas record's title, Christmas Time Is Here Again!, is a slight variation on the song's title.

cross-fading into a medley with "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da". The song was expected to appear as the B-side of the album's single, "Leave My Kitten Alone", originally planned for a release around Christmas 1984.[7] Never officially released, the two versions of the song began circulating as bootlegs in 1985 and 1986, respectively.[19]

Pantomime: Everywhere It's Christmas, recorded on 6 December 1966,[21] as well as Lennon's poem from the 1967 recording.[7] As the B-side, the song did not chart in either the US or UK.[18] On 15 December 2017, the original Christmas records were re-issued on a limited-edition box set, The Christmas Records.[22]

Personnel

According to Ian MacDonald,[9] except where noted:

The Beatles

Additional musicians

Notes

  1. ^ MacDonald credits the song as Lennon–McCartney–Harrison–Starkey,[9] while Womack writes it as Harrison–Lennon–McCartney–Starr.[5] The 1967 disc does not include a songwriting credit.[10] Lewisohn's liner notes to the "Free as a Bird" single credit it as John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.[11] Ringo Starr covered "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" on his 1999 album I Wanna Be Santa Claus, with the song credited as George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Richard Starkey.[12]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Lewisohn 2000, p. 125.
  2. ^ Hertsgaard 1995, p. 136.
  3. ^ a b c Runtagh, Jordan (13 December 2020). "Beatles' Rare Fan-Club Christmas Records: A Complete Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewisohn 1988, p. 131.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Womack 2016, p. 95.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Winn 2009, p. 139.
  7. ^ a b c d e Winn 2009, pp. 139–140.
  8. ^ Everett 1999, p. 144.
  9. ^ a b c MacDonald 2007, p. 273.
  10. ^ Anon. 1967.
  11. ^ a b Lewisohn 1995.
  12. ^ Anon. 1999.
  13. ^ MacDonald 2007, pp. 273, 494.
  14. ^ Turner 2005, p. 208.
  15. ^ Lewisohn 1988, pp. 130–131.
  16. The Beatles Third Christmas Record made during Rubber Soul;
    Lewisohn 1988, p. 88: Pantomime: Everywhere It's Christmas made during what became Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
    .
  17. ^ Everett 1999, p. 160.
  18. ^ a b c d e Womack 2016, p. 96.
  19. ^ a b Winn 2009, p. 140.
  20. ^ Everett 1999, p. 293.
  21. ^ Everett 1999, pp. 293, 341n194.
  22. ^ Draper, Jason (2 November 2017). "Beatles Christmas Records Released In Limited Coloured Vinyl Box Set". uDiscoverMusic. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020.

Sources

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