 |
Every Christmas from
1963 through 1969, The Official Beatles
Fan Club sent free 7 inch Christmas records to their fan club members,
which contained skits, messages and brief songs which were otherwise
unavailable. The disks were flexi's made by the Lyntone company, and
each of them came in special picture sleeve. These special records were never available for sale in stores. At the end of 1963, the Fan Club was unprepared for the tons of extra subscriptions it received, so in addition to the multiple thousands of Christmas disks it mailed out in December, they also made a complete extra run of the flexi-disks without the sleeves (to save time), mailing them out early February 1964 with a letter of apology and an explanation from the Club. The total of 1963 Christmas disks made, both with and without sleeves, was just over 30,000 copies. |
| MEMBERSHIP CARD | ||||
| FRONT--> Click! | BACK--> Click! | FRONT CLOSE UP | ||
 |
 |
 |
||
| ENVELOPE | ||||
| FRONT CLOSE UP | FRONT--> Click! | BACK--> Click! | ||
 |
 |
 |
||
| FAN CLUB LETTER--> Click! | ||||
| Official Beatles Fan Club Southern Branch Membership Card dated May
1964/6 with letter from London dated 29th Oct 1964 regarding Renewal
Fee. |
 |
|
||
 |
||||
| COMMENTS | Official
Beatles Fan Club Southern Branch Membership Card dated May 1964/6 with
letter from London dated 29th Oct 1964 regarding Renewal Fee. Membership Card measures 4" x 2 1/2" Also included is the original mailing envelope franked + dated 29th Oct 1964. This girl followed The Beatles from Jan 1963 right up to the split in 1970 I have a huge quantity of what she collected even going to McCartney concerts in 1989. In the amount of mail received by the fan club was a surge. It was getting too much for Bobby Brown, so Brian assigned her the help of NEMS Enterprises typist Freda Kelly, this keen, 17 years old Cavernite - efficient, helpful and a friend to all - didn't need asking twice and happily immersed herself in the challenge. Braian also made a surprising and farsighted move by allowing the creation of a second club purely to serve Beatles fans in the south of England - it was an empty vessel he didn't expect to stay empty for long. The idea was kinded by Bettina Rose, an 18 years old from Richmond, south-west of London, who heard "Love Me Do" on Radio Luxembourg and wrote to EMI volunteering her services to the Beatles. She met Brian in London in mid-December 1962 and they decided to go ahead with the new venture. Never slow to put plans into practice, Brian defined the club's adjunct structure, agreed to shoulder its costs, and mailed the NME a new classified ad for The Beatles Fan Club (Southern Branch) to run in the first issue of the year. (from "The Beatles - All These Years: Volume One: Tune In") |
|||
| MEMBERSHIP CARD | ENVELOPE | |||
| FRONT--> Click! | BACK--> Click! | FRONT --> Click! | BACK --> Click! | ENVELOPE CLOSE UP |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| MEMBERSHIP CARD: FRONT CLOSE UP |
MEMBERSHIP CARD: FRONT CLOSE UP | |||
 |
 |
 |
||
| COMMENTS | This
is an official U.K. Beatles fan club membership card showing
subscriptions paid for 3 years up to April 1971 and stamped in red with
Freda Kelly's initials. Membership number is "110501". The card comes with it's original mailing envelope stamped in Liverpool in 1970. |
|||
|
TITLE
|
Sincere Good Wishes for Christmas and the New Year from the Beatles | |||
|
RELEASE DATE
|
6th December 1963 | |||
| SLEEVE: FRONT--> Click! | SLEEVE: BACK--> Click! | LABEL --> Click! | DISK: FRONT --> Click! | DISK: BACK |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| SLEEVE: INSIDE --> Click! | SLEEVE INSIDE CLOSE UP | |||
 |
|
 |
||
| 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's affairs. | ||||
| LABEL CLOSE UP | ENVELOPE -->Click! | ENVELOPE CLOSE UP | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |
Each recording was pressed onto a 7" flexi disc and mailed free to the British members of the Fan Club. |
|
The
words
"Not for sale. Issued free of charge to fan Club Members in December
1963" were printed on the label.
|
||||
|
OTHER ITEM
|
||||
|
-
|
||||
|
CATALOG NUMBER
|
LYN 492 | |||
|
LABEL
|
Lyntone | |||
|
MIX
|
Mono | |||
| MATRIX No. | LYN 492 - 1U | |||
|
VINYL COLOR
|
BLACK | |||
|
PRODUCER
|
- | |||
|
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/
NOTES
|
Notes: Bettina Rose, Anne Collingham | |||
|
RECORD COMPANY'S NAME
|
Lyntone Company | |||
|
PUBLISHER'S NAME
|
The Official Beatles Fan Club | |||
|
PRINTER'S NAME
|
- | |||
|
COMMENTS
|
Gatefold type. These special records were never available for sale in stores. At the end of 1963, the Fan Club was unprepared for the tons of extra subscriptions it received, so in addition to the multiple thousands of Christmas disks it mailed out in December, they also made a complete extra run of the flexi-disks without the sleeves (to save time), mailing them out early February 1964 with a letter of apology and an explanation from the Club. The total of 1963 Christmas disks made, both with and without sleeves, was just over 30,000 copies. The flexi comes in a plain yellow card sleeve that opens out with the record tucked into a stapled area. No newsletter came with this first edition. It was printed in the inner sleeve. The back cover has a picture of the Beatles at the Fan-club headquarters with Bettina Rose and Anne Collingham, with below, a picture of the fab four being presented to the Queen Mother at the Royal Variety Performance. Amongst christmas greetings and other things other things a comical rendition of "Good King Wenceslas" and towards the end the chorus from "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" Lyntone is not a record label, but a manufacturer. Lyntone was the European licensee of the flexi-disc procossed that was developed and patented Eva-Tone Soundsheets. All flexidiscs record were made by Eva-Tone or one of their licencees (such as Lyntone). Due to low demand, Eva-Tone stopped making flexidiscs several years ago. However, Erika Records in Southern California has obtained the rights to manufacturer this format now. (According to "Discogs") |
|||
|
TITLE
|
Another Beatles Christmas Record | |||
|
RELEASE DATE
|
18th December 1964 | |||
| SLEEVE: FRONT--> Click! | SLEEVE: BACK--> Click! | LABEL -->Click! | DISK: FRONT -->Click! | DISK: BACK |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| LABEL CLOSE UP | BACK COVER CLOSE UP | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| The words
"Not for sale. Issued free of charge to fan Club Members in December
1964" were printed on the label. Only the 1964 Fun Club record plays at 45 rpm; all the other six play at 33 1/3rpm. |
On the back cover, Fan Club address and printer's name were printed. | |||
|
ENVELOPE CLOSE UP
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
|
With gatefold newsletter insert written by Bettina Rose and Anne Collingham. |
|
CATALOG NUMBER
|
LYN 757 | |||
|
LABEL
|
Lyntone | |||
|
MIX
|
Mono | |||
| MATRIX No. | LYN 757 - 1R | |||
|
VINYL COLOR
|
BLACK | |||
|
PRODUCER
|
- | |||
|
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/
NOTES
|
Notes: Tony Barrow | |||
|
RECORD COMPANY'S NAME
|
Lyntone Company | |||
|
PUBLISHER'S NAME
|
The Official Beatles Fan Club | |||
|
PRINTER'S NAME
|
MacNeill Press Ltd. | |||
|
COMMENTS
|
By December 1964, the Fan
Club membership had risen to 65,000 and Christmas flexi disks were made
for them all, again with a special sleeve and with a Fan Club
newsletter (the 1963 one was on the inside cover of the flexi). It was recorded 26th October 1964 on the same day as they recorded "Honey Don't" for "Beatles For Sale". Only the 1964 Fun Club record plays at 45 rpm; all the other six play at 33 1/3rpm. Includes the classic "Jingle Bells," individual greetings and the ending jingle "Can You Wash Your Father's Shirts?" |
|||
|
TITLE
|
The Beatles Third Christmas Record | |||
|
RELEASE DATE
|
17th December 1965 | |||
| SLEEVE: FRONT --> Click! | SLEEVE: BACK --> Click! | LABEL -->Click! | DISK: FRONT -->Click! | DISK: BACK |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| LABEL CLOSE UP | BACK COVER CLOSE UP | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| The
words
"Not for sale. Issued free of charge to fan Club Members in December
1965" were printed on the label. Play at 33 1/3rpm. |
On the back cover, Fan Club address and printer's name were printed. | |||
|
ENVELOPE CLOSE UP
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
|
With gatefold newsletter insert written by Anne Collingham. |
|
CATALOG NUMBER
|
LYN 948 | |||
|
LABEL
|
Lyntone | |||
|
MIX
|
Mono | |||
| MATRIX No. | LYN 948 - 1Y | |||
|
VINYL COLOR
|
BLACK | |||
|
PRODUCER
|
- | |||
|
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/
NOTES
|
Photo: Robert Whitaker, Notes: Tony Barrow | |||
|
RECORD COMPANY'S NAME
|
Lyntone Company | |||
|
PUBLISHER'S NAME
|
The Official Beatles Fan Club | |||
|
PRINTER'S NAME
|
MacNeill Press Ltd. | |||
|
COMMENTS
|
Issued in December 1965. It was recorded 8th November 1965 on the same day as they recorded "Think For Yourself". Contains "Yesterday," "Happy Christmas to Ya List'nas," "Auld Land Syne," the Four Top's "It's the Same Old Song" and "Christmas Comes But Once a Year." |
|||
|
TITLE
|
Everywhere It's Christmas. | |||
|
RELEASE DATE
|
16th December 1966 | |||
| SLEEVE: FRONT--> Click! | SLEEVE: BACK--> Click! | LABEL -->Click! | DISK: FRONT -->Click! | DISK: BACK |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| LABEL CLOSE UP | BACK COVER CLOSE UP | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| The words
"Not for sale. Issued free of charge to fan Club Members in December
1966" were printed on the label. Play at 33 1/3rpm. |
Sleeve design by Paul McCartney. | The free flexi came with a newsletter from the fan club written by Anne Collingham and Freda Kelly (Joint National Secretaries). | ||
|
ENVELOPE CLOSE UP
|
OTHER ITEM "slip
sheet
newsletter"
|
|||
| With slip sheet newsletter insert written by Anne Collingham and Freda Kelly. | ||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
CATALOG NUMBER
|
LYN 1145 | |||
|
LABEL
|
Lyntone | |||
|
MIX
|
Mono | |||
| MATRIX No. | LYN 1145 - 2C | |||
|
VINYL COLOR
|
BLACK | |||
|
PRODUCER
|
- | |||
|
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/
NOTES
|
Sleeve Design: Paul McCartney | |||
|
RECORD COMPANY'S NAME
|
Lyntone Company | |||
|
PUBLISHER'S NAME
|
The Official Beatles Fan Club | |||
|
PRINTER'S NAME
|
MacNeill Press | |||
|
COMMENTS
|
Issued in December 1966. Recorded on 25th November 1966 in the basement studio of Dick James Music at 71, New Oxford Street, London. Produced by George Martin. A Monty Python-like record (or to be more accurate, the Goon Shows) , with amongst other things "Everywhere It's Christmas," "Orowanya," "Please Don't Bring Your Banjo Back" and the dramatic mini-play "Podgy the Bear and Jasper Visit Felpin Mansions." |
|||
|
TITLE
|
CHRISTMAS TIME (IS HERE AGAIN) | |||
|
RELEASE DATE
|
15th December 1967 | |||
| SLEEVE: FRONT--> Click! | SLEEVE: BACK--> Click! | LABEL -->Click! | DISK: FRONT -->Click! | DISK: BACK |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| LABEL CLOSE UP | BACK COVER CLOSE UP | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| The words
"Not for sale. Issued free of charge to fan Club Members in December
1967" were printed on the label. Play at 33 1/3rpm. |
Sleeve
design by Julian Lennon, John Lennon
and
Ringo Starr.
|
The free flexi came with a newsletter from the fan club written by Freda Kelly (Joint National Secretaries). | ||
|
ENVELOPE CLOSE UP
|
OTHER ITEM "slip
sheet
newsletter"
|
|||
| With slip sheet newsletter insert written by Freda Kelly. | ||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
CATALOG NUMBER
|
LYN 1360 | |||
|
LABEL
|
Lyntone | |||
|
MIX
|
Mono | |||
| MATRIX No. | LYN 1360 - 1L | |||
|
VINYL COLOR
|
BLACK | |||
|
PRODUCER
|
- | |||
|
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/
NOTES
|
Sleeve Design: Julian Lennon, John Lennon and Ringo Starr | |||
|
RECORD COMPANY'S NAME
|
Lyntone Recordings | |||
|
PUBLISHER'S NAME
|
The Official Beatles Fan Club | |||
|
PRINTER'S NAME
|
MacNeill Press | |||
|
COMMENTS
|
Issued in December 1966. Recorded on Tuesday 28th November 1967 in Abbey Road studios. Includes the rocking "Christmas Time is Here Again," (later released in conjunction with the Anthology-project) "Plenty of Jam Jars" (performed by fictional band the "Revellers"), and finally John's poem "When Christmas Time is Over." This was the last Christmas fan club recording where all four Beatles were in the studio together. |
|||
|
TITLE
|
HAPPY CHRISTMAS | |||
|
RELEASE DATE
|
20th December 1968 | |||
| SLEEVE: FRONT--> Click! | SLEEVE: BACK--> Click! | LABEL -->Click! | DISK: FRONT -->Click! | DISK: BACK |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| LABEL CLOSE UP | BACK COVER CLOSE UP | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| The 1968 Christmas record is unique because, unlike the others, flexi disk is double-sided. | The free flexi came from the fan club by Freda Kelly (Joint National Secretaries). | It was edited together by Radio 1 disc-jockey Kenny Everett. | ||
| ENVELOPE CLOSE UP | OTHER ITEM | |||
| FRONT --> Click! | BACK --> Click! | some with "Superpix" sales insert | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
CATALOG NUMBER
|
LYN 1743/1744 | |||
|
LABEL
|
Lyntone | |||
|
MIX
|
Mono | |||
| MATRIX No. | Side1: LYN 1743 - 1L | |||
| Side2: LYN 1744 - 1L | ||||
|
VINYL COLOR
|
BLACK | |||
|
PRODUCER
|
- | |||
|
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/
NOTES
|
- | |||
|
RECORD COMPANY'S NAME
|
Lyntone Company | |||
|
PUBLISHER'S NAME
|
The Official Beatles Fan Club | |||
|
PRINTER'S NAME
|
- | |||
|
COMMENTS
|
Recorded in November 1968
at the lush
London homes of Beatle John and Beatle Paul and in the back of Beatle
Ringo's diesel-powered removal van, somewhere in Surrey, The voice of
Beatle George is heard because yours faithfully, the G.P.O., did
something right and joined up 6,000 miles of telephone links at an
appropriate moment. The 1968 and 1969 Christmas recordings are unique because, unlike the others, each flexi disk is double-sided; and while all of the 1963 through 1967 flexi's had paper record labels, the 1968 and 1969 disks had the information printed right on the black flexi disk with white ink. Both recordings consist of separately taped pieces by each of the Beatles, and on the 1968 disk George introduced Tiny Tim singing a bizarre little version of Nowhere Man. A collage of sounds and Fab greetings, including "Happy Christmas, Happy New Year," Johns poem "Jock & Yono" and "Once Upon a Pool Table." Guest-appearing artist Tiny Tim destroys "Nowhere Man". |
|||
|
TITLE
|
HAPPY CHRISTMAS 1969 | |||
|
RELEASE DATE
|
19th December 1969/Sample Disk | |||
| SLEEVE: FRONT--> Click! | SLEEVE: BACK--> Click! | LABEL -->Click! | DISK: FRONT -->Click! | DISK: BACK |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| LABEL CLOSE UP | BACK COVER CLOSE UP | |||
 |
 |
The cover was designed by Ringo and his son Zak Starkey. |  |
|
| Matrix suffixed with "1L" on both side. | On the back cover, printer's name "West Brothers" was printed. | |||
|
OTHER ITEM
|
||||
| - |
||||
|
CATALOG NUMBER
|
- |
|||
|
LABEL
|
Lyntone | |||
|
MIX
|
Mono | |||
| MATRIX No. | Side1: LYN 1970 - IL | |||
| Side2: LYN 1971 - IL | ||||
|
VINYL COLOR
|
BLACK | |||
|
PRODUCER
|
- | |||
|
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/
NOTES
|
Cover design: Richard Sterkey and Zak Starkey | |||
|
RECORD COMPANY'S NAME
|
Lyntone Company | |||
|
PUBLISHER'S NAME
|
The Official Beatles Fan Club | |||
|
PRINTER'S NAME
|
West Brothers | |||
|
COMMENTS
|
The 1968 and 1969
Christmas
recordings are unique because, unlike the others, each flexi disk is
double-sided; and while all of the 1963 through 1967 flexi's had paper
record labels, the 1968 and 1969 disks had the information printed
right on the black flexi disk with white ink. Both recordings consist of separately taped pieces by each of the Beatles. John's pieces (inevitably) included Yoko. It was edited together by Radio 1 disc-jockey Kenny Everett, but this time credited to his real name, Maurice Cole. |
|||
|
TITLE
|
HAPPY CHRISTMAS 1969 | |||
|
RELEASE DATE
|
19th December 1969 | |||
| SLEEVE: FRONT--> Click! | SLEEVE: BACK--> Click! | LABEL --> Click! | DISK: FRONT --> Click! | DISK: BACK |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
| LABEL CLOSE UP | BACK COVER CLOSE UP | ENVELOPE -->Click! | ENVELOPE CLOSE UP | |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
| The 1969 Christmas record is unique because, unlike the others, flexi disk is double-sided. | On the back cover, printer's name "West Brothers" was printed. | |||
|
OTHER ITEM: some
with foolscap Fan Club newsletter
|
||||
| Alan Aldridge "illustrated lyrics" flyer. | Apology letter | With
original Alan Aldridge "Illustrated Lyrics" flyer and
original mailer date stamped (26th) January 1970. This is the January flexi, sent out with the apology letters in January 1970. Because of a fault at the pressing plant, most subscribers received their flexis in January 1970, with an apology letter from the fan club. |
||
| FRONT | BACK | FRONT | BACK | |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
CATALOG NUMBER
|
LYN 1970/1971 | |||
|
LABEL
|
Lyntone | |||
|
MIX
|
Mono | |||
| MATRIX No. | Side1: LYN 1970 - IL | |||
| Side1: LYN 1971 - IL | ||||
|
VINYL COLOR
|
BLACK | |||
|
PRODUCER
|
- | |||
|
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/
NOTES
|
Cover design: Richard Sterkey and Zak Starkey | |||
|
RECORD COMPANY'S NAME
|
Lyntone Company | |||
|
PUBLISHER'S NAME
|
The Official Beatles Fan Club | |||
|
PRINTER'S NAME
|
West Brothers | |||
|
COMMENTS
|
Issued in December 1969. Recorded in fall of 1969 at John and Yoko's home in Ascot, Ringo's home in Weybridge, Paul's home in London, and the London offices of Apple. A visit to John and Yoko in their home, Ringo plugs his movie "The Magic Christian" and Paul sings "This is to Wish You a Merry, Merry Christmas." George is featured only briefly. Edited by Maurice Cole (Kenny Everett's original name) With original Alan Aldridge "Illustrated Lyrics" flyer and original mailer date stamped 26 January 1970. This is the January flexi, sent out with the apology letters in January 1970. Because of a fault at the pressing plant, most subscribers received their flexis in January 1970, with an apology letter from the fan club. |
|||
