The Beatles Christmas Album - Ever Officially Released On CD?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by thenexte, Dec 19, 2003.

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  1. thenexte

    thenexte Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    I'm wondering if the Beatles Christmas album (released in 1970) has ever been officially reissued on compact disc?

    There is a bunch of Beatles Christmas CD's being sold on eBay, but I doubt any of them are legitimate releases.

    Just curious,
    -wolf
     
    Dodoz likes this.
  2. mudbone

    mudbone Gort Annaologist

    Location:
    Canada, O!
    It was never legitimately released on cd.

    mud-:D
     
  3. Kubrick

    Kubrick Forum Resident

    Location:
    Balmore, hon.
    Wouldn't the Westwood One On The Radio promotional cd be considered legitimate (or at least semi)?
     
  4. mudbone

    mudbone Gort Annaologist

    Location:
    Canada, O!
    Well, if that's legit it would be but I'm not so sure even that's legit.

    mud-:D
     
  5. Vivaldinization

    Vivaldinization Active Member

    I've always been bowled over by how ridiculous it is to *not* issue this...I mean, just transfer the tapes and put it out.

    Although as we keep hearing, new tapes keep getting discovered...
     
  6. Jeff H.

    Jeff H. Senior Member

    Location:
    Northern, OR
    All the CD's you see out there are bootlegs. In fact I just had a CD-R made from my vinyl copy of The Beatles Christmas Album.
     
  7. John DeAngelis

    John DeAngelis Senior Member

    Location:
    New York, NY


    i agree! As Paul says: "It's the bloody Beatles!"
     
  8. Ian

    Ian Active Member

    Location:
    Milford, Maine
    "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" was available on the "Free As A Bird" CD single (EP, CD5... Whatever you want to call it) and can probably still be found for a reasonable price if you look hard enough. I still can't figure out why they don't just release the rest of 'em either.
     
  9. reechie

    reechie Senior Member

    Location:
    Baltimore
    What's not legit about it? A radio syndicate provides their affiliate stations with programming material. Nothing bootleg about it, they do it all the time. As long as BMI and ASCAP are paid, perfectly legit.

    However, being a limited promotional item, not something that anyone can just go out and buy at any store, I don't think it counts as a real "release" or the material.
     
  10. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    Years ago, I bought some Westwood One promo CD's that had stuff lifted from vinyl, like the stereo DC5 and mono Beatles White Album stuff. Although the mechanical royalties may have been paid, these are not techically 'legal' releases in any way, and I'm not sure, were the parties themselves to find out about them, they would have even existed. So, to answer the question, no, these discs are not 'legal' since they are for broadcast purposes only, and even then, probably meant for a special program. The point being, if these were truly legit, Westwood would have had tape sources, which they obviously did not. Radio CD's of this nature I find highly suspect, no matter how legit the company is itself....


    As for the Beatles Christmas material, most definitely NO!! if Apple Corps had any intention of putting this stuff out authorized, they would have done so by now. Any Beatles Xmas disc is a boot, plain and simple. And if you have the best boot CD out there, it's so clean--if with some considerable hiss--that is sure sounds like tape sources, and somebody snagged copies of them from somewhere, since I was surprised at the quality of the mono sound. And of course all this stuff is in the EMI vaults.


    ED:ed:
     
  11. Gardo

    Gardo Audio Epistemologist

    Location:
    Virginia
    I love the Christmas album but I can understand if the Beatles and their survivors are a little reluctant to release it. The 1963 album has someone (John?) improvising a lyric about "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Negro," and the 1965 album (I think) has John improvising a monologue in which he says they have an all-white policy in their group. Vintage sarcastic take-no-prisoners John, sure, but if they ever do issue the album I'm betting they'll cut those bits out. Then, too, the last couple of albums (68-69) are pretty spacey in spots: even a quick-witted stoned person still sounds pretty druggy.:)
     
  12. Chris M

    Chris M Senior Member In Memoriam

    I thought John said Rudolph the Red Nosed Ringo?
     
    Joy-of-radio likes this.
  13. reechie

    reechie Senior Member

    Location:
    Baltimore
  14. Gardo

    Gardo Audio Epistemologist

    Location:
    Virginia
    Ah, memories.

    It's actually "Mickey" that John sings, but I still hear the other word very clearly. Maybe it's time to post a couple of dueling mp3 snippets--we haven't done that yet!:laugh:
     
  15. Marry a Carrot

    Marry a Carrot Interesting blues gets a convincing reading.

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    One problem with reissuing the Christmas album is that it has lots of appeal to hardcore fans, but it's sure to disappoint anyone who buys it expecting to hear the Fab Four singing Christmas carols. It's a tricky album to market honestly, and it's ultimately going to end up in the record stores mixed in with the more traditional Christmas albums.

    Isn't it easy to imagine a customer browsing the Christmas section of the record store and picking up The Beach Boys' Ultimate Christmas Collection, Elvis Presley's Christmas Peace, Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift For You, and The Beatles Christmas Album? One of those CDs is going to be terribly disappointing.
     
    Joy-of-radio likes this.
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