Christmas Time (Is Here Again)

"Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" (Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey) is a Christmas song recorded by the Beatles for their 1967 fan club Christmas record.^[1] After being slated for inclusion in the planned (but ultimately scrapped) Sessions compilation album in 1985, the song finally saw official re-release in 1995 on the "Free as a Bird" single (issued in conjunction with the Anthology series), for which it was edited from its original 6:17 to a shortened version of 3:03. The song opens with a light-hearted tune from all four of the Beatles and occasionally cuts to a tale of the Beatles arriving at the fictional BBC house. This part of the song was cut from the 1995 single version.^[2] The song then closes with a Christmas greeting from all four of the Beatles. At the end, "Auld Lang Syne" is played on the organ as Lennon reads one of his original nonsense free verse poems.

Personnel

John Lennon – vocal, bass drum, organ
Paul McCartney – vocal, piano
George Harrison – vocal, acoustic guitar
Ringo Starr – vocal, drums
George Martin, Victor Spinetti – vocal

Personnel per Ian MacDonald.^[2]

Covers

Ringo Starr recorded his own cover of "Christmas Time Is Here Again" on his 1999 Christmas album, I Wanna Be Santa Claus. In 2000, R.E.M. released a cover version on a Christmas single for their fan club. The Smithereens also covered the song for their 2007 album Christmas with the Smithereens. It was also covered by Terry Draper (formerly of Klaatu) on the 2002 compilation Takin' Care of Christmas. In 2013, Elephant Stone covered it for the Cleopatra Records release Psych-Out Christmas.

Notes

↑ Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 54 - Hail, Hail, Rock 'n' Roll: Getting back to rock's funky, essential essence. [Part 3]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu.
1 2 MacDonald 2005, p. 273.

References

MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (2nd revised ed.). London: Pimlico. ISBN 1-84413-828-3.

The Beatles singles discography

UK and US
(all labels)

1963	"Please Please Me" / "Ask Me Why" "From Me to You" / "Thank You Girl" "She Loves You" / "I'll Get You"

1964	"Can't Buy Me Love" / "You Can't Do That" "I Feel Fine" / "She's a Woman"

1965	"Ticket to Ride" / "Yes It Is" "Help!" / "I'm Down" "We Can Work It Out" / "Day Tripper"

1966	"Paperback Writer" / "Rain" "Yellow Submarine" / "Eleanor Rigby"

1967	"Penny Lane" / "Strawberry Fields Forever" "All You Need Is Love" / "Baby, You're a Rich Man" "Hello, Goodbye" / "I Am the Walrus"

1968	"Lady Madonna" / "The Inner Light" "Hey Jude" / "Revolution"

1969	"Get Back" / "Don't Let Me Down" "The Ballad of John and Yoko" / "Old Brown Shoe" "Something" / "Come Together"

1970	"Let It Be" / "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)"

1978	"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/With a Little Help from My Friends" / "A Day in the Life"

1982	"The Beatles Movie Medley" / "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You"

1995	"Free as a Bird" / "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)"

1996	"Real Love" / "Baby's in Black"

UK only
(Parlophone,
Apple)

1962	"My Bonnie" / "The Saints" "Love Me Do" / "P.S. I Love You"

1963	"I Want to Hold Your Hand" / "This Boy"

1964	"Ain't She Sweet" / "If You Love Me, Baby" "A Hard Day's Night" / "Things We Said Today"

1976	"Yesterday" / "I Should Have Known Better" "Back in the U.S.S.R." / "Twist and Shout"

US only
(Vee-Jay, Swan,
Tollie, Capitol,
Apple)

1963	"I Want to Hold Your Hand" / "I Saw Her Standing There"

1964	"Twist and Shout" / "There's a Place" "Do You Want to Know a Secret" / "Thank You Girl" "Love Me Do" / "P.S. I Love You" "Sie liebt dich" / "I'll Get You" "I'll Cry Instead" / "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" "And I Love Her" / "If I Fell" "A Hard Day's Night" / "I Should Have Known Better" "Matchbox" / "Slow Down"

1965	"Eight Days a Week" / "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" "Yesterday" / "Act Naturally"

1966	"Nowhere Man" / "What Goes On"

1970	"The Long and Winding Road" / "For You Blue"

1976	"Got to Get You into My Life" / "Helter Skelter" "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" / "Julia"

Other countries
(Odeon, Apple)

1964	"Komm, gib mir deine Hand" / "Sie liebt dich" (Germany)

1968	"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" / "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (Europe, Japan, Australia) "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" / "I Will" (Philippines) "Back in the U.S.S.R." / "Don't Pass Me By" (Sweden)

1969	"You're Going to Lose That Girl" / "Tell Me What You See" (Japan)

1970	"Oh! Darling" / "Here Comes the Sun" (Japan)

1972	"All Together Now" / "Hey Bulldog" (Europe)

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