Todays Song of the Day: As we start reaching the end of our Beatles Christmas Records marathon, we have The Beatles 1968 Christmas Record. The Beatles ended 1968 on uncertain terms. For the first time, the unity that had kept the band moving through their career seemed to be dispelling. The recording sessions for the White Album and the Hey Jude/Revolution single, while successful, had proved tense. The group had started a new company called Apple that instead of specializing in one thing tried to do everything, and began moving towards bankruptcy shockingly quick. Ringo felt unloved and unappreciated, and temporarily left the band earlier in the year. George had begun writing more and more material that was always being left off the album for more Lennon/McCartney tracks. And by that point it was becoming clear that that famous partnership had become less Lennon/McCartney and more John Lennon and Paul McCartney; especially now that John was exploring more risque and avant-garde territory after being inspired by his new girlfriend Yoko Ono. While this separation of the four creative forces had been hinted at on the White Album, it was made abundantly clear on that years Christmas Record. Moving back into the Thank Yous to the fans category, the 1968 Christmas record was a Revolution #9esque sound collage of different Christmas messages that each Beatle recorded separately at their own houses which was then pieced together into a semi-whole by BBC Radio DJ Kenny Everett. This would become the new formula for the Christmas records until the end of the Beatles career. Johns pieces were recorded at his home in Weybridge and feature him reading two poems of his called Jock and Yono and Once Upon a Pool Table. Paul performs an original Xmas song at his home in London (and no its not Wonderful Christmastime). Ringo performs a lunatic one-man sketch at his home in Surrey. George recorded his message in LA while he was working on his Electronic Sound album, and obtains guest appearances from Mal Evans (the Beatles roadie) and Tiny Tim (my generation will know him as the guy who sang that song at the end of the first Spongebob cartoon when Spongebob was throwing Krabby Patties at the anchovies) who even performs a version of Nowhere Man. All of these messages are connected together by various sound effects and excerpts from the White Album. After the grandness of Pantomime: Everywhere Its Christmas and Christmas Time (Is Here Again), The Beatles 1968 Christmas Record came as a bit of a disappointment. Sadly, things would not improve the following year. In fact, if anything next years Christmas record would turn out to be a bittersweet curtain call. Favorite Line: Not gonna lie, this and tomorrows Christmas records are my two least favorite Beatles Christmas records. Theyre hard to listen to at times because you can just hear the divide between the Beatles at this point in their lives. If I have a favorite moment though, its probably Pauls Christmas song. https://youtube/watch?v=bbrNp18MIV4
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 23:51:33 +0000
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