"Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" is a

Christmas song Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

by the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, originally recorded for their fifth fan club Christmas record, '' 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 Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

based backing track as well as

double-tracked Double tracking or doubling is an audio recording technique in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded performance, usually to produce a stronger or bigger sound than can be obtained with a single voice or instrument. ...

vocals sung by them,

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

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 '' Sessions''.

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

released a shortened version of the song in December 1995 as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to the song "

Free as a Bird "Free as a Bird" is a single released in December 1995 by English rock band the Beatles. The song was originally written and recorded in 1977 as a home demo by John Lennon. In 1995, 25 years after their break-up and 15 years after Lennon' ...

". The 1967 version was re-issued on '' The Christmas Records'', a 2017 limited-edition box set of the band's original Christmas records.

Background and composition

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

began recording Christmas records in 1963, which were distributed in December free-of-charge to members of their Official Fan Club. Earlier records include spoken messages to their fans, while later years incorporate skits and music. Described by Jordan Runtagh of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' as "the apex of their Christmas recordings", the Beatles' 1967 Christmas record, '' Christmas Time Is Here Again!'', was their most extensive holiday message to date, with the band preparing a script ahead of time. Serving as an homage to radio and television programmes, its central narrative is based around a fictional group named the Ravellers, auditioning for a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

radio show. The skits include tap dancing, a fictitious advertisement, and the group playing piano and singing about "Plenty of Jam Jars", among others. The recording concludes with each Beatle, as well as producer

, offering

season's greetings The Christmas season or the festive season, also known as the holiday season or the holidays, is an annual period generally spanning from November or December to early January. Incorporating Christmas Day and New Year's Day, the various celebrat ...

to their fans, followed by a poem from

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

titled "When Christmas Time is Over". Beatles writer John C. Winn describes it as a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

Yule Yule is a winter festival historically observed by the Germanic peoples that was incorporated into Christmas during the Christianisation of the Germanic peoples. In present times adherents of some new religious movements (such as Modern ...

tide poem, while

Kenneth Womack Kenneth Womack (born January 24, 1966) is an American writer, literary critic, public speaker, and music historian, particularly focusing on the cultural influence of the Beatles. He is the author of the bestselling ''Solid State: The Story of ...

calls the work a "

Joycean A text is deemed Joycean when it is reminiscent of the writings of James Joyce, particularly '' Ulysses'' or ''Finnegans Wake''. Joycean fiction exhibits a high degree of verbal play, usually within the framework of stream of consciousness. Works ...

... nonsensical poem". In addition to the script, the band wrote a

, "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)". The song is one of the Beatles' few releases credited to all four members, just as their earlier 1967 instrumental " Flying" had been. Played in the key of

D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...

, the song's structure is

-based, repeating nine identical verses followed by an instrumental verse. Womack writes that the song's "comic spirit" is similar to the Beatles' " You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" – most of which had been recorded over the summer of 1967 – and was likely inspired by the

Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as the Bonzo Dog Band or the Bonzos) was created by a group of British Art school, art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelic music, psychedelia with sur ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

. Author Steve Turner opines that the song illustrates the band's interest in

children's songs A children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that children invent and share among themselves or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home or education. Although children's songs have been recorded and studied ...

that began with their 1966 track " Yellow Submarine" and reflects a combination of their nostalgia for 1940s

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and the childlike tendencies of

psychedelic music Psychedelic music (sometimes called psychedelia) is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as Dmt, DMT, Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, mescaline, ...

. 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 "Hello, Goodbye" (sometimes titled "Hello Goodbye") is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. Backed by John Lennon's " I Am the Walrus", it was issued as a non-album single ...

Recording

The Beatles recorded ''Christmas Time Is Here Again!'' on 28 November 1967 in Studio Three of EMI Recording Studios. Running from 6:00 pm to 2:45 am, Martin produced the session, assisted by balance engineer

Geoff Emerick Geoffrey Ernest Emerick (5 December 1945 – 2 October 2018) was an English sound engineer and record producer who worked with the Beatles on their albums ''Revolver'' (1966), '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967) and ''Abbey Road' ...

. Having last been in the studio two weeks earlier to finish the final recording for their new EP ''

Magical Mystery Tour ''Magical Mystery Tour'' is a record by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a double EP in the United Kingdom and an LP in the United States. It includes the soundtrack to the 1967 television film of the same title. The E ...

'', it was the band's first Christmas record not made amidst another project. Actor Victor Spinetti was present at the session, helping Lennon prepare tapes for '' The Lennon Play: In His Own Write'', a stage adaptation of the band member's books, ''

In His Own Write ''In His Own Write'' is a 1964 Literary nonsense, nonsense book by the English musician John Lennon. Lennon's first book, it consists of poems and short stories ranging from eight lines to three pages, as well as illustrations. After Lennon ...

'' (1964) and ''

A Spaniard in the Works ''A Spaniard in the Works'' is a nonsense book by English musician John Lennon, first published on 24 June 1965. The book consists of nonsensical stories and drawings similar to the style of his previous book, 1964's ''In His Own Write''. The na ...

'' (1965). The band invited Spinetti to participate in the record's recording; he performed in the skits and sang on the song. Recorded in a single take, the basic recording features

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

on drums,

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

on a Gibson J-160E

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, Lennon on

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

on piano. The Beatles, along with Martin and Spinetti, then

overdubbed Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...

manually

vocals onto the original take. 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. Martin and Emerick copied their finished master version to tape, then sent it to Lyntone Records for pressing.

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. As with previous Beatles Christmas records, the

seven-inch In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standal ...

disc was only released to British fans, with Americans instead receiving a

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. In some places, one can send a postcard f ...

. The complete take of the song has never been officially released. On 23 April 1976, a full version running 6:42 was mixed for mono. The mix was originally only played to executives at

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

but first appeared on a bootleg in 1983 and has continued to circulate on CD. Emerick remixed the song again in 1984 for the Beatles' abandoned '' Sessions'' album. He mixed the song for

stereo Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...

, editing it down to 1:08 and cross-fading into a medley with "

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as "the White Album"). It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. Following t ...

". The song was expected to appear as the

of the album's single, " Leave My Kitten Alone", originally planned for a release around Christmas 1984. Never officially released, the two versions of the song began circulating as bootlegs in 1985 and 1986, respectively.

officially released the song as the fourth track of the "

" CD single in the UK and US on 4 and 12 December 1995, respectively. Womack writes that Martin remixed the song for this release, while Winn says it is the same stereo mix made for ''Sessions'', but edited down to the first 2:19. Lewisohn's

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

credit Martin as producer and Emerick as "Engineer/Remix Engineer". After the song fades out the recording incorporates speech from the 1966 fan club disc, '' Pantomime: Everywhere It's Christmas'', recorded on 6 December 1966, as well as Lennon's poem from the 1967 recording. As the B-side, the song did not chart in either the US or UK. On 15 December 2017, the original Christmas records were re-issued on a limited-edition box set, '' The Christmas Records''.

Personnel

According to

Ian MacDonald Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was an English music critic, journalist and author, best known for both '' Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed te ...

, except where noted: The Beatles *

vocal,

double-tracked vocal, piano *

double-tracked vocal, acoustic guitar *

double-tracked vocal, drums Additional musicians *

double-tracked vocal * Victor Spinetti double-tracked vocal

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * {{authority control 1967 songs The Beatles songs British Christmas songs Songs written by Ringo Starr Songs written by George Harrison Songs written by John Lennon Songs written by Paul McCartney Song recordings produced by George Martin Music published by Startling Music Apple Records singles 1995 singles