Christmas Time (Is Here Again)

Another little bite of the Apple: Produced by George (Is Here Again) Martin.

Recorded on Tuesday 28th November 1967 in Abbey Road studios.
Augmented applause recorded on location in Dublin using f8 filter at 33 1/3 a.s.a.

As in the previous Christmas fan club outing, the Beatles themselves wrote this offering which took the form of a send-up of current radio and television programmes. It also included a brief snatch of a Christmas song which was registered as being written by Lennon-McCartney-Harrison-Starkey and in it's original un-cut form runs for 6 minutes 37 seconds (!), and appeared on the single of Free As A Bird, and of course, a number of bootlegs.
Just one take of the song was recorded which featured John on Timpani, Paul on piano, George on acoustic guitar, Ringo on drums and double-tracked vocals from the four Beatles plus George Martin and Victor Spinetti.

The accompanying sketches included, messages, jokes, tap-dancing by Ringo and Victor, the voices of Mal Evans and George Martin, and a snatch of an old song called "Plenty Of Jam Jars".

This was the last Christmas fan club recording where all four Beatles were in the studio together.