| The Beatles first Christmas 7" flexi record distributed free to their fans through the fan club.
Once fans found out about the free disc coming out from the fan-club, more and more people applied.
Consequently, the Fan Club was unprepared for all the extra subscriptions it received, so in addition to the thousands of
Christmas flexis it mailed out in December, they also made a complete extra run of the flexi-disks without the sleeves
(to save time), which were mailed out in February 1964 with a letter of apology and an explanation from the Club.
The total of 1963 Christmas flexis made, both with and without sleeves, was just over 30,000 copies.
It was recorded 17th October 1963 on the same day as they recorded I Want To Hold Your Hand
and "This Boy". The cheeky Beatle humour was in fact written by The Beatles press officer Tony Barrow which is interspersed
with crazy versions of "Good King Wenceslas".
John talks first, thanking everybody, followed by Paul who firstly thanks the fans for the jelly babies, and then quickly
declares the band no longer like them.
Ringo conveys his thanks, and then George thanks in particular the workers of the fan club.
The record fades with more Wenceslas and some "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer".
The flexi comes in a plain yellow card sleeve that opens out with the record tucked into a stapled area. No newsletter
came with this first edition. It was printed in the inner sleeve, shown above.
The rear has a picture of the Beatles at the Fan-club headquarters with Bettina Rose and Anne Collingham, with below, a
picture of the fab four being presented to the Queen Mother at the Royal Variety Performance.
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