Paul McCartney Told Fans Not to Send 1 Specific Gift on The Beatles’ 1963 Christmas Record
From 1963 to 1969, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr recorded a Christmas record for The Beatles’ fan club members. The records were often chaotic, featuring ad-libbed songs, skits, and direct addresses to fans. On their first record, which the band made in the early days of Beatlemania, McCartney spoke directly to the fan club. He told them they were no longer interested in a candy fans had been pelting at them.
Beatlemania began in the early 1960s
The Beatles formed in 1960 and, by 1964, were international celebrities. Beatlemania began in England before 1964, but they reached unprecedented levels of fame on their first visit to the United States. While they appreciated their fans and their new level of success, it could be overwhelming. Scottish concert promoter Andi Lothian recalled how quickly their shows could devolve into chaos.
“The girls were beginning to overwhelm us,” he told The Guardian in 2013. “I saw one of them almost getting to Ringo’s drumkit and then I saw 40 drunk bouncers tearing down the aisles. It was like the Relief of Mafeking! It was absolute pandemonium. Girls fainting, screaming, wet seats. The whole hall went into some kind of state, almost like collective hypnotism. I’d never seen anything like it.”
Paul McCartney made a request of fans on The Beatles’ Christmas album
The Beatles’ fans wanted to show the band how much they valued them. They sent birthday cards and gifts. When they mentioned they liked something, fans would mail it or pelt it at them onstage. So, when the band said they liked the candy Jelly Babies, fans started throwing the candies at them during concerts.
At the end of 1963, the band recorded a Christmas record for their fan club. After an ad-libbed version of “Good King Wenceslas,” each member addressed fans. McCartney took the opportunity to tell them they no longer liked Jelly Babies.
“Somebody asked us if we still like Jelly Babies,” he said. “Well. We used to like them – in fact, we loved them. And we said so in one of the papers, you see. Ever since then, we’ve been getting them in boxes, packets, and crates. Anyway, we’ve gone right off Jelly Babies!”
Whether or not the band received any Jelly Babies as Christmas presents that year is unclear.
Paul McCartney always aimed to be home for Christmas
The Beatles recorded Christmas records until they broke up and would often put on holiday shows. Despite this, McCartney said that he always made a point to be at home for Christmas.
“I have always tried to be off,” McCartney said in a Q&A on his website. “We always kind of specified that we wanted to be home. The nearest we ever came to that was with The Beatles. We used to have a Christmas show. We used to get dressed up! And actually it was really cool because it was a sort of like a panto, but with musical people. A musically packaged show but with all sorts of little Christmassy things. It was great because we would just show up in our car — at the stage door — in our overcoats and everything. We’d jump out, go to the dressing room, and about five minutes later we were on!”
