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Paul McCartney reveals ‘secret’ Christmas album from the 1970s

By Paul Sinclair

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33

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An interesting nugget of information was dispensed by Paul McCartney over the holiday period when he revealed that he had recorded an album of traditional christmas songs in the 1970s which he and his family play every year during the festive season.

In the ‘You Gave Me The Answer’ section of his website (where Paul normally answers one fan’s question each month) Christiana from Milton Keynes asked Paul “Do you sing with the family around the piano during holiday gatherings? And if so, which songs?”.

This was his answer:

Paul: I don’t really, that was more my Dad’s thing. I made a record when the kids were little, because I realised it was very hard to buy a record that just had the Christmas songs. You would either get Nat King Cole sings Christmas or Phil Spector’s Christmas record – which I’ve got and we use – but I just wanted straight forward Christmas songs [sings ‘Jingle Bells’ to us].  So I went into my studio and made loads of tracks. I have a little CD actually, called ‘Christmas Songs,’ and it’s just all stuff I’ve made up. I multi-tracked them all in the studio and they’re kind of nice! So rather than sitting around a piano, normally we would play that CD while everyone’s cooking. It’s a nice little CD actually, it’s got a sort of sentimental value because all the kids have grown up with it.

Paul goes on to say that they were recorded in the seventies and he’d add “one or two a year”. Check out the full story on Paul McCartney’s website.

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33 Comments

33 thoughts on “Paul McCartney reveals ‘secret’ Christmas album from the 1970s”

  1. Watch out for it being released as a 10 x 7”single boxset for well over £100, with a couple of “unreleased photos” thrown in, plus 7 or 8 separate versions released, all on different coloured vinyl, at around £50 each, then an overpriced cd boxset which you cannot buy without a cassette version, double black vinyl version, and an exclusive tote bag/ “bag for life” included as “filler” to bump the price up.
    If you buy both the cd boxset and each coloured vinyl version as a bundle, you get sent a code for the pre-sale where you might have “a chance” of buying tickets for his upcoming tour, if the ticket outlets’ “sister sites” don’t beat you to it!

  2. This is actually quite a nice story.

    I think it’s funny that instead of playing a Christmas compilation of classic tracks by other artists, he plays his own songs!

    The joy around his house at Christmas! :-)

    1. I had a dream…. EMI’s chairman died tragically and was replaced by a sort of modern Ahmet Ertegun. His very first statement is actually about Sgt Pepper. EMI will issue a double set with Carnival of Light, alternate takes of Only a Northern Song, Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields plus a few surprises… And also a stéréo version of Beach Boys’ Smile. 1967… What a great year it was.
      By the way, regarding Flowers un the Dirt, he decided to put more on each cd, to include also the 87 recordings like Return to Pepperland and Beautiful Night, plus Ferry Cross the Merde etc…
      Of course this is a pure fiction…

  5. Sorry not re McCartney but there is some exciting things in the Amazon Lightning deals tonight the pink Floyd early years box dead or alive box kinks mono box and Metallica. Is there a way to send you an email Paul so do t have to leave on a thread?

      1. I must be doing something wrong, If I click on Today’s deals / Music on Amazon UK I get very little and certainly not the list that Neil highlights above….

        Just CDs under £5, £8, £9 or £10 / Vinyl 2 for £30 / New Year, New Deals / January Savings

        AND it always seems to be the same stuff up for grabs for the last week…. where does one see the PF / DOA etc. upcoming offers?

        1. You have to go to upcoming not right now and see when they start. I hate to say but got the pink Floyd box for £136 and the deluxe of Metallica for £10.79

  6. I liked hearing the story in this article. Too bad some posters had to unload their bitterness regarding other things. I’d prefer that those comments be moderated and moved to their respective threads, but I’m sure Paul has enough going on with all the daily articles coming out. Thanks for this site. I doubt I’d find a nugget to tip you off to Paul, but I’m sure there are other helpful members here.

  7. I’m very much disenchanted with Paul McCartney. Still no response to fan dissatisfaction with the download-only content in the forthcoming “Flowers in The Dirt” boxed set. The recent documentary video by The Beatles was underwhelming, though I did enjoy the remixed Beatles Hollywood Bowl CD.
    Still, I’m wondering what future Beatles audio or video projects are possible; not many, given that any such project would require unanimous approval from Yoko, Paul, Olivia and Ringo.

    1. Shea or Washington concerts I guess; Anthology on Blu Ray and download, Let It Be movie and deluxe (with book) album, From Us To Them Christmas Fan Club album, Kinfauns Demos (White Album acoustics mainly), an EP Box Set on CD and vinyl. And then for next year……

    2. Future Beatles projects?
      I am probably the millionth person to suggest they start with Let it Be? Maybe they are thinking about a 50th anniversary edition

      1. I read a few years ago he was “working on it” (the “Let it Be” remastered film).

        I didn’t like much of it, as I don’t care to see people not getting along. There is no entertainment value in this for me, and nothing to learn from it.

        I hope Paul re-edits it, makes it lighter and replaces negative moments with positive ones. I know people don’t agree on everything and don’t always get along, but I don’t really want to watch these negative bits over and over again.

        For the die-hards, he can release a double-disc set. One disc can be the “original theatrical release” and the second can be his re-edit.

        And hopefully the rooftop concert with will complete and in stereo (at least).

  12. I just don’t get it either. You can see people throwing their toys out of the pram on just about every insane Kate Bush forum, because of an interview she gave recently that people have wilfully chosen to misinterpret, take at face value with no thought and give no benefit of the doubt even with decades of contrary evidence. People who state they have followed her since 1978 saying they will never buy another record of hers again (it won’t be too many then) but it is hard for me to understand. Ditto Flowers in the dirt, it’s a bad idea, obviously, but the level of anger and feeling of betrayal just doesn’t ring true to me. I would guess that something else is going on. It seems that we are becoming increasingly shallow with social media, and can’t bear that someone might think differently to us or might do something we don’t agree with so we have to spout off about it to show our social media savvy chops. It doesn’t amount to a hill of beans really, our opinion, but I just don’t get it.

    2. With the McCartney thing, sometimes something is so stupid, that you feel someone has to say something. Hence the ‘open letter’. It’s a long shot that anything will change with Flowers in the Dirt, but if they were planning to do similar things on future sets the criticism will surely resonate at least a little bit and therefore may well have an impact.

    3. Chris Squires, I know what you are saying, but not everyone has the money to afford all that he is re-releasing. I have been a fan since 1963 and bought all his records until this Icon who is worth around $1 Billion started to putout stuff that just got to expensive and in some cases, such as The Record Store Day items that on a few people could find, an if I remember, none in North America, It comes time to realize , some of us have to pay rent or mortgages.

    5. Heaven forbid anyone that has thoughts or speech not approved of or in-line with the ‘right on’ liberal / leftie viewpoint. They must be crushed!

  13. Download In The Dirt, hahaha…this Christmas album would be nice to have, if he decides to release it…we should have that Beatles Christmas album though…as for the Flowers box, I agree and disagree…I am NOT against downloads at all…I just back em up on CDR for a hard copy, no big deal, but for the amount of money the box costs…it should ALL be on a 5-6 CD box (with ALL B-sides, demos, etc…not just most), DVDs, maybe a vinyl, but not downloads, maybe for a video, but that’s it…hope Sir Paul reads/listens to you Paul, with that open letter…

  15. I’m 69 years old, followed Sir Paul since the good old days of Love Me Do, have everything in my huge collection but, somehow, after the Download In The Dirt fiasco I feel I just had enough. So Mr. McCartney when this Xmas thing goes public please don’t count me in.
    thanks for so many decades of great music, sorry but it ended in bittenes.

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