Celebrate the Holidays Beatles-Style with Rubber Band's Xmas! Tribute Album

You're a Beatles fan, yet you also like holiday music. How can you enjoy both at the same time? Sure, you can find an underground copy of the Beatles' annual fan club Christmas records, but they performed only fragments of certain songs. These records entertain, but do not provide nonstop music. As solo artists, the four released their own Christmas-themed songs: John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reggae," Ringo Starr's fun album I Wanna Be Santa Claus, and George Harrison's New Year's anthem "Ding Dong, Ding Dong." The closest approximation to a holiday album the Beatles might have recorded is Xmas!, a 1994 tribute album by Scandinavia's Rubber Band. The album may be difficult to find, but is well worth the hunt for a fun listening experience.

According to Rubber Band's website, the group formed in 1979, when it was "considered blasphemous to copy the Beatles or their music." While they have undergone various personnel changes, the Danish band still performs at many public and private events. However, they achieved modest success with Xmas!; according to their site, Xmas! has sold over 100,000 copies in Japan, Canada, and Scandinavia. Confusingly, the band bills itself as "The Beatmas" on later editions of the album, but it is indeed the Rubber Band.

Members of the band were meticulous in rearranging familiar holiday carols to match the Beatles' style—so much, in fact, that some listeners have mistakenly believed that this is a legitimate Beatles album. The Rubber Band gives a "Taxman"-style makeover to the chestnut "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" sounds suspiciously like "All My Loving." Rock out even more to "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" when it is performed just like "I Saw Her Standing There."

Article Author: Kit O'Toole

Kit O'Toole is a lifelong music enthusiast who maintains a music blog, Listen to the Band. In addition, she is the internet columnist and a contributing editor for Beatlefan magazine. She also holds an Ed.D. in Instructional Technology.

Visit Kit O'Toole's author page — Kit O'Toole's Blog