Flashback | John And Yoko’s 1971 Holiday Gift For The McCartneys

Former Beatles Paul McCartney and John Lennon went at each other viciously in 1971. Macca released the pointed “Too Many People” and “Dear Boy” commentaries on his Ram LP, both of which were aimed at Lennon. John responded by recording the scathing “How Do You Sleep?” However as the year came to a close, Lennon was feeling nostalgic about his old mate.

On January 1, 1962 The Beatles, featuring Pete Best on drums at the time, laid down 15 tracks in a London Studio as an audition for Decca Records. Decca made one of the biggest mistakes in the history of rock when they later passed on The Beatles. In 1971 Lennon got a hold of a bootleg containing the music The Beatles recorded on New Year’s Day 1962 for Decca and sent a copy off to Paul and Linda as a holiday gift.

The text of John and Yoko’s message on the box of the recording read:

“Happy Xmas! (war is over if you want it…..)

Dear Paul Linda et al. this is THE DECCA AUDITION!!
I found the bootleg not the tape:
They were a good group fancy turning THIS down!
Love
John+Yoko

Have a listen to The Beatles’s Decca Audition: