The secret album seems to be a special project he created just for his loved ones.
In a shocking revelation, music icon Paul McCartney, one of the famous former members of the iconic band Beatles, has been keeping a hidden gem in his extensive catalog—a secret Christmas record made only for his family’s pleasure.
Even while McCartney’s holiday hit, “Wonderful Christmastime,” continues to bring in a lot of money, a whole album of holiday music would unquestionably add significantly to his already great billion-dollar net worth.
Surprisingly, McCartney has more secret Christmas treasures than this limited edition record. He said in 2015 that he has always made it a point to spend Christmas with his loved ones during a fan interaction on his website. As he has consistently done throughout his distinguished career, he clarified that he would avoid traveling on this memorable holiday.
McCartney reminisced fondly of the band’s yearly Christmas performances, brimming with musical flare and holiday spirit, saying, “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!” he continued. “What we would do is the opening of the show, where they had a fake helicopter set.”
“That came and appeared to land, and someone would introduce us: ‘Ladies and Gentleman…’ to all the screams. We would walk down, ‘Yay!’ and wave, wave, wave… and then walk off! Go back to our dressing room, and then come on again later!”
However, even in those busy times, the Christmas spirit was cherished, and concerts were frequently held the week before the holiday. McCartney added, “So anyway, I don’t even think that was Christmas day! It would have been the week of Christmas. So that was fun. But no, Christmas has always been kind of sacrosanct.”
Due to his dedication to family time and the absence of traveling obligations, McCartney was able to share his private Christmas CD with his loved ones. According to a 2019 PEOPLE magazine article, the former Beatles member has created a whole album of fresh Christmas music only for his family. He was inspired to start this project because he was sick of the same old Christmas music being played on the radio and wanted something new and upbeat.
Conjuring together a complete album of joyful festive music proved to be no difficult task given McCartney’s legendary songwriting skills. After all, he is renowned for writing the classic hit song “Wonderful Christmastime” in just ten minutes.
Reflecting on his motivation behind the project, he revealed in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s World at One, “It just gets brought out each year. Years ago, I thought there’s not very good Christmas records. There’s a Phil Spector record I like.”
“But I thought I’d quite like to do something traditional and simple and easy with all the ‘Good King Wenceslas’ and all of that. So, I actually went into my studio over a couple of years, and I made one. But it’s just for the family.”
“It’s just for the family,” he emphasized. “It just gets brought out each year. I just have a little demo of it, but you know the kids like it. Now, it’s kind of traditional. It’s something they’ve heard through the years, you know. Now it’s the grandkids getting indoctrinated with my carols record. It’s fun. We have a few little things like that. Then there’s the booze — and it’s all very jolly.”
Interestingly enough, the McCartney family isn’t the only one that has access to these musical treasures. Paul also discreetly put together a Christmas record in 1965 for just his fellow Beatles, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.
According to Far Out Magazine, McCartney only produced three copies of the CD “Unforgettable,” which had a mesmerizing combination of Nat ‘King’ Cole’s rendition of the song “Unforgettable” mixed with McCartney’s own narration, recalling a radio magazine show. A fascinating collection of oddities put together, especially for his friends, “Unforgettable” included strange interviews, experimental music, and never-before-heard tunes.
Sadly, the acetate discs that contained this special record only had a short shelf life and started to break down after a few weeks of listening. McCartney believes a cassette copy of this great work could still exist, keeping its essential qualities.