9 days until the start of the Get Back sessions
Christmas Eve was here, and with it, the individual Beatles likely enjoyed private time with their families. We know Paul McCartney was in Merseyside because Linda Eastman took photos of the Crimble celebration. The other Beatles were likely home in the London area, John Lennon and Ringo Starr recovering from the Apple Christmas party the day before (see the December 23 entry for more on the party).
Maybe the Beatles should have sent the Hell’s Angels to Liverpool. The McCartneys and their neighbors didn’t have any problem making sure the Christmas feast would have a bird to carve as the Liverpool Daily Post mentioned on Page 1 that there would be “No shortage of turkey.” Remember, Paul didn’t become a vegetarian until the mid-1970s.
Earthly pursuits included simple tasks like man finding a celebratory meal. In space, mankind reached new heights.
On December 24, 1968, Apollo 8 entered lunar orbit. In what would have been around 2:30 a.m. GMT on Christmas Day, the Apollo 8 crew delivered a live reading from the Book of Genesis that was broadcast worldwide. It was estimated one in four people – 1 billion worldwide – watched the telecast.
Earlier in the day on December 24, astronaut William Anders photographed the planet in what would be known as the Earthrise photo.
It would be published in England on January 6, 1969, and provide the inspiration for David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.”
They May Be Parted 