Words by Riley Fitzgerald
Graphic by Linda McCartney

The Christmas season has always served Paul McCartney well.

During the early days of the Beatles, Paul and the company used the holiday as an opportunity to record and release several messages for their fan club.

As the group grew in fame, they soon came to realize that it was during the Christmas period that their albums really sold.

It was the lure of Silly Season sales in fact, which in fact led them to release their Magical Mystery Tour record and television special.

And it didn’t end with the band’s demise.

John Lennon would later use the holiday to raise awareness for world peace with ‘Happy Xmas (War is Over).’

As for Paul McCartney? Well. Paul has always had a soft spot for show tunes, standards and the schmalzier side of things in general.

Which, in 1979, led to one of his unlikeliest of enduring successes, ‘A Wonderful Christmastime.’

Now, following news that McCartney has recorded a secret family-only album of instrumental season standards, the former Beatle has released a remastered version of the ‘A Wonderful Christmastime’ music video.

While the single was released after Paul McCartney and first wife Linda McCartney parted ways with Wings in 1980, the band features in the video and can be seen miming the music Paul recorded on his own.

(Except for Linda, of course, whose vocals appear on the track.)

The clip, some fans claim, also includes a gentleman that looks suspiciously like George Harrison singing in a Christmas choir.