Christmas gift of rare John Lennon record for three Welsh shops

Owner of Kellys Records, Alan Parkins, said it was an "honour and a privilege" to receive the record

Three record shops in Wales have been gifted one of 50 rare records by John Lennon's family to spread "Christmas cheer".

Yoko Ono and Sean Ono Lennon have given away the 12-inch vinyl acetates to charities and record shops in the UK.

It marks the 50th anniversary of Lennon's festive classic Happy Xmas (War is Over).

Kellys Records and Spillers in Cardiff and Diverse Vinyl in Newport have each received a record.

The owner of Kellys Records, Alan Parkins, said the anniversary disc arrived "out of the blue with a nice letter from Sean Lennon".

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The record's launch took place at Tim Burgess' Vinyl Adventures Record Fair in Manchester on 5 December.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, Mr Parkins said: "I think Tim Burgess may have been involved. He's a singer with the Charlatans.

"He loves our shop and he's made a fantastic reference to our shop in one of his books. That's the only link that we can think about."

About the record, Mr Parkins added: "It's a beautiful one-sided acetate.

"It was hand-pressed at the Abbey Road Studios. Actually, only 50 ever made and it's signed by Yoko. It's a beautiful addition for a Beatles collector or a John Lennon collector.

"We've had literally hundreds of emails [from] all over the world asking us 'Can we buy it? How can we buy it?'"

'An honour and a privilege'

Lennon's son Sean sent a letter with the record

Mr Parkins said he wants to sell the record and donate the money to charity, and he has two charities in mind - the children's hospice Ty Hafan and the special baby care unit at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

"We just want to make the maximum we possibly can," added Mr Parkins.

"We'll take a little step back and think about how we can actually do it.

"I think it says a lot for our shop. We've been there since 1969. It's an honour and a privilege."

Each record is stickered and numbered out of 50 and includes a machine printed signature from Yoko, making them collectable.

In a note accompanying each disc, Sean Ono Lennon says: "Happy Xmas. This is one of only 50 limited edition acetates hand-cut at Abbey Road, it's yours - to sell, auction, raise money to help your business or your favourite charity or to fund your Xmas party - to spread Xmas cheer.

"We'd love to see the journey these acetates take, and the goodwill that they spread."

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) was originally released in the United States in December 1971. It was released a year later in the UK, originally reaching number four in the British charts.

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