Video: 'HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER). (Ultimate Mix, 2020) John & Yoko Plastic Ono Band + Harlem Community Choir'

(Sunday, October 31, 1971, afternoon/evening EST; during the Vietnam War) — Former Beatle John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, completed recording “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” tonight at Record Plant East in New York City, with overdubs by the Harlem Community Choir – featuring thirty children, most of them four to twelve years of age – in the afternoon and strings in the evening.

Video: 'HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER). (Ultimate Mix, 2020) John & Yoko Plastic Ono Band + Harlem Community Choir'

Photographs for the original sleeve cover were also taken during today’s session by Iain Macmillan.

At some point, John and Yoko recorded introductory greetings to their own children, which were to be edited onto the beginning of the track.

Video: 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)'

Originally intended as a protest song against the Vietnam War, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” has since become a Christmas standard, frequently recorded by other artists, appearing on compilation albums of seasonal music, and named in polls as a holiday favorite.