What is your favourite CHRISTMAS CARPENTERS artwork?*

Misael Castillo Lopez

Active Member
I think that "less is more" the elegant logo and minimalist graphic make some very beautiful Covers :)
These are my favorites:
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Regards :phones:
 
A toss up between 'Ave Maria' and 'Little Altar Boy'. 'Little Altar Boy' comes out in front. And I'm not even religious!
I think you got confused. The OP wasn’t referring to recordings already done by other groups and then the Carpenters. The covers the OP was referring to are the sleeves, in which case “Little Altar Boy” just had the generic 80’s A&M sleeve.
 
I think you got confused. The OP wasn’t referring to recordings already done by other groups and then the Carpenters. The covers the OP was referring to are the sleeves, in which case “Little Altar Boy” just had the generic 80’s A&M sleeve.

Of course I was referring to covers, to the graphic, images of the cd, lp, cassette or other format :)
 
I think you got confused. The OP wasn’t referring to recordings already done by other groups and then the Carpenters. The covers the OP was referring to are the sleeves, in which case “Little Altar Boy” just had the generic 80’s A&M sleeve.
Yes, I realised that after I'd posted. I just had a quick look at the thread-starter while doing something else.

I guess I'm a photos person myself. I don't really like any of the actual illustrations - although I do love the well-known 'Carpenters' logo.

My favourite Christmas cover, as far as I can think at the moment, is the original 1970 US cover for 'Merry Christmas, Darling', with the b&w photo of a very young K&R.

Oh, I forgot. There's also a UK edition of MCD from around 1971, showing K&R sitting back-to back, dark green background. (Similar shot to the one on the 1972 Aussie LP, 'Great Hits of the Carpenters'). This 7" cover is maybe even better than the US cover.

Having said that I don't really like the illustrations as such, I do kind of like the cover for a Japanese single that I have - 'Silent Night' b/w 'Ave Maria' & 'Jingle Bells'. This uses the illustration of K&R from 'Christmas Portrait'.

There were a couple of similar covers produced in the UK, for different editions of 'Merry Christmas, Darling', and I also quite like them.
 
Ive enjoyed the artwork for Santa Claus and Christmas Song. Christmas Song reminds me of that old-fashioned style that you see on some copies of ‘Night Before Christmas’ or the Bible, where the first letter of the book is done in that stylized artwork.
 
I'm partial to two sleeves for very different reasons:

Just seeing the 1970 US "Darling" sleeve takes me back, makes me believe it's my first time hearing the record:
The boys were in Vietnam. No matter how you felt about the war, we all wanted the troops home for Christmas.
That single -- with Karen's vocal, Richard's arrangement, Pooler's lyric -- was a perfect holiday storm. It touched a nerve that first listen, and still does.

Some 20 years later, a UK "Darling" re-release served up the single in a cardboard Christmas card-like sleeve that goes up on the mantle each year.
Lovely.

http://images.45cat.com/carpenters-merry-christmas-darling-am-2.jpg
http://images.45cat.com/carpenters-merry-christmas-darling-1990-4.jpg
 
I'm partial to two sleeves for very different reasons:

Just seeing the 1970 US "Darling" sleeve takes me back, makes me believe it's my first time hearing the record:
The boys were in Vietnam. No matter how you felt about the war, we all wanted the troops home for Christmas.
That single -- with Karen's vocal, Richard's arrangement, Pooler's lyric -- was a perfect holiday storm. It touched a nerve that first listen, and still does.

Don't forget that Pooler originally wrote the lyrics around 1946, so right around the end of World War II. Who knows, maybe he had been drafted and served in WWII, and he wrote the song because of his memories of longing to be at home for Christmas during the war.

Although in my case, both WWII and the Vietnam War were ancient history by the time I was around, so I really don't attach that type of sentimentality with it.
 
Don't forget that Pooler originally wrote the lyrics around 1946, so right around the end of World War II. Who knows, maybe he had been drafted and served in WWII, and he wrote the song because of his memories of longing to be at home for Christmas during the war.

Although in my case, both WWII and the Vietnam War were ancient history by the time I was around, so I really don't attach that type of sentimentality with it.
Don't forget that Pooler originally wrote the lyrics around 1946, so right around the end of World War II. Who knows, maybe he had been drafted and served in WWII, and he wrote the song because of his memories of longing to be at home for Christmas during the war.

Although in my case, both WWII and the Vietnam War were ancient history by the time I was around, so I really don't attach that type of sentimentality with it.
Tom:
Pooler's lyric is timeless, if you ask me. It applies to any time, any one we love who can't get home for the holiday.
I love your selections, as well, BTW.
This poll is like "Sophie's Choice." How can we choose favorites when all these "children" are equally precious?
 
I'm partial to two sleeves for very different reasons:

Just seeing the 1970 US "Darling" sleeve takes me back, makes me believe it's my first time hearing the record:
The boys were in Vietnam. No matter how you felt about the war, we all wanted the troops home for Christmas.
That single -- with Karen's vocal, Richard's arrangement, Pooler's lyric -- was a perfect holiday storm. It touched a nerve that first listen, and still does.

Some 20 years later, a UK "Darling" re-release served up the single in a cardboard Christmas card-like sleeve that goes up on the mantle each year.
Lovely.

http://images.45cat.com/carpenters-merry-christmas-darling-am-2.jpg
http://images.45cat.com/carpenters-merry-christmas-darling-1990-4.jpg

It's great as things, an image, a sound makes you remember a past and its history, what you lived, both in images, feelings, even the aroma of those moments. Regards
 
I've played the albums a few times since Nov 1 (as well as the Christmas Memoires DVD), and I must say that the artwork that has been used since 1990 has been rather dull, and not very Christmasy. It's too bad that, for example, the 1992 Time-Life artwork wasn't altered to remove the blue photo background, and maybe insert a shot of a live Christmas tree. Even the 1995 Christmas Song mini-CD, just had a small planted tree---it would've been nice had they replicated the ad bumper for Christmas Portrait with the Carpenters logo in front of a live shot of a Christmas Tree, and not the drawn version. Even having a drawn or a photo of a real actor as Santa Claus on the cover would've really made the covers feel Christmasy, just like the covers for the actual albums, or the Santa Claus Is Coming to Town 45.
 
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