CARPENTERS SONG-BY-SONG: "AN OLD-FASHIONED CHRISTMAS"

[Chris May]

I'd love to hear everybody's feedback on which of Karen's leads are your very most favorite from this album and why?

 

[davidgra]

I've said it many times before -- I think "Little Altar Boy" is one of Karen's very finest vocal performances.

Karen sounds outstanding on all of these tracks, really. While some of these songs aren't as traditionally Christmas-y as the songs from the first Christmas album, Karen was in excellent voice when she recorded them. And even though "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" has the "Carpenters" sound, I'm not as fond of this version as I am the single version. I like the "drier" vocal mix from the single.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

This was a no brainer for me, I picked "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" the single is the standard for me, Karen's voice never ever sounded better than on this track. The warmth she conveys reminds me alot of the sound from the album Solitaire. The presence of her voice, wow it's like she is right there next to you. I was so happy to find that the single version finally came out on the Japan Single Box Set.

 

[Harry]

Though I tend to agree that the single "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" is a special one, I can't vote for it here because I dislike the remix that appeared on the album. The single is the one I like.

So I voted for "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day". Karen's deep register is exceedingly well utilized on this track, so as a vocal performance, this one is tops.

Harry

 

[Toolman]

"Little Altar Boy" by a long shot, although I'm also very fond of "Heard the Bells" and "SC Is Comin' to Town". I'm sure it's as much the lyric of "Altar Boy" that grabs me as the exceptionally good vocal performance. Something really heartbreaking in the song's protagonist feeling so unworthy of redemption that she needs the altar boy to ask for her. Karen's quiet vocal intimacy and the dark hues in her register really work here. Now, whether it's really a Christmas song...

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Well....there are A LOT of Christmas songs that aren't really about Christmas...a lot of them are about winter in general. Then there are songs that are just about toys, or reindeer, or snowmen, or the winter weather, or ones like "My Favorite Things" that really have nothing at all to do with Christmas...etc. I guess if they were ALL about Santa or Jesus either one, it would make for less-interesting listening during the holidays.

But having said that, of this group of songs I'd go with "little Altar Boy" too. True, it's not about Christmas but the spiritual nature of it combined with her heartfelt reading is a grabber for me.

 

[Dave60640]

Performance wise, Little Altar Boy for sure. But something about KCs playfulness in What Are You Doing...that really gets me.

 

[Rudy]

I'm with Harry: I'd vote for "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" if it weren't the remix/re-recording. The polished-up version is ruined IMHO: don't tamper with perfection. The replaced sax solo kills it for me the most.

Went with "New Year's Eve."

 

[no1kandrfan]

All her vocals are great, but Home for the Holidays does it for me; she sounds happy, and it puts me in a holiday mood.

 

[Rumbahbah]

Although I think Santa Claus is Comin' to Town is an outstanding version and that would normally get my vote, I went a bit leftfield and picked He Came Here for Me.
I'd never heard this until a couple of years ago (I'd bought the Christmas Portrait Special Edition all those years ago and assumed that this included the highlights from the Old Fashioned Christmas album, which was not easy to track down back then - how wrong I was) but eventually heard the Christmas Collection and was blown away by this track. Although it's more religious in nature than most of the other tracks and it is somewhat similar to Little Altar Boy in style, it's astounding. So dark and so dramatic, all in little over two minutes!

 

[Nheco-nheco]

My favorite SONG from this album IS Do you hear what I hear... HOWEVER I believe her vocals on I heard the bells on Christmas day ARE the best sung within the whole album.