🎄 Holidays! Christmas Portrait or An Old Fashioned Christmas
- Thread starter andywithaz
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I bought the original Christmas Portrait LP back when it came out, so it's like a case of nostalgia. When I bought the US CD, I was quite pissed off for getting something that had been badly altered (IMHO). I later found out the deal, that there were two Christmas albums and the CD was a hybrid. Peh! I can't stand the sappy orchestrations that come from Old Fashioned Christmas. The entire Christmas Portrait album played like a nice holiday music program, perfectly sequenced. What I MAY do is extract the KC vocal segments from Old Fashioned Christmas, and expand on Christmas Portrait without upsetting the program very much. And of course, work in the original "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" version as sort of a reprise. 
Murray
Well-Known Member
Christmas Portrait is my favourite Christmas album. The way it's put together is pure genius - the performances, the arrangements, the orchestration, the sequencing - all come together to create a wonderful listening experience. (I'm refering to the original LP, not the bastardized "Special Edition" CD)
While An Old Fashioned Christmas contains a few great performances, it just doesn't have that magic that the first Christmas album possesses. Too many instrumentals for my liking, overuse of the OK Corale, and it just doesn't flow as well.
Murray
...who wishes that an "original album, original mix" CD of "Christmas Portrait" would be released in North America someday...
While An Old Fashioned Christmas contains a few great performances, it just doesn't have that magic that the first Christmas album possesses. Too many instrumentals for my liking, overuse of the OK Corale, and it just doesn't flow as well.
Murray
...who wishes that an "original album, original mix" CD of "Christmas Portrait" would be released in North America someday...
cam89
Well-Known Member
CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT is a wonderful album filled with amazing tunes. There is no other holiday collection that features the string of songs, that flow from one to the next, like Karen and Richard's CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT. The quintessential Holiday album. On the Sandi Patty online forum, 10 of 16 fans rated that they loved the Carpenters and their holiday collections so that was neat, in addition to Grammy winner Sandi Patty's Christmas albums...
My thoughts,
Cameron
[email protected]
www.carponline.bravepages.com
My thoughts,
Cameron
[email protected]
www.carponline.bravepages.com
cam89
Well-Known Member
Hey All,
Well for me, during my first Christmas knowing who the Carpenters were, and having the fantastic CLOSE TO YOU album (my ultimate fave album of theirs!), I was in K-Mart, and saw the double twintape of Christmas Portrait and An Old Fashioned Christmas, so I was enamored by both of them. That Christmas I got the twintape featuring both Christmas albums by Karen and Richard and fell in love with it!! Wonderful classy warm music!
But I have to Choose CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT just because there are more Karen vocals. But I do actually enjoy both. MY fave tune from the AN OLD FASHIONED CHRISTMAS is the Title track sung by RC, but also the RC/KC vocal DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR? Karen's vocal especially is so wonderful and gorgeous. Richard's vocal is pleasing to the ear as well. I love that song and when Richard begins its great, but when Karen enters in later, it just makes the song very magical!!
My thoughts,
Cameron
[email protected]
www.carponline.bravepages.com
Well for me, during my first Christmas knowing who the Carpenters were, and having the fantastic CLOSE TO YOU album (my ultimate fave album of theirs!), I was in K-Mart, and saw the double twintape of Christmas Portrait and An Old Fashioned Christmas, so I was enamored by both of them. That Christmas I got the twintape featuring both Christmas albums by Karen and Richard and fell in love with it!! Wonderful classy warm music!
But I have to Choose CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT just because there are more Karen vocals. But I do actually enjoy both. MY fave tune from the AN OLD FASHIONED CHRISTMAS is the Title track sung by RC, but also the RC/KC vocal DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR? Karen's vocal especially is so wonderful and gorgeous. Richard's vocal is pleasing to the ear as well. I love that song and when Richard begins its great, but when Karen enters in later, it just makes the song very magical!!
My thoughts,
Cameron
[email protected]
www.carponline.bravepages.com
I picked Christmas Portrait, as I think most will. By itself, it's withstood the test of time - after 25 years, it remains a classic. I'm thankful that it was released, even if by mistake, in its original mix and format over in Germany, and that I was lucky enough to buy one.
The second album, an unexpected treat when it was released, didn't quite have the same impact on me. Nevertheless, I always felt it needed its own release, rather than having parts be included as padding to the original on that Special Edition CD that was released when CDs were a new item and albums of that length were a novelty. So I'm happy that I finally have a disc of it all by itself as disc 2 of the Christmas Collection. I suppose someday, I ought to seek out a foreign release of the second disc, just to get the official original artwork.
Harry
...preparing for a back-to-work Monday, online...
The second album, an unexpected treat when it was released, didn't quite have the same impact on me. Nevertheless, I always felt it needed its own release, rather than having parts be included as padding to the original on that Special Edition CD that was released when CDs were a new item and albums of that length were a novelty. So I'm happy that I finally have a disc of it all by itself as disc 2 of the Christmas Collection. I suppose someday, I ought to seek out a foreign release of the second disc, just to get the official original artwork.
Harry
...preparing for a back-to-work Monday, online...
Bruno
Member
Harry,
one year ago I bought AN OLD FASHIONED CHRISTMAS from amazon.de as an import CD from Japan. It has the original cover art work. But the CD itself has the same printing on it as it does at the CHRISTMAS COLLECTION.
Bruno
who likes both Carpenters christmas albums, but prefers CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT, the original version on CD (actually, I have two copies of this German only release)
one year ago I bought AN OLD FASHIONED CHRISTMAS from amazon.de as an import CD from Japan. It has the original cover art work. But the CD itself has the same printing on it as it does at the CHRISTMAS COLLECTION.
Bruno
who likes both Carpenters christmas albums, but prefers CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT, the original version on CD (actually, I have two copies of this German only release)
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