tomswift2002
Well-Known Member
From what I've seen of the Christmas Specials, most of the songs from Portrait were recorded for the specials, and "Carol Of The Bells" seems to have been tracked for the 1974 Perry Como Christmas Special (minus the singers). What was done in 78 seemed to be a lot of bridging material and remix of older material. But still, it is interesting how with the material coming from multiple years, Richard and Karen still managed to make an album that sounded like it had been done with a master plan of the album being like a symphonic concert, with an interlude midway through for refreshments. And it's incredible that in 1984 Richard was able to expand the Christmas Portrait album and still make it feel like you were at a symphony.
As for "An Old-Fashioned Christmas", dvakman, when you look at side one (from "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" to "Little Altar Boy", there are only 2 songs by Karen ("Home For The Holidays" and "Little Altar Boy", with possible some vocals in the Overture), while the rest is Richard, with vocals on "It Came", "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" and other Overture songs, and An Old-Fashioned Christmas. And the side 2 is Karen's side, where you sort of have a hand-off by Richard with "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and Karen finishing, and singing "He Came", "Santa Claus" "New Year's Eve" and "I Heard The Bells", with the only Richard tracks being the instrumentals "My Favorite Things" and "The Nutcracker".
As for "An Old-Fashioned Christmas", dvakman, when you look at side one (from "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" to "Little Altar Boy", there are only 2 songs by Karen ("Home For The Holidays" and "Little Altar Boy", with possible some vocals in the Overture), while the rest is Richard, with vocals on "It Came", "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" and other Overture songs, and An Old-Fashioned Christmas. And the side 2 is Karen's side, where you sort of have a hand-off by Richard with "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and Karen finishing, and singing "He Came", "Santa Claus" "New Year's Eve" and "I Heard The Bells", with the only Richard tracks being the instrumentals "My Favorite Things" and "The Nutcracker".