Christmas Portrait: Special Edition (1984)

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The Liner Notes for the Reader's Digest Collection includes the interview (1978) where Karen says:
"we wanted to make it (Christmas Portrait) a double-album, but ran out of time."

Now, here is the Official website where Richard writes: “I had the album pictured the way I wanted it – and it took time to get it right.”
Because of all the studio time, plus the cost of a full orchestra and a large choir, Christmas Portrait became the Carpenters’ most expensive album to that point. Richard remembers that A&M at one point registered some concern about the mounting bills...."

So, I really wonder how it is that serious consideration for a double-album could have been originally intended.
Musically, I can not imagine an amalgamation of the remaining (OFC) lead vocals being sequenced onto Christmas Portrait in 1978.
And, as Richard now says, he was doing little more than production work and very few keyboard duties,
I simply can not imagine that a double-album was intended for completion in 1978.
 
I don't think A&M wanted to release a double LP at that point in time. As it was, Christmas albums from current artists were not that popular back then, and if I recall correctly, as it was, it didn't sell all that well in its first couple of years or so. So it would have been natural to simply shelve that which didn't fit.

There wasn't all-Christmas-radio back then. Most popular music stations played a few Christmas tunes an hour as the big day got closer, and might have gone all-Christmas on Christmas eve through Christmas day. But that was about it. Some of the beautiful music stations would go all-Christmas in that last week before the holiday, but they were playing things like Percy Faith, Boston Pops, and other orchestral treatments.

Once CDs came along, then A&M wanted a fuller disc, so Richard obliged and sequenced the Special Edition.
 
I'd guess probably not. They and the label were likely focused on future projects, not digging through vaults of unreleased stuff. Once Karen died, then the vault stuff became more important. But while she was alive, there were no perceived limits on what they could have done in the future.
 
Once CDs came along, then A&M wanted a fuller disc, so Richard obliged and sequenced the Special Edition.
I made a much better "special edition" of my own. Besides one flub on a segue (it contains part of one of the removed tracks), all the KC tracks are there, along with one RC instrumental feature. It loses all the drecky choral garbage that turns my stomach.
 
The West German original mix CD sounds fine if you play it straight through, but I've found that the track indexing is a little sloppy for my tastes. I usually compile my own Christmas disc for use in the car and when these tracks are set in random mode, they start and end improperly.

So I put the whole disc into Audacity and adjusted the starts and ends so that they sound as good as they can as individual tracks.
 
I don't think A&M wanted to release a double LP at that point in time. As it was, Christmas albums from current artists were not that popular back then, and if I recall correctly, as it was, it didn't sell all that well in its first couple of years or so. So it would have been natural to simply shelve that which didn't fit.

There wasn't all-Christmas-radio back then. Most popular music stations played a few Christmas tunes an hour as the big day got closer, and might have gone all-Christmas on Christmas eve through Christmas day. But that was about it. Some of the beautiful music stations would go all-Christmas in that last week before the holiday, but they were playing things like Percy Faith, Boston Pops, and other orchestral treatments.

Once CDs came along, then A&M wanted a fuller disc, so Richard obliged and sequenced the Special Edition.
I don’t see why there was not more insistence placed on more Karen’s tunes rather than orchestral fluff. First Snowfall and Do You Hear What I Hear and all her others would have sold more.
 
The West German original mix CD sounds fine if you play it straight through, but I've found that the track indexing is a little sloppy for my tastes. I usually compile my own Christmas disc for use in the car and when these tracks are set in random mode, they start and end improperly.

So I put the whole disc into Audacity and adjusted the starts and ends so that they sound as good as they can as individual tracks.
That is one downfall to the album--even if I program my own playlist, and aside from the indexing, there are so many segues that it's really not all that adaptable to playing the tracks separately. But that is a rather limited use case, so it's not a fault of the album--it was programmed in order to be listened to straight through.
 
I know we all know that Karen’s breath control was otherworldly, but hearing Do You Hear WIH just now again and that last note - she doesn’t just sustain it, she makes it blossom and reach to the heavens without over-singing in the slightest. Just breathtaking.
 
I know we all know that Karen’s breath control was otherworldly, but hearing Do You Hear WIH just now again and that last note - she doesn’t just sustain it, she makes it blossom and reach to the heavens without over-singing in the slightest. Just breathtaking.
Not only the above but when Karen comes in on the second verse it’s like the listener is absorbed into her voice as soaking in a relaxing warm bath. It just doesn’t get any better!
 
Not to sure what the exact date was in 1984 that Christmas Portrait Special Edition came out, but it was probably the same as An Old-Fashioned Christmas which was October 26, 1984. So happy 36th anniversary to this compilation which hit #56 on the Billboard charts just 10 months ago in January 2020, it’s highest charting position ever! Maybe this year it can go to #1!😅
 
I like to hear the album as it was originally released, with the original song sequence. The mix of songs on 'Special Edition' doesn't sound right, somehow.

Speaking of Christmas albums, I recently bought a second copy of Benjamin Britten's 'A Ceremony of Carols', by The Choir of King's College, Cambridge. I like it a lot. (Haven't seen my original copy for a while).

I like a whole range of music. Carpenters synthesise a few different styles / genres, as we know.
 
For me, the original Christmas Portrait sounds odd and short, since the Special Edition was the first version that I heard. And for the past 30 years I would say that the SE has become THE Christmas Portrait, as the original has essentially been out-of-print since the vinyl LP was discontinued in the early-1990’s, and cassette’s popularity waned to where the cassette was discontinued around 2000.
 
For me, the original Christmas Portrait sounds odd and short, since the Special Edition was the first version that I heard. And for the past 30 years I would say that the SE has become THE Christmas Portrait, as the original has essentially been out-of-print since the vinyl LP was discontinued in the early-1990’s, and cassette’s popularity waned to where the cassette was discontinued around 2000.
Well, those of us who experienced the original album upon its release in ‘78 feel differently. It’s chock full of Karen at her very best.

I remember how stunned I was to see a Carpenters Christmas album. It seemed to come out of nowhere. What a magnificent surprise, though! The SE is beautifully done, as well. Richard linked old and ‘new’ together beautifully, as always.
 
I listen to both the original Christmas Portrait and Old-Fashioned Christmas albums
more times than I have ever listened to the Special Edition cd.
I am one of the few, I suppose, who does not care much for the Special Edition.
In fact, I can not recall the last time I listened to the Special Edition straight through to the end,
...guess I'll give it a play today to refresh why I find it less than satisfactory....
 
I listen to both the original Christmas Portrait and Old-Fashioned Christmas albums
more times than I have ever listened to the Special Edition cd.
I am one of the few, I suppose, who does not care much for the Special Edition.
In fact, I can not recall the last time I listened to the Special Edition straight through to the end,
...guess I'll give it a play today to refresh why I find it less than satisfactory....
I'm with you @GaryAlan. Having said that, occasionally I'll do as you mention here and find that I very much enjoy the hybrid play as well. Different for sure, yet nonetheless enjoyable.
 
Well, there are some good parts of the SPECIAL EDITION. It's not totally remixed, so there are parts and pieces that sound like the West German CD or the original LP, without the reverb slathered all over it. Personally, I find its biggest failing is the opening - and I think I understand why it's the way it is. Richard wasn't really around for that first CHRISTMAS PORTAIT, and when asked to prepare this CD, I think his temptation was to remove the Peter Knight Overture that he may have had little to do with, and replace it with his own Overture from the second album.
 
Well, there are some good parts of the SPECIAL EDITION. It's not totally remixed, so there are parts and pieces that sound like the West German CD or the original LP, without the reverb slathered all over it.
Agreed, which has been part of its appeal for many Carpenterphiles over the past few decades.

As for the second overture—it was placed there not only because Richard directly had his hand in the arrangement and orchestration, but also because it gave Portrait a different spin in terms of a fresh sound with greater marketing appeal, since it was technically a reissue (in title only)—but not.
 
^ And an RPO project would help Richard redeem himself for his self admitted limited participation in Christmas Portrait due to the issues he was dealing with at the time. I also think it would sell very well (even in the US for a change) and continue to keep the Carpenters relevant in future Christmas playlists. "Merry Christmas Darling" has already been completed which would save some time and recording costs. My only wish is that Richard would add "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" (slow version) as a bonus track which I now enjoy as much as MCD.
 
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^ And an RPO project would help Richard redeem himself for his self admitted limited participation in Christmas Portrait due to the issues he was dealing with at the time. I also think it would sell very well (even in the US for a change) and continue to keep the Carpenters relevant in future Christmas playlists. "Merry Christmas Darling" has already been completed which would save some time and recording costs. My only wish is that Richard would add "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" as a bonus track which I enjoy as much as MCD.
Well... yes, and no.

The only way this would technically make sense—assuming we're talking about wholesale changes to the orchestrations themselves, would be to completely re-orchestrate everything. This doesn't really work since the vocal tracks, harmonic and rhythmic structures all pivot around what the late Peter Knight intended for the charts that he completed.

Even if Richard was to do anything remotely close, it would be nothing more than replace the existing orchestra on the masters with the Royal Phil, with the purpose of fattening the sound. The issue is simply this—the orchestras were/are the same size and don’t need any “fattening,” so it really would be a costly endeavor with little result.

This project will consist of materials from both Christmas albums, so "Santa Claus" would be included.

All of this to say, with the exception of an occasional embellishment here or there, the most he'll do will be a master tape track cleanup (mostly on the leads), removing most of the reverb, and a remix. This will definitely improve the quality of the playlist.
 
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