Original German CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT on eBay

[Harry]

This one doesn't come up often, but here it is:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2598127613&category=43632

Bid quickly, only 9 hours left as I post this.

Harry

 

[andywithaz]

OH well to high priced for me. I just might write Richard and see if he has an extra copy lying around

 

[350hunny]

An exception with this product. Richard usually orders 20 copies from each affiliate in the world releasing any of Carpenters discs but Richard hadn't known that this German disc was released. To the best of my recollection, he said that every foreign affiliate of A&M requests that any Carpenters mastertape be lent to them for releasing a record in each country so without his being noticed the mastertape to Christmas Portrait was lent and transferred on to compact disc and released.

I do not know if he complained to A&M about it later.
In this life, some things are out of your reach.

 

[Bruno]

I own two copies of this German release.

But I won't sell one, because I keep it as a replacement CD, if the other one would be lost or destroyed or something. Sorry, guys.....

Bruno

 

[Jeff]

In what way exactly does the German CP differ from the American release?

Jeff

 

[Harry]

The German CD remains the only digital version of the original LP mix. From what we've learned, it was never SUPPOSED to be released, even there.

Harry
...owner of one of those German CDs, online...

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Since this is the only time I have seen this actually for sale recently, was this price about what it is going for nowadays? I guess this is pretty rare as Harry says, it was an official Cd this German Christmas Portrait Version but was pulled from production.

Like the rare album, Offering , this seems to go for a high price also & I guess this album would also be considered rare catagory like this German Cd.

I guess it depends on cost & demand. Seems eveytime the Offering LP goes on Ebay it always well over $50.00-$75.00. I guess it also depends on what you consider to be "rare", right?

 

[andywithaz]

I would imagine that the German Chrstmas Portrait CD would go higher. The reason I say that is because you can still get the original Offering on the remastered Ticket to Ride CD and from the box set.

You can't get the orginal Christmas Portrait anymore because all formats have gone out of print. The cassette just went out of print this January
The cassette was the only one that was still in print that had the original version. Oh well, I just got a copy of the cassette in the mail yesterday.

What I would suggest is just find a Mint Copy of the LP and transfer it to CD. They are floating around out there.

I've tried to bid on the German CD in countless auctions and I always lose. The only way you can definitely get it is to put in a max bid of $100. I don't think so. Gemm has some but for $70. Oh Well.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

What I would suggest is just find a Mint Copy of the LP and transfer it to CD. They are floating around out there.

I'm confused, I thought the German CD of C.P. was not the same as the original LP of C.P.?

..waiting to be corrected, online...

 

[andywithaz]

I don't have one but I think it is exactly the same as the LP.

Harry

Anybody

 

[andywithaz]

Here is what David Grant wrote:

The entire ORIGINAL Christmas Portrait album is not currently available on CD. In fact, the only time the original album in its original mix was available on CD was in the early '80s on a West German CD release. In 1984, the album was released in a "special edition" on CD, adding some of the unreleased songs recorded at the time but not included on the album (and released that same year on An Old-Fashioned Christmas), and leaving off some of the songs from the original album. In 1996, a complete collection of Carpenters' Christmas songs was released as Christmas Collection, but the Christmas Portrait disc in the set has been completely remixed. On the song "Ave Maria," the difference between the original and remixed versions is most clear: the original version of the song has vocals by Karen only, and the remixed version of the song has added backing vocals by the O.K. Chorale (Richard says that the choral parts had been misplaced during the original recording of the song and not discovered until several months later).

Thank the Lord for his website

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Oh, Ok. Thanks Andrew.

This recent ebay listing also said...

On later editions of this CD Richard also re-recorded some short keyboard passages, such as the short section joining "White Christmas" and "Ave Maria", but this edition has the original keyboard parts.

So I was just a little confused.

 

[Harry]

West German CD = same audio as original LP = original cassette audio.

Harry
...clarifying, online...

 

[andywithaz]

Too bad the cassette had now gone oop

I hope this is not the start of Universal hacking away at the Carpenters catalog.

 

[350hunny]

The cassette still seems available at cd universe. Why not try it?

http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1094601&cart=179027961&style=music

 

[350hunny]

Sorry, guys. I should have looked at it more carefully.

It is a back order state you have to look somewhere else.