⭐ Official Review [Single]: 24. "CHRISTMAS SONG"/"MERRY CHRISTMAS DARLING" (1991-S)

[GaryAlan]

I am getting senile, as I could not locate the official thread for review of 1978 LP Christmas Portrait.
In any event, here is a portion of a (cynical) review from
UK's Record Mirror, December 22, 1978:
"They know what Christmas Is about and they've seen enough of them tinselly Hollywood films to know where
and when to stick a choir In and pull a bell out and vice -versa, and verse- vica."
---
"They've synthesized everything ever to come out of Sunset Boulevard at yuletide into two sides of a perfect piece of plastic."
---
"...but, as you can imagine, a vacuum cleaner does little to improve this. If you want to get into the Christmas spirit,
and I don't mean Johnny Walker, buy this record for instant atmosphere and have yourself a merry little Christmas."
---
Source:

https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-UK/Music/Archive-Record-Mirror-IDX/IDX/70s/Record-Mirror-1978-12-22-IDX-15.pdf#search=%22carpenters%20london%22

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

There's something I've either just learned or is not true in the book, and I'm simply trying to learn what is reality here. The book (on page 196) states:

"The Carpenters released "Christmas Song" -with its alternate subtitle ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") -as a single in November 1978, and fans got another early Christmas present on the 45's B-side. There was a newly recorded lead vocal and remix of "Merry Christmas, Darling," which the Carpenters had originally recorded in 1970. As they did with "Ticket To Ride" in 1973, the duo replaced Karen's youthful, husky vocal with her now mature, now technically supreme lead. Again, it made a world of difference."

That would indicate that single #1991 would have the remix of "Merry Christmas, Darling" on its B-side. My copy, I swear, has the original 1970 mix, at least that's what I hear based on Karen's reading on the word "special one for you". That sure sounds like her reading on the 1970 mix.

Now, I also have the "Forget Me Nots" version, single #8620, and it sounds identical - the 1970 version. So I now wonder if there's perhaps a later version of #1991 that replaced the B-side with the newer version?

I’m just circling back on this since I missed this post from last year.
It seems we need some clarification on this maybe even a catalog #
I’ve just checked all my single 45’s and they all have the original 70’ version of MCD.

These are what I own and they all contain the 70’ vocal of MCD.
Christmas Song/MCD (Memories label AM-8620)
Christmas Song/MCD (Forget Me Nots 8620-S)
Christmas Song/MCD (White Label Promo Both Side are black lettering 8620-S)
Christmas Song/MCD (White Label Promo Both Side are red lettering 1991-S)

What’s strange is that I have never seen a US single 45 issued from 78' with the added title, “Chestnuts Roasting On A Open Fire” on the label.

I’m wondering if this was a Canada issue only as I found 2 were issued in Canada with this added title on the label from 78'

Carpenters - Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the Vinyl release of "Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)" on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

Carpenters - Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the Vinyl release of "Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)" on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

Does anyone have these Canadian releases on 45 rpm and can confirm that MCD is the 78 re-record?

 

[tomswift2002]

I’m just circling back on this since I missed this post from last year.
It seems we need some clarification on this maybe even a catalog #
I’ve just checked all my single 45’s and they all have the original 70’ version of MCD.

These are what I own and they all contain the 70’ vocal of MCD.
Christmas Song/MCD (Memories label AM-8620)
Christmas Song/MCD (Forget Me Nots 8620-S)
Christmas Song/MCD (White Label Promo Both Side are black lettering 8620-S)
Christmas Song/MCD (White Label Promo Both Side are red lettering 1991-S)

What’s strange is that I have never seen a US single 45 issued from 78' with the added title, “Chestnuts Roasting On A Open Fire” on the label.

I’m wondering if this was a Canada issue only as I found 2 were issued in Canada with this added title on the label from 78'

Carpenters - Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the Vinyl release of "Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)" on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

Carpenters - Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the Vinyl release of "Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)" on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

Does anyone have these Canadian releases on 45 rpm and can confirm that MCD is the 78 re-record?

Wasn’t the single released in 77 to tie into the “Carpenters Christmas Special” (which the 77 cover art mentioned)? If so, could the 78 reissue that didn’t mention the TV special have changed?

But I was just looking at my US 77 promo copy, and I noticed in the dead wax it has, for MCD (which is the 70 version) ‘A&M 2068S (R6-2) scratch mark S3’. That scratch mark is not from a needle but it looks like some one wrote ‘AC-3’ on the master but then scratched it out, like you would scratch out writing on a piece of paper. There’s no corresponding scratch on the ‘Christmas Song’ side (its dead wax number is ‘A&M 12357 S(RF-1)-S2’.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

It makes no sense that there is no US single with this revised title of The Christmas Song on discogs. A single like this would have been mass produced back then and yet I can’t find any except this Canadian issue.

Mike or Chris, can you provide further details on this?

 

[tomswift2002]

It makes no sense that there is no US single with this revised title of The Christmas Song on discogs. A single like this would have been mass produced back then and yet I can’t find any except this Canadian issue.

Mike or Chris, can you provide further details on this?

Remember in 77-78 A&M Canada was kind of marching to its own drum when it came to record labels and even mixes, as A&M Canada was still using the old labels for promos and even released a mono mix of the short edit of Occupants. But here in Canada maybe there was a legal reason to include the bracketed part that SOCAN or another agency required.

But judging by this, the US kept issuing it as “Christmas Song” into the 90’s barcode era.

CARPENTERS: christmas song / merry christmas darling A&M 7" Single 45 RPM | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for CARPENTERS: christmas song / merry christmas darling A&M 7" Single 45 RPM at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.ca

 

[Harry]

Nat King Cole's definitive version was referred to with a different parenthetical:

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Yes, they did that too with the Carpenters single in Australia 1977

 

[tomswift2002]

Nat King Cole's definitive version was referred to with a different parenthetical:

You sure that’s his definitive? Discos showing that’s his third recording from 1956 while his fourth from 1961 (which was the only stereo recording, the other 3 were mono) is considered his definitive by most and is the one heard on radio every year and on numerous compilation albums.

 

[Harry]

Just showing a picture Tom Swift.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I think they should have released a single 45 in 78’ with MCD on both sides with no dates on the labels anywhere. Side A being the re-record and Side B being the original 70’ vocal. It would have left us guessing for years. Promo copies sent to radio stations, would they even hear the differences?

 

[Harry]

Like I said, radio only cared about the record once a year. Each year, it was either carted up anew or was played from last year's cart. Once the CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT album found its way to the libraries in the station, then the production folks would find THAT version and cart it up. Most never heard the subtle differences. Album vinyl was usually favored over 45 singles if available since album vinyl was usually cleaner and not as easily damaged as some of those styrene 45s.

 

[Chris May]

Like I said, radio only cared about the record once a year. Each year, it was either carted up anew or was played from last year's cart. Once the CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT album found its way to the libraries in the station, then the production folks would find THAT version and cart it up. Most never heard the subtle differences. Album vinyl was usually favored over 45 singles if available since album vinyl was usually cleaner and not as easily damaged as some of those styrene 45s.

Right, which is more or less why—to this day—you continue to hear both versions on FM and satellite radio.

 

[Harry]

And then of course CDs arrived and CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT was the easy one to find, so the 1978-re-do began to be favored each year. The 1970 single version was placed on the FROM THE TOP box set, which not all radio stations got.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Like I said, radio only cared about the record once a year. Each year, it was either carted up anew or was played from last year's cart. Once the CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT album found its way to the libraries in the station, then the production folks would find THAT version and cart it up. Most never heard the subtle differences. Album vinyl was usually favored over 45 singles if available since album vinyl was usually cleaner and not as easily damaged as some of those styrene 45s.

I guess that shows how much I know ha I just assumed radio dj’s were still using 45’s in the 70’s vs cueing up an LP just to play the single. I also thought the WLP 45’s were suppose to sound better over airplay vs an LP.

 

[Harry]

Different stations of course did things differently. Stations that played records on air, generally did so with the knowledge that they could easily replace that record if it became damaged. Those were large market stations with regular record service from the large labels. Smaller market stations would likely rely on tape formats to protect their more limited record library.

If a record was hard to replace, any station would surely cart it up. An example was the song "Friends" by Elton John. I recall it was only available for years on a soundtrack album for the movie.

CDs made a lot of difference in their near indestructable nature (with careful handling), and then downloadable files direct from the record companies is how things are done today.

 

[Another Son]

Yes, they did that too with the Carpenters single in Australia 1977

I’m not certain but I think Australia also released a pressing with ‘Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire’ as the subtitle - maybe on a separate year. I’m fairly sure that one had the re-recorded vocal of ‘Merry Christmas Darling’ on the ‘B’ side.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I’m not certain but I think Australia also released a pressing with ‘Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire’ as the subtitle - maybe on a separate year. I’m fairly sure that one had the re-recorded vocal of ‘Merry Christmas Darling’ on the ‘B’ side.

Yeah I have no doubt MCD is the re record because it says right on the label taken from the album CP.

I just can’t figure out why the US never released The Christmas Song on a 45 with the added title, yet Canada did.

 

[tomswift2002]

Different stations of course did things differently. Stations that played records on air, generally did so with the knowledge that they could easily replace that record if it became damaged. Those were large market stations with regular record service from the large labels. Smaller market stations would likely rely on tape formats to protect their more limited record library.

If a record was hard to replace, any station would surely cart it up. An example was the song "Friends" by Elton John. I recall it was only available for years on a soundtrack album for the movie.

CDs made a lot of difference in their near indestructable nature (with careful handling), and then downloadable files direct from the record companies is how things are done today.

Of course CD’s (and digital files) were only as good as the masters that were used.

I’ve got 1989 and 1990 Solid Gold Scrapbook Christmas specials, the 1989 was only issued on vinyl while 1990’s was released on both vinyl & CD-R (yes CD-R was out in 1990, but only to professional markets). Both have Brenda Lee’s Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree and they both skip a few times within the first 30 seconds of the song (not the actual LP’s that I have) but they are the skips that you hear on some records, especially 45s, right at the edge of the disc from the needle not landing properly. So I think decades old 45’s were still being used into the 90’s.

And of course, the CD-R in 1990 was mastered from a vinyl LP, as later in the disc during an interview, all of a sudden there is a needle skip that isn’t present on the vinyl copy that I have!

 

[GaryAlan]

12/05/1981, Gold certifications (50,000 unit sales):
Murray Head's "Say It Ain't So," Squeeze's "Argy Bargy,"
The Carpenters' "Christmas Portrait" and Joan Armatrading's "To The Limit,"
all on A&M.

Source:

https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/80s/1981/CB-1981-12-05-OCR-Page-0032.pdf#search=%22carpenters%22

 

[Harry]

And of course, the CD-R in 1990 was mastered from a vinyl LP

There were almost zero CD-R's sent to or available to radio stations in 1990. Most everything was a pressed CD. Of course, the mastering was always a factor. Our PD would always compared the CD to a good piece of vinyl before making the decision to use the CD.

I can recall bringing in my CD of Neil Diamond's TAP ROOT MANUSCRIPT for the song "Cracklin' Rosie". The PD surprised me by turning it down, as that early CD was mastered slightly out of phase and in mono it sounded like crap.

 

[tomswift2002]

There were almost zero CD-R's sent to or available to radio stations in 1990. Most everything was a pressed CD. Of course, the mastering was always a factor. Our PD would always compared the CD to a good piece of vinyl before making the decision to use the CD.

I can recall bringing in my CD of Neil Diamond's TAP ROOT MANUSCRIPT for the song "Cracklin' Rosie". The PD surprised me by turning it down, as that early CD was mastered slightly out of phase and in mono it sounded like crap.

Maybe your misremembering, but I’ve seen numerous radio shows from that era that are on CD-R and they are the official releases (and the labels are color laser printed, which didn’t become available to consumers until 1992, but was available for professional use before. And the CD-R was introduced in 1988, with Taiyo Yuden making the first discs and Yamaha making the first stand-alone recorders). And we are talking releases where they maybe only need 150-200 copies, so would it make financial sense for a syndicated show to shell out (especially if they were doing a 5-day/hour daily show, since some stations apparently aired all 5 shows on like Saturday afternoon or something for 5 hours straight rather than broadcast 1 hour each day Monday to Friday) around $15,000 a show to make a glass master and replicate only 150-200 copies knowing that probably only at least 10% of the stations in 1990 would be using the CD (1990 was also when they were shipping both LP & CD to the stations so they would need to factor in the LP pressing cost as well), or would they be looking for the lowest cost on the CD end. But in 1990, the syndicated shows could either buy their own Cd-R recorder for $35,000 from Yamaha and do it themselves or get them duplicated by another studio for maybe $2,000 per day. (Billboard)

The first LIVE concert (Claudio Baglioni) recorded to CD-R was apparently recorded on July 3, 1991 and that master was still error-free in July 2020.

 

[GDBY2LV]

I don’t know much about the CD-R usage, or when they started using them, but my Carpenters 2cd set for radio broadcast November 26, 1988 Thanksgiving Weekend or day, are both CD-Rs. The local Music Store I worked at was the sole sponsor for the show. The program/music director knew I was a fan, so my boss said sure. As a reward for sponsoring the show, he gave me the CD-Rs to keep. Lucky me.
The show is called Then, Now, & Always
The Carpenters Story. They were produced by the Mutual Broadcasting System. Professional aluminum style discs with white labels and black printing. There was a radio show on vinyl as well, with interviews with Richard. I think it was a Westwood One release, not sure. I posted on another thread about it several years ago.

 

[Harry]

Shows yes, music for airplay, no.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I mentioned earlier that all the single 45 rpm’s that I own with Christmas Song b/w MCD all contain the 1970 vocal of Karen on MCD.
They also all contain the clean open version of Christmas Song.
The clean open can also be found on the The Complete Singles CD and Japan Single Box Set.

Christmas Song/MCD (Memories label AM-8620)
Christmas Song/MCD (Forget Me Nots 8620-S)
Christmas Song/MCD (White Label Promo Both Side are black lettering 8620-S)
Christmas Song/MCD (White Label Promo Both Side are red lettering 1991-S)

This past week I received a Canadian pressing of Christmas Song b/w MCD on a 45 rpm.
It’s worth mentioning that this single pressing is different than all the above ones I own.

Christmas Song contains the added title on the label. It also contains a 4 second opening flourish (meaning it’s not a clean open) It mirrors the album mix version. I personally feel those few extra seconds on this Canadian single version just add a touch of that Christmas-y feeling....vs just a clean open.

Merry Christmas Darling is definitely the 78’ re-recorded vocal of Karen. This is the first time I’ve come across this on a single 45 rpm.

I’m happy to add this one to my collection of singles 45’s.

 

[ullalume]

I mentioned earlier that all the single 45 rpm’s that I own with Christmas Song b/w MCD all contain the 1970 vocal of Karen on MCD.
They also all contain the clean open version of Christmas Song.
The clean open can also be found on the The Complete Singles CD and Japan Single Box Set.

Christmas Song/MCD (Memories label AM-8620)
Christmas Song/MCD (Forget Me Nots 8620-S)
Christmas Song/MCD (White Label Promo Both Side are black lettering 8620-S)
Christmas Song/MCD (White Label Promo Both Side are red lettering 1991-S)

This past week I received a Canadian pressing of Christmas Song b/w MCD on a 45 rpm.
It’s worth mentioning that this single pressing is different than all the above ones I own.

Christmas Song contains the added title on the label. It also contains a 4 second opening flourish (meaning it’s not a clean open) It mirrors the album mix version. I personally feel those few extra seconds on this Canadian single version just add a touch of that Christmas-y feeling....vs just a clean open.

Merry Christmas Darling is definitely the 78’ re-recorded vocal of Karen. This is the first time I’ve come across this on a single 45 rpm.

I’m happy to add this one to my collection of singles 45’s.

Interesting how Karen is credited as co-producer as opposed to associate producer. And for that matter no producer credit for jack dougherty on MCD.