šŸŽ„ Holidays! THE OFFICIAL REVIEW: "CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT" SP-4726

How Would You Rate This Album?

  • ***** (BEST)

    Votes: 26 81.3%
  • ****

    Votes: 4 12.5%
  • ***

    Votes: 2 6.3%
  • **

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • *

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    32
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Alas risen from the ashes CarpenterS dominate yet again. How festive. A stroke of genius recording that lp while health prevailed. So much fun like yesteryear. Go gettum KC!!
 
So what do the Billboard charts read? Also, seems the Grammy nom and win woulda been a no brainer. It never occurred to me before garnishing the big prize but it makes perfect sense. The offering is perfectly splendid in every way.
 
I downloaded the Spike Jones Christmas album on iTunes a few years ago, and I love listening to it (despite the sometimes irritating, squeaky, cartoon voices embedded in many of the songs), because it served as the inspiration for R&Kā€™s album (according to that radio station interview with KC). Itā€™s remarkable how much of Portrait was directly lifted from SJā€™s holiday album, especially some of the arrangements.
 
As autumn falls upon us, my thoughts are turning to that 'most wonderful time of the year'.
And, very soon I will begin my routine of listening to the incomparable Christmas Portrait.
Wonder how it will end up on the charts for 2014?
One request though: Give me the Original Ave Maria, from 1978 Vinyl.
(Well, give me the entire original LP).
Same, too, for Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (1974, Original 45).
And, oftentimes I compare the 1970 and 1978 Merry Christmas, Darling....
but, I can't honestly decide which version I prefer.
Both divine.
 
This Record/CD is the number one recording of Christmas music of all time in my opinion. My second favorite is Perry Como Christmas Album which I believe inspired the Carpenters and I have to get that DVD with them on it. Of about 75 different disc of Christmas music I own, Christmas Portrait / AN OLD FASHIONED CHRISTMAS and the Perry Como Christmas Collections are the most listened to and appreciated holiday disc I own. Since my children have been old enough to open a Christmas gift, I always have the Christmas Portrait disc playing while they open their gifts to make their excitement alot more cheerful. It doesn't even have to be Christmas to hear these great recordings. Good music is just good music. Karen's voice can put me in the spirit of Christmas anytime of year!
 
Christmas Portrait was my first Christmas album and my first Carpenters album. I do love it. Some of my other faves are The Charlie Brown Christmas Album, 'O Holy Night' by Luciano Pavarotti, Bing Crosby and Chet Atkins.
 
Reminiscing about the Christmas Portrait,
and specifically the ethereal Ave Maria.
Is there any indication whether the vocals for the other version was recorded?
What are the feelings pertaining to simply isolating (if possible)
Karen's vocals from the German-language Silent Night duet she
performed with Georgia Engels on the 1978 Christmas Special.
 
I'm sure I've detailed my initial encounter with CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT before. Back in 1978, I'd switched jobs to the radio station where I spent the rest of my career, WMGK, Philadelphia. For two and a half years, the station had been located in center-city Philadelphia, but in summer '78, we'd moved back to the suburbs. With all of that hectic activity (moving a radio station is quite an effort) plus I'd also met the lady who became my wife around this time, I was less than involved in whatever Carpenters were doing. To be sure, I'd gotten PASSAGE the year before and followed along with the hits from that album, but in the intervening year, they weren't exactly top of mind.

As a result, some very dear friends of mine actually managed to find CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT in the stores and surprise me with it as an early Christmas gift. My album still has the official gift sticker on it the outer shrink wrap, though the shrink has torn over the years.

When I first got the gift and perused the track list, I was thrilled to see both of the titles of their Christmas hits on it, as one would expect. But I was then somewhat disappointed that neither song was the true hit version. "Merry Christmas Darling was a re-record, and "Santa Claus..." was just an interlude by the chorus. Nevertheless, the album was (and remains) a delight, and became a perennial favorite.

I spent a good few years in the '80s trying to assemble the tracks in their proper order from CD to cassette, since the expanded edition was a mixture of the two Christmas albums. Thank God that I found the proper German CD version while on a trip in Munich in the late '80s. I felt like a true tourist buying a Christmas album in the middle of a very warm May afternoon in the old city.

Harry
Got my German copy after the holidays last year. Cannot wait to for November so that I can put it on regular rotation. Question? Do we know the exact dates the album was recorded? Summer, Fall?
 
As great as their Christmas albums are I've always quietly wished they'd recorded a lot of these songs between 1970 and 1975 (probably around the time of Santa Claus is Coming to Town) before Karen's voice lost a certain smoothness to her vocals. Don't get me wrong, it's still smooth and her vocals are fantastic (Christ is Born, Sleep Well Little Children, He Came Here For Me and Little Altar Boy are probably my favourites of the later tunes). But Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas highlights this loss of smoothness at times. Karen's "Hang" has always seemed ever so slightly jarring to my ears especially when compared to her "hanging around" bit of Rainy Days and Mondays which is much smoother. It's a minor and admittedly rather picky complaint and she soars on the "highest bough" bit of the same song!

Another minor complaint I have is that some of the songs don't lend themselves to "shuffle" on my MP3 Christmas playlist as the merging of tracks, which work well on the albums, means they can come to an abrupt and strange end when followed by a non-Carpenters track (Winter Wonderland/Silver Bells/White Christmas running into the beginning of Ave Maria is the worst offender). I don't suppose Richard would address this at some point in the future?!
Karen's voice changed, as all of ours have. But what made her magical was her Connecticut inflections "Rainy" "Hang your shining star" ā€¦ etc. only enhance the part she's actually getting to. Highest "Bow" soars and is probably Karen's most tingle worthy moment in her recording history. I could listen to that part over and over.
 
Got my German copy after the holidays last year. Cannot wait to for November so that I can put it on regular rotation. Question? Do we know the exact dates the album was recorded? Summer, Fall?

I know some sessions were recorded in July and August because Karen once commented in an interview that someone walked into the studio at A&M and asked them why they were recording an album then and not at Christmas time.
 
I Watched the 1974 Perry Como Christmas Show DVD,
(Richard Carpenter states in the commentary to the show that "image is everything".)
On the 2001 As Time Goes By Cd (in the liner notes by Richard ) he provides some detail
regarding some vocal loss in Perry Como's live vocals for the Medley due to how he (Perry) held the
microphone while singing 'live'. Thus the replacement of some of Perry's vocals, by Richard, on the cd.
However, I am unable to see (and, now hear) how his liner notes apply to this DVD television performance.
(No more vocal substitution of Richard for Perry, in some parts of the Medley).
Have the intervening years between the Cd release(2001) and the DVD release (2013) ,
with subsequent technological advancements, corrected for this weakness mentioned by Richard?
(Apologies if I am not describing this accurately!)



 
Too bad these Christmas songs garner so few radio plays,
leaving aside that they are not as widely known to the general public,
as they are fantastic:
Chill-factors,all, as Richard Carpenter would term them.

1974's Santa Claus Is Coming To Town....Superb vocals and creative arrangement.

Little Altar Boy.....Stunning vocals by Karen Carpenter.
He Came Here For Me.....Again, stunning vocals by Karen.
I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day....Again, Superb!

Obviously, I have been playing the second disc of :
The Time-Life Christmas With The Carpenters

 
On the 2001 As Time Goes By Cd (in the liner notes by Richard ) he provides some detail regarding some vocal loss in Perry Como's live vocals for the Medley due to how he (Perry) held the microphone while singing 'live'. Thus the replacement of some of Perry's vocals, by Richard, on the cd. However, I am unable to see (and, now hear) how his liner notes apply to this DVD television performance. (No more vocal substitution of Richard for Perry, in some parts of the Medley). Have the intervening years between the Cd release(2001) and the DVD release (2013), with subsequent technological advancements, corrected for this weakness mentioned by Richard? (Apologies if I am not describing this accurately!)

Good point. He's audible on the DVD so why did Richard remove his vocal on the CD version of the medley? I think partly what Richard is referring to in his liner notes is where there was a fade up of studio applause while Perry is singing. This couldn't be removed as it was 'locked in' to the vocal track, which is why he replaced the odd line or two with his own vocal to make it sound like a clean studio recording. I don't know why he didn't just leave the CD version the same as the DVD performance. There's nothing wrong with it.
 
Remember, Richard is a perfectionist, and he hates live recordings. So I'm sure that he removed what HE found objectionable.

Harry
 
I feel "Little Alter Boy" is one of Karens most impassioned performances. Beautifully phrased and her tone quality is unsurpassed. Perfect phrasing. Hands down my favorite Karen performance. Both her high and low registers are in rare form. And I feel Karens personal faith shines through in this reading. I can't listen to it enough times. Amazing Karen, truly amazing!!
 
Every vocal from Karen Carpenter, as delivered on the "An Old Fashioned Christmas" album,
should be as much of a staple during Christmas-time as "Merry Christmas, Darling".
The advent of cd's, with the issuance of the "special edition" should, instead,
have ushered in a Christmas cd which concentrated entirely on Karen's vocals.
One disc, with fantastic vocals by Karen Carpenter, no instrumental fillers and no choirs.
If Karen, as Richard Carpenter has stated, basically did sole duty on the Christmas Songs,
then, one need only utilized her superb vocals for the perfect offering.
(I may be alone in this viewpoint, what's new?)
 
Every vocal from Karen Carpenter, as delivered on the "An Old Fashioned Christmas" album,
should be as much of a staple during Christmas-time as "Merry Christmas, Darling".
The advent of cd's, with the issuance of the "special edition" should, instead,
have ushered in a Christmas cd which concentrated entirely on Karen's vocals.
One disc, with fantastic vocals by Karen Carpenter, no instrumental fillers and no choirs.
If Karen, as Richard Carpenter has stated, basically did sole duty on the Christmas Songs,
then, one need only utilized her superb vocals for the perfect offering.
(I may be alone in this viewpoint, what's new?)
You are not alone. I would love an album of Christmas songs with Karen on all vocals, each a gem by itself.
 
You are not alone. I would love an album of Christmas songs with Karen on all vocals, each a gem by itself.

GaryAlan and Randy:

I totally agree with you! And in that vein, given that one of my hobbies (passions) is making CD compilations, many involving the Carpenters songs/genres, just last Christmas I compiled a CD with the following songs:
  1. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
  2. Merry Christmas Darling
  3. Sleigh Ride
  4. Do You Hear What I Hear
  5. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts...)
  6. Little Altar Boy
  7. Christ Is Born
  8. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
  9. Iā€™ll Be Home for Christmas
  10. Silent Night
  11. What Are You Doing New Yearā€™s Eve
  12. Ave Maria
I am unable to edit out the choir, but for me this enhances my enjoyment of Carpenters Christmas music: all Karen, all the time!
 
I feel "Little Alter Boy" is one of Karens most impassioned performances. Beautifully phrased and her tone quality is unsurpassed. Perfect phrasing. Hands down my favorite Karen performance. Both her high and low registers are in rare form. And I feel Karens personal faith shines through in this reading. I can't listen to it enough times. Amazing Karen, truly amazing!!

For some reason her vocals on "The Uninvited Guest" always remind me of "Little Altar Boy". . .both kind of ethereal.
 
Yesterday, I listened to the 40th Anniversary issue of Christmas Portrait.
That photo of Karen at the end of the booklet, where she is enveloped by the white mink-fur coat is awesome.
Love this album, or, should I say the original 1978 LP Version of this album.
As for the cd (re)issue found in the 40th Box set, I am perplexed by the remixed piano segue into Ave Maria.
Perhaps my memory on this point eludes me, but why was this remixed? Oxidation of original master tape?
I understand that the song was apparently intended for choir, subsequently misplaced, then resurrected for
later remixes.
But, anyone who has heard the original (LP or cassette,say) would (as far as I can hear) say that the 1978 mix
is far, far superior to the later remixes (with choir).
Again, I may inhabit a minority view in this regard!
 
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