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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'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
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.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?!
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?
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!)
Remember, Richard is a perfectionist, and he hates live recordings. So I'm sure that he removed what HE found objectionable.
Harry
You are not alone. I would love an album of Christmas songs with Karen on all vocals, each a gem by itself.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.
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!!