Another album from my childhood, that is perhaps my favorite of the season, is the Carpenter's Christmas Portrait.
It is the first Christmas album recorded by the Carpenters (and the only one issued during Karen Carpenter's lifetime), originally released on October 13, 1978.
The album sold one million copies and included a revised version of the group's signature Christmas song, Merry Christmas Darling, which was originally recorded in 1970. The single went to number one on Billboard's Christmas singles chart in 1970, and did again in 1971 and 1973. Interestingly, the words were written by the Carpenter's college choral director, Frank Pooler, when he was 18 years old. Richard Carpenter supplied the music.
The CD version of Christmas Portrait, issued in 1984, is a compendium of selected tracks from the Carpenters' two Christmas albums into one 74-minute program, with tracks from each interspersed in the running order. In 1998, a 2-CD set titled Christmas Collection was issued, containing Christmas Portrait and An Old-Fashioned Christmas together in their original respective track lists. Richard Carpenter remixed some of the album tracks for both CD collections, most notably Ave Maria.
Here are Richard Carpenter's comments on how the album came about, from http://www.richardandkarencarpenter.com/:
"Karen and I had always been fond of Christmas music and in interviews, as early as 1971, were stating that we would soon be working on one. In hindsight, of course, we can see that it wasn’t about to happen. With the schedule that presented itself following the success of Close To You and We’ve Only Just Begun, we were fortunate to complete a regular album each year. (As previously mentioned, in 1974, even that did not happen.)
"On December 8, 1976, ABC aired our first television special: The Carpenters’ Very First Television Special, which placed No.6 in the Nielson Ratings for that week. This led to our being offered more specials, the second of which was The Carpenters at Christmas, airing December 9, 1977. It was while selecting and recording music for this special that Karen and I decided the time had come to finally record a Christmas album. To a degree, our project was patterned after a favorite of ours: Spike Jones’s 1956 Xmas Spectacular, in that it features more than the average album's number of songs, both sacred and secular, along with some top-notch choral singing. Selecting Christmas music is, indeed, dealing with an embarrassment of riches and I ultimately chose, and we recorded, more than enough for even Christmas Portrait, which stretched the limit of how much music could fit on a LP.
"What was saddening to me then, and even more so now, is that I was at my nadir dealing with the sleeping pill problem. If I were at my best, I could have and would have contributed a lot more in both creativity and spirit to Hush, Passage, and the first four television specials. By the time Karen and I began recording on the Christmas album, I was not interested in more than production work, and an occasional lead and some minor piano work. Arranging (something I truly enjoy doing, especially with Christmas songs) was turned over, by me, to veterans Peter Knight and Billy May. With Karen’s marvelous leads, combined with an oversize studio orchestra and chorus, terrific arrangements and timeless music, Christmas Portrait was, and is, an almost incomparable Christmas album. It was a hit in 1978 and every year succeeding; I receive compliments on it every holiday season. What I should have realized then, although I don’t know if A&M would have gone for it, is that Christmas Portrait is Karen’s album, and should have been titled accordingly, not Carpenters. (I did oversee the mixes, of course, but that falls under production.)
"Many a listener will notice that this album is not as originally released. Ave Maria was arranged from the start for chorus, as well as orchestra. With so much music, not to mention people, around the studio while the album was being made, the choral parts were misplaced, only to be discovered after the album was “in the can”. The multi-track was retrieved, and the chorus recorded, in 1984, during the An Old Fashioned Christmas sessions. To all of us involved, it was a great addition. The song was later remixed (and an editing error in the lead vocal fixed) in 1990. Some others were remixed at the same time for inclusion in From The Top, and ultimately all except Merry Christmas Darling, were remixed for the Carpenters Christmas Collection two CD set for Japan."
Watch Karen Carpenter sing Merry Christmas Darling.
As an added bonus, watch Karen Carpenter sing the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria. Hands down the best recording by a pop singer. Notice the long phrases sung in one breath and the impeccable diction.
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