Christmas Portrait

Christmas Portrait
Studio album by The Carpenters
Released	October 13, 1978
Recorded	1978
Genre	Holiday
Length	49:08
Label	A&M
Producer	Richard Carpenter/Associate Producer - Karen Carpenter
The Carpenters chronology
Passage (1977) Christmas Portrait (1978) Made in America (1981)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[2]

Christmas Portrait 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 (A&M 4726).

The album sold one million copies and included a revised version of the group's signature Christmas song, "Merry Christmas Darling". It also includes one of two versions of "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town". (A slower version, recorded in 1974, as well as other unused songs recorded during this album's sessions, were issued on the Carpenters' later Christmas album, An Old-Fashioned Christmas.)

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; "Ave Maria" was remixed at this time in order to include a choral track that went missing in 1978 and was later found.. (A CD of the original LP content was briefly issued exclusively in West Germany around the same time.) In 1996 (1998 in the US), a two-CD set titled Christmas Collection was issued internationally, containing Christmas Portrait and An Old-Fashioned Christmas together in their original respective tracklists. Richard Carpenter remixed most of the album tracks for Christmas Portrait due to deteriorated masters.

In December 2011, the album re-entered the Billboard 200 album sales chart at No. 150 and eventually achieved a new chart peak position of No. 126.

In December 2012 and then in December 2013, the album again re-entered the Billboard 200 album sales chart and attained a new chart peak position of No. 114, and then of No. 113.

Track listing (Original 1978 LP)

Side one

1. "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" (Traditional, John Mason Neale)
2. Overture:
   • "Deck the Halls" (Traditional, John Ceiriog Hughes)
   • "I Saw Three Ships" (Traditional, David Overton)
   • "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin)
   • "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (Traditional)
   • "Away in a Manger" (Traditional, James R. Murray)
   • "What Child Is This?" (William Chatterton Dix)
   • "Carol of the Bells" (Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych, Peter Wilhousky)
   • "O Come All Ye Faithful" (John Francis Wade, Frederick Oakeley)
3. "Christmas Waltz" (Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne)
4. "Sleigh Ride" (Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish)
5. Medley:
   • "It's Christmas Time" (Al Stillman, Victor Young)
   • "Sleep Well, Little Children" (Alan Bergman, Leon Klatzkin)
6. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin)
7. "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" (John Frederick Coots, James Lamont "Haven" Gillespie)
8. "Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells)
9. "Silent Night" (Franz Xaver Gruber, Joseph Mohr, John Freeman Young)

Side two

1. "Jingle Bells" (James Lord Pierpont)
2. Medley:
   • "First Snowfall" (Joseph F. "Sonny" Burke, Paul Francis Webster)
   • "Let it Snow" (Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne)
3. "Carol of the Bells" (Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych, Peter Wilhousky)
4. "Merry Christmas Darling" (Frank Pooler, Richard Carpenter)
5. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" (James Kimble "Kim" Gannon, Buck Ram, Walter Kent)
6. "Christ is Born" (Ray Charles, Dominico Bartolucci)
7. Medley:
   • "Winter Wonderland" (Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith)
   • "Silver Bells" (Jay Livingston, Ray Evans)
   • "White Christmas" (Irving Berlin)
8. "Ave Maria" (Johann Sebastian Bach, Charles Gounod)

Track listing (1984 CD reissue)

1. "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" – 0:41
2. Overture/Medley: "Happy Holiday"/"The First Noel"/"March of the Toys"/"Little Jesus"/"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"/"O Little Town of Bethlehem"/"In dulci jubilo"/"Gesù bambino"/"Angels We Have Heard on High" – 8:16
3. "An Old-Fashioned Christmas" – 2:11
4. "The Christmas Waltz" – 2:12
5. "Sleigh Ride" – 2:39
6. "It's Christmas Time"/"Sleep Well, Little Children" – 2:53
7. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" – 3:54
8. "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" – 1:05
9. "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" – 3:39
10. "Carol of the Bells" – 1:39
11. "Merry Christmas Darling" – 3:07
12. "Christ Is Born" – 3:13
13. "O Holy Night" – 3:10
14. "Home for the Holidays" – 2:36
15. Medley: "Here Comes Santa Claus"/"Frosty the Snowman"/"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"/"Good King Wenceslas" – 3:42
16. "Winter Wonderland"/"Silver Bells"/"White Christmas" – 5:28
17. "Ave Maria" – 2:34
18. Selections from Nutcracker: "Overture Miniature/Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies/Waltz of the Flowers" – 5:27
19. "Little Altar Boy" – 3:43
20. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" – 3:49
21. "Silent Night" – 3:20

Singles

"Merry Christmas Darling"

• US 7" single (1970) – A&M 1236

1. "Merry Christmas Darling"
2. "Mr. Guder"

• UK 7" single (1971) – AME601

1. "Merry Christmas Darling"
2. "Ticket to Ride"
3. "Saturday"

• UK 7" single (1990) – AM716

1. "Merry Christmas Darling"
2. "(They Long to Be) Close to You"

• UK 7" single (1990) – AMS716

1. "Merry Christmas Darling"
2. "(They Long to Be) Close to You"

• UK 12" single (1990) – AMY716

1. "Merry Christmas Darling"
2. "You're the One"
3. "(They Long to Be) Close to You"

• UK CD single (1990) – AMCD716

1. "Merry Christmas Darling"
2. "(They Long to Be) Close to You"
3. "You're the One"

"Christmas Song"

• US 7" single (1977) – A&M 1991

1. "Christmas Song"
2. "Merry Christmas Darling"

• JP 7" single (1977) – CM-2083

1. "Christmas Song"
2. "Merry Christmas Darling"

• JP CD single (1996) – PODM-1059

1. "Christmas Song"
2. "Winter Wonderland/Silver Bells/White Christmas"

"Silent Night"

• JP 7" single (1978) – AMP 1012

1. "Silent Night"
2. "Jingle Bells"
3. "Ave Maria"

"Ave Maria"

• JP CD single (1996) – PODM-1065

1. "Ave Maria"
2. "Merry Christmas Darling"

References

External links

• Richard Carpenter's review