Choose a format:
| 1 | It Came Upon a Midnight Clear | Willis/Sears | :41 |
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| 2 | Overture: Happy Holiday/The First Noel/March of the Toys/Little Jesus [ | Conner/Herbert/Yon/ | 8:16 |
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| 3 | An Old-Fashioned Christmas | Carpenter/Bettis | 2:11 |
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| 4 | The Christmas Waltz | Cahn/Styne | 2:12 |
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| 5 | Sleigh Ride | Parish/Anderson | 2:39 |
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| 6 | It's Christmas Time | Young/Stillman | 2:53 |
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| 7 | Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas | Blane/Martin | 3:54 |
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| 8 | Santa Claus Is Coming to Town | Gillespie/Coots | 1:05 |
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| 9 | The Christmas Song | Wells/Torme | 3:39 |
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| 10 | Carol of the Bells | Leontovich/Wilhousk | 1:39 |
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| 11 | Merry Christmas Darling | Carpenter/Pooler | 3:07 |
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| 12 | Christ Is Born | Bartolucci/Charles | 3:13 |
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| 13 | O Holy Night | Adam/Dwight | 3:10 |
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| 14 | (There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays | Stillman/Allen | 2:36 |
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| 15 | Medley: Here Comes Santa Claus/Frosty the Snowman/Rudolph the ... | Marks/Rollins/Neale | 3:42 |
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| 16 | Winter Wonderland/Silver Bells/White Christmas | Evans/Smith/Smith/B | 5:28 |
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| 17 | Ave Maria | Schubert | 2:34 |
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| 18 | Selections from "Nutcracker": Oveerture Miniature/Dance of the ... | Public Domain [1]/T | 5:27 |
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| 19 | Little Altar Boy | Smith | 3:43 |
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| 20 | I'll Be Home for Christmas | Kent/Gannon/Ram | 3:49 |
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| 21 | Silent Night | Mohr/Gruber | 3:20 |
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Overview
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Production Details
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Editorial Reviews
Christmas Portrait
Audio Compact Disc
Label: A&M
Style: Christmas
Christmas Portrait
UPC: 075021517325
Release Date: 08/24/1987
Original Release Date: 08/24/1987
Number of Discs: 1
- Carpenters
Main Performer
Bruce Eder
The Carpenters were just about the last adult pop outfit of their era with anything resembling rock credibility (they did have a little of the latter in the early days, and weren't a kid act like the Osmonds) who could have pulled off a straight Christmas album. And they did it in superb style here, illuminated throughout by the delightful, complex, often playful arrangements, courtesy of Peter Knight, Richard Carpenter, and Billy May. Actually, for a change on a Carpenters album, Richard is the dominant personality on display across this record, as both co-arranger and producer, as well as the mastermind behind the project; Karen Carpenter's voice is also prominent, to be sure, most notably on "Merry Christmas, Darling" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and she threw herself into this next-to-last completed project (and their final release before a two-year hiatus), but it's Richard who comes to the fore everywhere here, in ways that are impossible to ignore. And the results are mightily impressive, as the mood never slackens in what amounts to a wall-to-wall celebration of the Christmas holiday. After a suitably festive introductory section, Karen Carpenter's solo voice comes up on the "Christmas Waltz" and the proceedings really take off, carrying us into the most engaging rendition of Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" that has come down in many a year, and it only gets better from there, through a brace of holiday staples that end up sounding fresh in her voice and his arrangements. There's not a slack moment on this album, which is also, curiously, one of the few Carpenters' albums that managed to sound good in every CD edition so far released on it (most of the others needed to be upgraded). ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
