One could argue that the Carpenters’ career had already crested, and that they were not at the top of their game when this album was recorded.  But that would overlook the fact that this album, Christmas Portrait, not only remains one of the best they would produce, it is also one of the best holiday albums of its kind.  It shines due to the total album being greater than the sum of its parts.  Karen Carpenter’s vocal talents are without question–expressive, pitch-perfect and tonally rich.  While Richard Carpenter’s contribution was more as a producer (rather than arranger and composer…and even pianist), his own touch is also evident throughout.

What really makes this album is the song selection, sequencing and pacing.  The album as a whole comes across as an entire Christmas variety production; one can almost visualize the duo singing in heavy winter coats on a stage set with holiday decorations and fake snow.  The album opens with an overture of just the right length–it hits a few familiar melodies briefly and sets the mood, and then gets out of the way for the main program.  There are a lot of tunes on this album, and a few of them are combined together on one track.  The length of these is just right–like the overture, the songs go by quickly and move on to the next, maintaining that flow throughout.

A couple of notes.  First of all, the version of “Merry Christmas Darling” is the one you are familiar with, although it has a re-recorded lead vocal track.  “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” however, is not the slow and smoky arrangement that was waxed to 45 a few years prior: this is a shorter, uptempo version.  That slower version would appear on the An Old-Fashioned Christmas album that followed years later (consisting of leftover Karen Carpenter tracks from Christmas Portrait, and a lot of instrumental filler to make a complete album).

And that brings us to which version of the album to track down.  Hands down, the best version is the original LP version when it was originally released.  This same version was briefly released in Germany, but cancelled; you can still find copies available on eBay if you are willing to pay the price for it.  The first official CD version from the US was a “Special Edition” that, unfortunately, changed some of the tracks and the running order with tracks from the Old-Fashioned Christmas album.  There is also a two-CD Christmas Collection that includes both full albums but be warned: the albums have been remixed and drenched in digital reverb.   If you can live with that, at least you can listen to the first disc to hear the original flow of the Christmas Portrait album.

Overall, though, there are few albums out there that presented holiday music in this fashion, and this one does it brilliantly!