Track Listing:
1. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear :43 (Sears/Willis)
2. Overture 8:13
– a. Happy Holiday (Berlin) Irving Berlin Music Company, adm. by Williamson Music Company (ASCAP)
– b. The First Noel (P.D. Trad. Old English Carol)
– c. March Of The Toys (Herbert) Warner Bros., Inc. (ASCAP)
– d. Little Jesus (P.D. From the Oxford Book Of Carols)
– e. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (Connor) Jewel Music Publishing Co., Inc. (ASCAP)
– f. O Little Town Of Bethlehem (P.D. L.H. Redner) Longitude Music Co. (BMI)
– g. In Dulce Jubilo (P.D. 14th Century German melody)
– h. Gesu Bambino (The Infant Jesus) (Yon) Beam Me Up Music (ASCAP)
– i. Angels We Have Heard On High (P.D. Trad. French Carol)
3. An Old-Fashioned Christmas 2:34 (Carpenter/Bettis)
4. O Holy Night 3:31 (P.D. Adolphe Adam/Adapted by Richard Carpenter)
5. (There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays 2:13 (Allen/Stillman)
6. Medley 3:43
– a. Here Comes Santa Claus (Autry/Haldeman) Gene Autry’s Western Music Publishing (ASCAP)
– b. Frosty The Snowman (Nelson/Rollins) Chappell & Co. (ASCAP)
– c. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (Marks) St. Nicholas Music Inc. (ASCAP)
– d. Good King Wenceslas (P.D. John Mason Neale, Adapted by Richard Carpenter) Almo Music Corp./Hammer and Nails Music, adm. by Almo Music Corp. (ASCAP)
7. Little Altar Boy 3:43 (Smith)
8. Do You Hear What I Hear? 2:53 (Regney/Shayne)
9. My Favorite Things 3:53 (Rodgers/Hammerstein)
10. He Came Here For Me 2:12 (Nelson)
11. Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town 4:04 (Gillespie/Coots)
12. What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? 2:51 (Loesser)
13. Selections from “The Nutcracker” 6:14 (P.D. Peter Illych Tchaikovsky, Adapted by Richard Carpenter)
– a. Overture Miniature
– b. Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy
– c. Trepak
– d. Valse Des Fleurs
14. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day 2:21 (Marks/Longfellow, Adapted by Johnny Marks)
Album Credits:
Conceived and Produced by Richard Carpenter
Lead vocals: Karen Carpenter and Richard Carpenter
Piano: Richard Carpenter
Arranged by: Peter Knight (#2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14), Richard Carpenter (#1, 11) and Billy May (#10)
Keyboards: Richard Carpenter & Pete Jolly
Upright Bass: Pete Morgan
Electric Bass: Joe Osborn
Drums: Ron Tutt & Barry Morgan
Harp: Skiala Kanga & Gayle Levant
Tenor Sax: John Phillips
Vocals: The O.K. Chorale Conducted by Dick Bolks, The English Chorale Conducted by Robert Howes, Karen & Richard Carpenter
Recorded at:
A&M Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA
Engineered by Roger Young, Ray Gerhardt and Robert De La Garza
EMI “Abbey Road” Studios
Engineered by Eric Tomlinson
Assistant: Allan Rouse
Mixed at:
A&M Recording Studios
Engineered by Roger Young
Assistants: Clyde Kaplan & Jim Cassell
Evergreen Studios
Engineered by John Richards
Assistants: Dave Marquette & Mike Hatcher
Mastered by Arnie Acosta at A&M Mastering Studios, Hollywood CA
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Produced by Jack Daugherty and Richard & Karen Carpenter
Art Direction: Chuck Beeson
Album Design: Melanie Nissen
Illustration: Robert Tanenbaum
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Dedication:
This album lovingly dedicated to the memory of my late sister and friend Karen, who was extremely fond of both Christmas and Christmas music. – Richard Carpenter
© 1984 A&M Records, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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The year 1984 saw Richard back in the studio compiling another Christmas album from among the leftover tracks not used in CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT. At one point in the process of creating that first album, it was thought that it might be a two-album set, but was then paired back to just one. That gave Richard some ample material with which to create a second album. Understandably a little light on Karen’s vocals, the album creates an anticipation mood like a child waiting for Christmas to arrive. Karen doesn’t appear until the fifth track, “(There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays”, but it’s worth the wait.
Also present here is the long awaited album debut of the old 1974 Christmas single, “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, appearing in a newly remixed form. As part of the album was used in the hybrid CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT SPECIAL EDITION on CD, it didn’t appear as a full album until the two-album CHRISTMAS COLLECTION was released a dozen years later.