Christmas Portrait

She also had a line.

One day, Karen gave the musicians copies of Christmas Portrait as gifts.

DeVitto immediately began drawing facial hair and other additions over the photograph of Karen and Richard on the cover, expecting Karen to find it funny.

She did not.

Richard and Karen had grown up loving old holiday records, and "Merry Christmas, Darling," written by Richard and former choir director Frank Pooler, had already become one of the most durable recordings of their career.

Karen loved making the album Christmas Portrait.

In 1978, she even returned to "Merry Christmas, Darling" and replaced her original 1970 lead vocal, giving the song the performance most listeners know today.

The album also allowed her to sing standards and traditional material that sat beautifully in her range.

Years later, Richard admitted there was a reason beyond simply wanting collaborators.

Had he been healthy and functioning at his best, he believed he would have handled much more of the arranging himself.

That became one of Richard’s great regrets about Christmas Portrait.

He came to regard it almost as a Karen Carpenter Christmas album rather than the true Carpenters Christmas album he had imagined for years.

Sorry, I am trying to get through this chat.

Keith Potter says, "Jeff, what's the best Christmas album to play on November 1st, and why is it the Christmas Portrait by the Carpenters?" Yeah, you know what? I, I think, I think it's fair game now.

We're gonna stop specifically talking about the Dodgers, unless that's where the questions are.

We'll probably bounce back and forth, but w- we're here to talk about whatever you want, guys.