An Old-Fashioned Christmas

Untitled

An Old-Fashioned Christmas is a Christmas album by Carpenters, released in 1984 after the death of singer/drummer Karen Carpenter.

The album project had its genesis in several unused tracks from the Carpenters' previous Christmas album, 1978's Christmas Portrait. Richard Carpenter took these tracks and recorded new material around them, and this album was the end result. The album (in its original LP and cassette form) includes the slow version of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (a faster version appeared on the Christmas Portrait album).

A 1984 expanded CD reissue of Christmas Portrait included several tracks from An Old Fashioned Christmas. In 1996 a 2-CD set, Christmas Collection, was issued containing both albums in their original running order.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link

Track listing

1. "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" (Edmund Hamilton Sears, Richard Storrs Willis) – 0:43
2. Overture – 8:14*
   1. "Happy Holiday" (Irving Berlin)
   2. "The First Noel" (P.D., Trad. Old English Carol)
   3. "March of the Toys" (Victor Herbert)
   4. "Little Jesus" (P.D., from the Oxford Book of Carols)
   5. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" (Thomas Connor)
   6. "O Little Town of Bethlehem" (P.D., L.H. Redner)
   7. "In Dulce Jubilo" (P.D., 14th Century German Melody)
   8. "Gesu Bambino" (Pietro Yon)
   9. "Angels We Have Heard on High" (P.D., Trad. French Carol)
3. "An Old-Fashioned Christmas" (John Bettis, Richard Carpenter) – 2:14
4. "O Holy Night" (Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight) – 3:10
5. "(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays" (Al Stillman, Robert Allen) – 2:36
6. Medley – 3:43*
   1. "Here Comes Santa Claus" (Gene Autry, Oakley Haldeman)
   2. "Frosty the Snowman" (Steve Nelson, Jack Rollins)
   3. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Johnny Marks)
   4. "Good King Wenceslas" (P.D., John Mason Neale)
7. "Little Altar Boy" (Howlett Peter Smith) – 3:43
8. "Do You Hear What I Hear?" (Gloria Shayne, Noel Regney) – 2:53
9. "My Favorite Things" (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II) – 3:54
10. "He Came Here for Me" (Ron Nelson) – 2:12
11. "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (Haven Gillespie, J. Fred Coots) – 4:04
12. "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" (Frank Loesser) – 2:51
13. Selections from The Nutcracker – 6:14*
    1. "Overture Miniature" (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
    2. "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" (Tchaikovsky)
    3. "Trepak" (Tchaikovsky)
    4. "Valse Des Fleurs" (Tchaikovsky)
14. "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Johnny Marks) – 2:21

• Tracks 2, 6, 13 arranged and adapted by Richard Carpenter

Singles

1. "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (A&M SP-1648): US 7" single (1974)
   1. "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"
   2. "Merry Christmas Darling"
2. "Little Altar Boy" (A&M SP-2700): US 7" single (1984)
   1. "Little Altar Boy"
   2. "Do You Hear What I Hear?"

Chart positions

Chart (1984)	Position
United States Billboard Pop Albums	190