The Carpenters – Merry Christmas, Darling
The brother and sister duo The Carpenters recorded this song in 1970 early in their career. When they release their Christmas Portrait album in 1978, they recorded a newer version of the song. The only difference between the versions is that in 1978. Karen Carpenter requested to rerecord the song since in 1970 she felt that her voice was more deep and husky while in 1978 it was softer.
The words of the song was written by Frank Pooler who was director of the University Choir at California State University at Long Beach when Richard Carpenter was attending in 1966. He asked Richard to put a poem that he wrote in 1946.
The song was released as a Christmas single many times and in 1970, 1971 and 1973 it was the top Christmas single.
In 1970 a few Pop artists released Christmas Albums, but after that until the Carpenters released Christmas Portrait in 1978, few artists recorded a full Christmas album. Their record company A&M Records had been reluctant allow them to release on, but by 1978 and their recording of three popular Christmas songs, Christmas Portrait was released. The album was a success.