Margot Guryan / Claudine Longet: I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You

Claudine Longet: I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You / Snow
(A&M, A&M 895, USA, 1967)

Margo Guryan: I Don’t Intend To Spend Christmas Without You / Sunday Morning
(Nordpolen Musikklubb, Julepakke13, Norway, 2023)

'I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You' was written by New York songwriter, lyricist, pianist and singer Margo Guryan for French actrice, singer and dancer Claudine Longet, who recorded it in 1967. Earlier that year, Claudine Longet had recorded another song of Margo Guryan, 'Think Of Rain', in fact the first song Margo wrote after switching from writing jazz songs to pop songs.

In the first ten years of her career as a songwriter, Margo Guryan had mainly written jazz and jazz-inspired songs, that had been recorded by artists like Harry Belafonte, Chris Connor and Nancy Harrow. She also wrote lyrics for compositions of jazz greats like John Lewis, Ornette Coleman and Arif Mardin. After a friend played 'God Only Knows' of the Beach Boys album 'Pet Sounds' for her, a completely new world opened for Guryan, and she decided to switch from writing jazz songs to writing pop songs. Margo Guryan is mainly known as a songwriter, although she did record a solo album in 1968, 'Take A Picture', but not wanting to tour to promote the album, the album was not a success. It remained her sole solo release, until several demo recordings she did of songs she wrote for other artists, were released on the CD compilation '25 Demos' in 2001 (and rereleased as '27 Demos' with two extra songs on cassette in 2014 and as '29 Demos' with two more songs on double LP in 2016).

It was Tommy Li Puma, head of A&M Records, who asked Guryan to write a Christmas song for Longet. He explicitely requested to make it a song without all the usual Christmas stuff, like snow, mistletoe and presents. She wrote the song and recorded a demo version. That version later also appeared on the '25 Demos' compilation.

You can listen to Margo Guryan's demo version here:

Margo sent the demo over to California, where Claudine recorded the song. In line with the request of Tommy Li Puma, the song was about Christmas, but had nothing to do with the usual cheerful Christmas celebration, although the song had a hopeful ending. The song tells the story of how two people separated, but in the end, it turned out they only wanted to show the other how it feels to be alone, and to not be together. Finally, the lesson is learned, and they get together again as, it turns out, “I don't intend to spend Christmas without you'”. The singer who Margot wrote the song for, Claudine Longet, was born in Paris in January 1942, and had just seen her major breakthrough the year before. In 1967, Claudine Longet had released several singles and two albums, and her label A&M Records was very active in promoting her as their major female star.

At the time, Longet was married to Andy Williams, well known for the many Christmas songs he recorded. Both Claudine and Andy felt a strong connection with Christmas. It was no coincidence that they had married on Christmas Day, 1961 and that they named their first two children Noëlle and Christian. So it was no surprise that Claudine sooner or later would record a Christmas song.

Claudine was originally from France, but already went to the USA as a teenager, and became the lead dancer of the Folies Bergère revue at the Tropicana Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. She met Andy Williams in 1960, when he stopped when he saw her standing by the side of the road with car trouble. The first few years of her marriage, Claudine was mainly playing in tv series, and she also appeared several times on the Andy Williams show. Occasionally she also appeared as a singer on tv. Her big breakthrough came when she sang an English-French bilingual rendition of the bossa nova song 'Meditation', in a style that soon would become her trademark: singing with a soft sensual voice, filled with longing and melancholy but also with a cheerful optimism.

Herb Alpert offered her a recording contract with A&M Records. Between 1966 and 1970 Claudine would record five albums and many singles for the label, one of these singles being 'I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You'. The single went to #30 in Billboards 1967 Christmas list, but did not chart in the Hot 100, nor in the Adult Contemporary list, like some of Claudine's other singles.

You can listen to Claudine Longet's version here:

Despite the title, the B-side of the single, 'Snow', is not really a Christmas song. It's a beautiful ballad, starting with only piano, and later joined by a flute and violas, about missing a loved one who has gone, with all memories buried under snow. It's sung in a lovely way by Claudine, and in this song, her charming French accent, really adds something to the song. It's a kind of song to warm yourself, while sitting by a fire inside, while snow is all around you outside...

You can listen to Claudine Longet's 'Snow' here:

Fast forward to 2023, when Norwegian Christmas label Nordpolen Musikklubb did what made many lovers of Christmas music who preferred Margo Guryan’s version over that of Claudine Longnet's version very happy: the label released the demo version that Margo Guryan had recorded of ‘I Don’t Intend To Spend Christmas Without You’ on 7”. It comes, as usual with the annual releases on the label, in a festive sleeve, is pressed on red vinyl and limited to 300 copies. Unfortunately, Guryan was not there anymore to witness this landmark, as she had died on November 8, 2021.

Get your copy: here before the single sells out (as most of the Nordpolen Musikklubb releases do.
Or contact the label through their Facebook page