End of an era?

Has the Charlie Brown Christmas vinyl craze finally played out?

Concord/Craft confirmed that only one vinyl variant will be released this year: the picture vinyl shown at left, available solely from Barnes & Noble.

However...

Although this LP was scheduled to be released on September 22, it's "temporarily out of stock" at B&N's online store. Nor is it available in any of the 21 B&N outlets within 100 miles of our home. On top of which, I have a report from one fan who advance-ordered it online awhile back, and his order was canceled ... which is odd.

Hopefully, it simply has been delayed.

That aside ... goodness, just the one? 

That's quite a reduction from last year, which saw eight variants, as also was the case in 2021. (A complete history of this marketing program, which photos of the variants, can be found here.) Including this year's release, and assuming my math is accurate — and if it isn't, I'm sure somebody will tell me — über-fans will have accumulated 42 LPs and one green 45 single.

I'd love to know what such an individual did with them all.

Display all the discs on a wall? (If somebody reading this actually did that, please send a photo; I'll happily post it here.)

It seems unsatisfying to simply file them vertically, with only their side ID visible, as with a conventional row of LPs.

There's no question that all the vinyl variants released during the past several years helped push the album into the Billboard 200's Top 10 for the past two years. I wonder, then, if that won't happen this year.

I guess we'll find out...

A little of this, a little of that: Summer 2019

Guaraldi's pop-culture relevance continues to shine...

The Marvel TV series Legion featured two of his Peanuts tracks on the current third (and final) season's second episode, simply titled "Chapter 21." (Mind you, given the show's deliberately outré weirdness, it's impossible to know why the tunes were used.)

Toward the beginning, the soundtrack featured the seldom-heard vocal version of "Oh, Good Grief." Later into the episode, the Shadow King is shown at the piano, playing "Christmas Time Is Here" ... although the backing combo was nowhere to be seen. (As Guaraldi fan Rob pointed out, the lighting was quite moody, so maybe they were hidden behind a pillar somewhere.)

Given this show's target audience, I can't help wondering if most viewers even recognized one or both tunes...

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Following last autumn's CD debut of Guaraldi's score for It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown -- details available in this earlier post -- Concord's Craft Recordings division has announced the upcoming release of vinyl versions. Note that -- as has become custom these days -- various retailers will have uniquely different versions.

According to Concord's press release...

On the eve of Vince Guaraldi being honored with the National Music Council's American Eagle Award -- details here -- Craft Recordings celebrates his 91st birthday by announcing the vinyl edition of his music for It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, scheduled for release on August 30. The disc will include the iconic pumpkin as an etching on side B. The package also includes an introduction from the TV special’s executive producer, Lee Mendelson, and insightful liner notes by Derrick Bang, Peanuts historian and author of Vince Guaraldi at the Piano.

A special limited edition (500 copies only) -- pressed on a glow-in-the-dark vinyl -- will be available exclusively at the Craft Recordings Store.

It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: Music from the Soundtrack features some of the most iconic tracks in pop culture, including the instantly recognizable “Linus and Lucy,” as well as the languid, lyrical “Great Pumpkin Waltz.” The music was recorded on October 4, 1966, at Desilu’s Gower Street Studio in Hollywood, California, by Guaraldi (piano) and his longtime friends and trio sidemen -- bassist Monty Budwig and drummer Colin Bailey -- joined by Emanuel Klein (trumpet), John Gray (guitar) and Ronald Lang (woodwinds). 

“This is the quintessential Vince Guaraldi for our Peanuts specials ... some of his best atmospheric jazz,” Mendelson notes. “Vince’s score carries the gang with the autumn leaves, through the scary and cold Halloween night. This music comforts the indomitable faith of Linus, still waiting for his hero since 1966: forever in our ears, hearts and memories.”

“Guaraldi had a strong sense of how music could -- and should -- be employed to maximize the viewing audience’s emotional response,” writes Bang. “[He] emphatically established the Peanuts ‘musical personality’ with this third outing, and all subsequent prime-time specials owed much to the groovin’ atmosphere that is so prevalent in Great Pumpkin. Guaraldi had a gig for life ... and his legacy lives on, expand[ing] by the year, thanks in great part to the jazz swagger given to an insecure blockhead and his lovably crazy beagle.”

This announcement comes on the anniversary of Guaraldi’s birthday (born July 17, 1928). We honor a real-life Schroeder, who through his music introduced generation after generation to the beauty of the distinctly American artform of jazz.

Treat or trick?

UPDATE 6/16/22: This album has been superseded by a vastly superior 2022 release of this TV special's score; full details can be read in this post. The key takeaway: Buy the 2022 version, not this one!

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I've had to keep mum about this, since initially getting involved back in early May. That's when Concord/Craft asked if I'd be willing to write fresh liner notes for an upcoming release of the score for the Peanuts television special, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

(As if I'd have declined...!)

The assignment was a delightful excuse to once again probe the evolution of Guaraldi's efforts for the third prime-time Peanuts special, this time adding a few additional details that have come to light since my book was published.

Unfortunately, as has become clear from audio samples posted at the Varese Sarabande website and CraftRecordings' Instagram site, Concord/Craft did not have access to any of Guaraldi's original studio tapes, which we can assume contained takes that were far longer than what was edited into the TV special. (This lends weight to my long-standing fear that such tapes no longer exist.) These samples indicate that this new CD is built from a "baked" music-and-effects track; in other words, this disc's individual tracks will feature music only as it is heard in the animated special, with short edits, fades and some abrupt stops ... along with sound effects. The re-mastering certainly will enhance the audio quality, but there's no question that the listening experience will be compromised by the sound effects "clutter."

By definition, the CD also will be brief. Assuming every single note is included, the 17 tracks will run somewhere between 19 and 20 minutes.

I'll turn the rest of this post over to the Concord/Craft press release:

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One of the most sought-after soundtracks in the beloved collection of music from the iconic Peanuts animated TV specials, It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, is being made available for the first time ever on Friday, October 5, via Craft Recordings. Featuring music by Grammy Award-winning composer/performer Vince Guaraldi, the CD package includes a new introduction from the TV show's executive producer, Lee Mendelson, along with insightful liner notes by Derrick Bang, Peanuts historian and author of Vince Guaraldi at the Piano.

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Music from the Soundtrack) features some of the most iconic tracks in pop culture, including the instantly recognizable "Linus and Lucy," as well as the languid, lyrical "Great Pumpkin Waltz." The music was recorded on October 4, 1966, at Desilu's Gower Street Studio in Hollywood, California, by Guaraldi (piano) and his longtime friends and trio sidemen - bassist Monty Budwig and drummer Colin Bailey - joined by Emanuel Klein (trumpet), John Gray (guitar) and Ronald Lang (woodwinds). The entire scoring process was overseen by composer, arranger and conductor John Scott Trotter, well-known for a three-decade run as Bing Crosby's music director and close friend.

Following the astounding popularity of Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts comic strip and the first two successful Peanuts television specials -- A Charlie Brown Christmas and Charlie Brown's All-Stars -- It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown debuted October 27, 1966, with a phenomenal 49 percent audience share, meaning 49 percent of the people watching television during those 30 minutes had tuned in to see Charlie Brown.

"This is the quintessential Vince Guaraldi for our Peanuts specials ... some of his best atmospheric jazz," Mendelson shares. "Vince's score carries the gang with the autumn leaves, through the scary and cold Halloween night. This music comforts the indomitable faith of Linus, still waiting for his hero since 1966: forever in our ears, hearts and memories."

"Guaraldi had a strong sense of how music could -- and should -- be employed to maximize the viewing audience's emotional response," writes Bang. "[He] emphatically established the Peanuts 'musical personality' with this third outing, and all subsequent prime-time specials owed much to the groovin' atmosphere that is so prevalent in Great Pumpkin. Guaraldi had a gig for life ... and his legacy lives on, expand[ing] by the year, thanks in great part to the jazz swagger given to an insecure blockhead and his lovably crazy beagle."

Track listing:

1. Linus and Lucy
2. Graveyard Theme
3. Snoopy and the Leaf/Frieda (With the Naturally Curly Hair)
4. The Great Pumpkin Waltz
5. Linus and Lucy (Reprise)
6. Charlie Brown Theme/Happy Linus
7. The Great Pumpkin Waltz (Reprise)
8. The Red Baron/Military Drum March
9. The Great Pumpkin Waltz (2nd Reprise)
10. Trick or Treat
11. Fanfare/Breathless/Trick or Treat (Reprise)
12. Charlie Brown Theme (Reprise)
13. Breathless
14. It's a Long Way to Tipperary/There's a Long, Long Trail A-Winding/Pack up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag/Roses of Picardy
15. Trick or Treat (2nd Reprise)
16. Linus and Lucy (2nd Reprise)
17. Charlie Brown Theme (2nd Reprise)

It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown can be pre-ordered via Amazon or the Craft Recordings Web Store, or copies will be available October 5 at your local indie record store.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends...

In what has become an annual tradition, we have yet another re-release of A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Craft Recordings, the catalog division of Concord Music, has produced a high-end vinyl reissue that will hit retail outlets on November 17. The LP was pressed onto 180-gram vinyl, and housed in an old-school style, tip-on jacket, featuring the artwork from the original 1965 LP. Lacquers for the album were cut by George Horn and Anne-Marie Suenram at Fantasy Studios, while the vinyl was pressed at Quality Record Pressings.

This have given Concord a good excuse for some proud boasting, and I'll let them quote some fun statistics:

A Charlie Brown Christmas, certified 4X Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2016, is one of the best-selling jazz albums in history, second only to Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. It's no surprise: Guaraldi's engaging score to the synonymous holiday television special has introduced generations of children and their parents to the joys of jazz, with tracks such as the instantly recognizable "Linus and Lucy," and the yuletide favorite "Christmas Time Is Here." The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007, and the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry five years later, and continues to be a perennial favorite, thanks in part to annual airings of the TV special.

The price isn't too bad, either; pre-orders can be made at Amazon.

But wait; that's not all! Barnes & Noble has released a new picture-disc vinyl LP, which you can order here. (B&N did the same thing last year, albeit with a different image; that album has become quite difficult to find.)

Just in case you need another copy ... or two!

Setting the record straight ... again!

The argument was driving me into sputtering incoherence.

Many fans and I were overjoyed, back in late summer 1998, with the unexpected arrival of Fantasy’s Charlie Brown’s Holiday Hits: the first collection of (mostly) new Vince Guaraldi Peanuts themes in 30 years. And, like many of those same fans, I was puzzled by the CD’s first track: a cue titled “Joe Cool,” which most assuredly was not the iconic tune that boasted Vince’s richly expressive vocal. This new disc’s so-called “Joe Cool” wasn’t even close to the actual item: clearly, a mistake. One of two unfortunate things had happened: Either somebody had put the wrong track on the disc, intending to lead off with the actual “Joe Cool,” or the existing track had been mis-labeled. The former seemed unlikely, because the disc’s entire purpose was to present previously unreleased tracks (aside from the final three, lifted from A Charlie Brown Christmas). But the latter hypothesis also didn’t feel right, because the mysterious Track #1 didn’t sound like Guaraldi. A close approximation, perhaps, but not the real deal.

But that was 1998, years before I even considered writing Guaraldi’s biography, and therefore years before I established contacts, colleagues and friends at Fantasy/Concord. I filed the matter as a vexing conundrum, and forgot about it.

Now, however, it was early 2010; I had just been hired by Fantasy/Concord to write liner notes for the impending release of a new Guaraldi anthology, the character-themed Peanuts Portraits. A few days earlier, I had been sent the track list and corresponding music files. There were ... issues.

Three biggies, to be precise:

1) One Guaraldi track, “Jennie L,” was lifted from the 1975 prime-time special Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown. It’s a lovely little tune, but the Peanuts neighborhood never featured a character named Jennie, with or without the “L.” Guaraldi frequently gave his cues unusual, whimsical and even puzzling names, and I’ve never been able to source the reason behind this particular title.

2) Charlie Brown’s sister Sally was represented by a track titled “Sally’s Blues” ... but the corresponding music file was not the cue of that title found within the 1974 prime-time special It’s a Mystery, Charlie Brown. Frankly, the track didn’t even sound like Guaraldi.

3) To my horror, they also lifted the same bogus “Joe Cool” track from Charlie Brown’s Holiday Hits.

Additionally, I spotted some lesser issues concerning the cue titles “Charlie’s Blues” and “Blue Charlie Brown,” but Guaraldi himself bears some of the blame there, because of the numerous variant cues he delivered with different combinations of the words “Charlie” and “Blue” in the title. (For a more detailed explanation of those two tracks, see my Guaraldi discography.)

Quadruple platinum!

Big news today, folks.

The milestone cited here actually has been public since August, but Concord/Fantasy waited for the official ceremony on Friday, December 9, before issuing the following press release:

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From left, Jeannie Schulz, David and Dia Guaraldi, and Lee Mendelson

LOS ANGELES, CA -- Concord Bicycle Music and Fantasy Records announced the Quadruple Platinum certification of A Charlie Brown Christmas at a presentation today, with Vince Guaraldi's children David and Dia, Peanuts creator Charles Schulz's widow Jeannie Schulz, and the animated television special's producer, Lee Mendelson. The certification, awarded by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), marks four million units in album sales of the 1965 soundtrack by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. That makes it the second-highest certification of a jazz album, behind only Miles Davis' Kind of Blue.

Guaraldi's engaging score to the synonymous holiday television special --̶ which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year -- has introduced generations of children to the joys of jazz, with tracks such as the instantly recognizable "Linus and Lucy," and the yuletide favorite, "Christmas Time is Here." The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007, and the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry five years later, and it continues to be a perennial favorite, thanks in part to annual airings of the Christmas special. 

Guaraldi, a native of San Francisco, became one of America's best-selling jazz artists during the course of his life. Though his legacy is most famously tied to his association with Peanuts, he already was an established, Grammy Award-winning artist by the time that producer Lee Mendelson tapped him to score the first of many animated specials based on the Charles Schulz-penned newspaper strip. In a 2003 interview, excerpted from Vince Guaraldi At The Piano (Derrick Bang; McFarland Books), Mendelson declared, "There was no doubt in my mind that if we hadn't had that Guaraldi score, we wouldn't have had the franchise we later enjoyed."

Jeannie Schulz was equally taken with the musician. "Vince Guaraldi was already a legend when I first met him in the mid-'70s," she said. "What amazed me, and touched me, was his humility about his celebrity, and his complete joy in playing the piano for a group at a gathering. Music was like breathing to Vince."

"The combination of Vince Guaraldi's music and Peanuts continues to prove a magical marriage, which has helped push this iconic recording to being one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time," remarked Concord Bicycle Music's Chief Catalog Officer, Sig Sigwort.

"Celebrating this wonderful achievement with the families and principles involved is a great honor."

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In point of fact, this sales figure is low, being based mostly on electronically recorded sales made subsequent to 1991, when Neilsen SoundScan began tracking data. Clearly, Guaraldi's album sold many, many copies during the previous quarter-century ... but because Fantasy's record-keeping was so sloppy during the early years, a precise figure has been impossible to determine.

Meaning, it's entirely possible that Guaraldi's score album already has surpassed Kind of Blue ... but we can only speculate. Meanwhile, the RIAA certification is indisputable.

(And yes: It was a nice surprise to see that the official press release cited a Mendelson quote from my Guaraldi biography.)

Congrats all around ... and onward to quintuple platinum!

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In a droll bit of related news...

Back on November 21, USA Today interviewed Billy Bob Thornton prior to the release of his newest film, Bad Santa 2. When asked when folks should start celebrating the Christmas season, Thornton responded with the following:

"My 12-year-old daughter Bella is vehemently opposed to starting the holidays too soon, and I support that. She thinks it's unfair to whichever holiday comes before. She can't stand it when people put Christmas decorations on our street before Thanksgiving. It's, like, give Thanksgiving its due. If you want to start the day after, I'm cool with it.

"But I listen to Christmas music all year round. I always have a CD in a little boom box in my trailer on every movie. All I listen to is A Charlie Brown Christmas, by Vince Guaraldi. Doesn't matter what season. Every waking moment, I have that record on. It's my obsessive/compulsive nature."

I appreciate the sentiment, Billy Bob. It's nice to know I'm not the only one!

You're a picture LP, Charlie Brown

Fantasy/Concord surprises us this week with the release of a vinyl version of last summer's CD compilation, Peanuts Greatest Hits (discussed in greater detail in this previous post). Ah, but this isn't just any LP; it's a gorgeous picture disc with a smiling Charlie Brown on one side, and an equally (atypically?) cheerful Lucy on the flip side.

You can see the album in action — literally — during this YouTube promotional video. Note, as well, that the disc is being played on Crosley's Peanuts "Cruiser" Record Store Day Turntable, released back in late 2014 (but still available via Amazon and other outlets, if it slipped past your radar).

As one final bonus, Rock Father Magazine is giving away one of these picture LPs via an online raffle. A bit of registration is required, and entrants also need to cite their "favorite record of all time." (One wonders if responders who mention a Guaraldi album will get preferred scrutiny.) As these words are typed, the contest continues for only 11 more days, so if you're interested, don't delay!

But if you'd rather not wait, and/or don't fancy your chances in the raffle, of course you can purchase the picture disc right away, via Amazon.

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Speaking of LPs, I just caught up with celebrated comedian Dick Gregory's East & West, released back in November 1961, just as his star was rising. The album has been available on CD for quite a few years at this point, and it's an important listen for several reasons.

Guaraldi shared a stage with Gregory numerous times, most famously during a nationwide college and university tour that began at Sacramento State University on October 23, 1963, and was scheduled to conclude at Detroit University on November 23. It didn't work out that way, thanks to an assassin in Dallas, Texas; the tour was cut short.

Gregory was already quite famous by the time this tour was put together, and East & West features two of his earliest sets, both from 1961: the first at the Blue Angel in New York City; and the second during his debut at San Francisco's hungry i. The precise recording dates aren't given, but it's known that Gregory did a lengthy stint at the hungry i during the summer of 1961. Since he mentions Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov's Earth orbit as a recent event — and it took place on August 6, 1961 — we can assume that this set was recorded either August 7 or 14, as hungry i bookings (at that time) usually began on Monday evenings.

Gregory touches on numerous other topics, such as airline hijackings; he also playfully disses San Francisco and, toward the end of the set, fantasizes about what he'd do if elected President of the United States (a particularly pointed segment, all these years later).

But the best part comes toward the beginning, when Gregory takes a lengthy poke at the hungry i itself, mere minutes after having been introduced by club owner Enrico Banducci:

Ain't no place in the world like this crummy joint. This is a weird place ... this is a basement! Three dollars a head they charge you, to get in a basement. I bet you don't go in your own basement for free, at home! You should see this joint when the fog lifts: no second floor! This is what you would call an 86-proof Disneyland. You ever been to a nightclub with no tables? Ain't this weird? It's sorta like drinking in church!

But they have to have joints like this in San Francisco, to bring tourists in. A lotta people come here, just for these types of places. Sorta like a nice place you'd like to visit, but you wouldn't want in your own neighborhood...

Given what I heard about the hungry i from the numerous musicians I interviewed, it sounds like Gregory really nailed it...!

A little of this, a little of that ... Take 5

Aside from their savvy filmmaking skills, the folks at Blue Sky are equally adept when it comes to marketing and promotion. It would have been very difficult to miss hearing about The Peanuts Movie; we were reminded by everything from freeway billboards and YouTube videos, to the usual assortment of product tie-ins. By far the best gimmick, however, is the website that allows visitors to "Peanutize" themselves. It takes a bit of skill to get it right; I had far better results when my younger sister, a talented artist, took charge of the rendering. If you'd like to give it a shot, check it out here.

Concord Records, recognizing the value of such a clever marketing tool, has created a similar site that allows visitors to apply Guaraldi's signature mustache to themselves (or anybody else). It's quite a hoot, although you need just the right photo, taken at the proper angle, for the effect to work properly. So go ahead: Give yourself a Guaraldi 'stache!

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I love corresponding with fellow Guaraldi fans; aside from the enjoyment that springs from sharing our mutual enthusiasm, such exchanges can be fun and enlightening. A recent note from a helpful fellow named Jim called my attention to an interesting fact: Whether by accident or design, the release of jazz pianist David Benoit's new album, Believe, makes it possible to assemble a complete Benoit cover of Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack album. Jim even provided a handy guide for doing so:

1. "Oh Tannenbaum" (Christmastime, 1983)

2. "What Child is This" (Christmastime, 1983)

3. "My Little Drum" (Believe, 2015)

4. "Linus and Lucy" (Here's to You, Charlie Brown, 2000)

5. "Christmas Time is Here" - Instrumental (Christmastime, 1983)

6. "Christmas Time is Here" - Vocal (Believe, 2015)

7. "Skating" (Remembering Christmas, 1996)

8. "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" (Remembering Christmas, 1996)

9. "Christmas is Coming" (Remembering Christmas, 1996)

10. "Fur Elise" (40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas, 2005)

11. "The Christmas Song" (Remembering Christmas, 1996)

12. Bonus Track: "Surfin' Snoopy/Air Music," from the "Guaraldi Medley" (Believe, 2015)

"Interestingly," Jim notes, "this set flows nicely, even though the songs were recorded over the course of 32 years. I had to adjust the volume on some tunes to keep it consistent, but otherwise it's difficult to discern the vintage of each track."

Many thanks, Jim; I suspect several folks are about to compose a new playlist!

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As I mentioned in a previous post, Concord didn't miss the opportunity to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack; the label tantalized us with a CD anniversary gift pack and three retailer-exclusive LPs on colored vinyl, along with a CD re-release of the album itself. In late November, a Concord publicist asked if I'd be willing to do some radio spots, to help promote all of these goodies, and just chat about Guaraldi in general. Sure, I said; sounds like fun.

Clearly, I should have requested clarification of the word "some."

(Not that it would have changed my answer, but I'd have been spared the sticker-shock.)

I subsequently received two packed schedules: 11 interviews at 15-minute intervals between 6 and 9 a.m. December 1, with a longer piece at 2 p.m. that afternoon; and 11 more between 6 and 10 a.m. December 3.

It was a scramble, although not quite as frantic as I feared. Most of the spots were on news and talk stations, and therefore only about 5-7 minutes; I usually had time to catch my breath before the next one. I definitely gained additional respect for film actors who get stuffed into a hotel room during a promotional tour, and must endure an entire day of interviews booked at 20-minute intervals.

Some of the DJs and hosts weren't at all prepared, despite Concord having sent along plenty of background information; in those cases, some of the questions and comments were inane. Happily, several of the DJs were quite prepared, one to a degree that I'm certain extended beyond what Concord had provided. I love folks who do their research!

If you're curious, these are two of the better spots:

• KFOR, in Lincoln, Nebraska (in two parts; scroll down to get the links in order)

• Overnight America, which is syndicated to roughly 90 markets

I also did a podcast for American Standard Time.

From left, David Willat, Beth Ruyak, your blog host and Jim Martinez

Finally, I marked the actual anniversary — December 9 — with a live chat on Sacramento's Capital Public Radio, on the public affairs show Insight, hosted by Beth Ruyak. I shared the microphone with jazz pianist and fellow Guaraldi fan Jim Martinez, and former St. Paul's Church Choir member David Willat, who as a young lad was one of the kids singing during the actual Charlie Brown Christmas TV special.

It has been quite a year for Guaraldi; 2016 likely will seem very quiet, by comparison!

Contest time!

The Peanuts comic strip celebrated its 65th anniversary on October 2, and A Charlie Brown Christmas will mark its 50th anniversary on December 9. On top of which, we've got this modest big-screen movie debuting November 6.

Add the impending proximity of the holiday season, and you know what that means: plenty of new and "freshened" merchandise, in a variety of formats.

Guaraldi fans whose taste crosses over to pianist David Benoit — and it absolutely should — won't want to miss Believe, his new album collaboration with jazz chanteuse Jane Monheit. It includes plenty of material from A Charlie Brown Christmas, and the instrumental highlight is a lengthy trio medley — with bassist David Hughes and drummer Jamey Tate — that features "Surfin' Snoopy" (aka "Air Music"), "Christmas Is Coming," "Greensleeves" and "O Christmas Tree." On the gentler side, Monheit's poignant handling of "Christmas Time Is Here" is backed by the All-American Boys Chorus (standing in for the young members of the St. Paul's Church Choir, who supplied Charlie Brown and the gang's singing voices in the TV special). The arrangement is pure Guaraldi, as is the case with an equally charming cover of "My Little Drum." The album also features Monheit's touching reading of "Just Like Me," the 2005 Benoit/Lee Mendelson original that serves as an emotional bookend to "Christmas Time Is Here."

Speaking of the aforementioned new 3D film from the talented folks at Blue Sky (the geniuses behind the Ice Age franchise and several other CGI hits), its soundtrack hit retail shelves on October 23. Although most of the original underscore comes from veteran film composer Christoph Beck, the album also includes three classic Vince Guaraldi Trio recordings: "Linus and Lucy," "Skating" and "Christmas Time Is Here."

Moving to the pure Guaraldi front, today (November 1) marks the debut of Concord Records' Charlie Brown Christmas 50th Anniversary Gift Pack, which includes the following:

• The original 11-track Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack
• Peanuts Portraits
• A reproduction of the children's book version of A Charlie Brown Christmas
• Four double-sided postcards featuring various members of the Peanuts gang

This item is a Walmart exclusive.

(Sharp-eyed fans will recognize the postcard images as smaller versions of the mini-posters originally packaged with Fantasy Records' first-run LP pressings of Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown.)

But wait; there's more! Today also marks the debut of three colored vinyl, retailer-exclusive editions of the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack:

• Red and green vinyl, available only at F.Y.E. stores
• Red vinyl, available only at Urban Outfitters
• Red and white vinyl, available only at Newbury Comics

And, of course, the existing green vinyl version remains available to all via Amazon.

So ... how many of those LPs will you scramble to find?

Looking a little further forward, November 20 is the release date of Concord's four-LP box set version of The Definitive Vince Guaraldi. The 31 songs from 2009's double-CD have been pressed onto four LPs, each housed in a different art sleeve. The package also includes a 12-by-24-inch poster of Guaraldi, original liner notes by noted jazz historian Doug Ramsey, a reproduction of the promotional cardboard "Vince mustache" that was handed out to patrons of his 1960s club gigs, and a 16-page booklet laden with vintage photos, club ads, newspaper articles and other ephemera from back in the day. (Many of the latter items come from the extensive library of archival materials I assembled, while researching my Guaraldi bio.) Not to be missed!

But wait, I hear you cry ... isn't this post headlined Contest Time?

Indeed yes, and I have not one, but two contests for you. 

Concord Records and JazzTimes magazine are running a sweepstakes that gives everybody a chance to win the four-LP Definitive Vince Guaraldi box set. That's right, just one winner ... so the question is, Are ya feelin' lucky? Check it out here.

Be advised: You'll need to establish a free JazzTimes user account, and then log into that account, in order to enter online. (All other forms of entry are void.)

This sweepstakes ended November 15, 2015.

But hey: You don't need to do anything special to enter our exclusive Impressions of Vince contest. Two lucky winners will be sent copies of Concord's Charlie Brown Christmas 50th Anniversary Gift Pack.

(This contest also concluded on November 15, and the answers now have been supplied below.)

All you need to is correctly answer the following questions:

1. Because A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted in 1965, it featured many characters who soon faded into obscurity and then weren't seen for decades thereafter. Name one. [Many possible answers here: Violet, the original Patty, 5 and his twin sisters 3 and 4]

2. Similarly, Charles M. Schulz hadn't yet introduced some of the strip's most popular characters when this show was made. Name one popular Peanuts character not seen in A Charlie Brown Christmas. [Again, several possible answers: Marcie, Peppermint Patty, Franklin, Woodstock and Rerun, among others]

3. Lucy never eats December snowflakes, even though Linus insists "They look ripe to me." Lucy tells us that she waits until which month? [January]

4. What will Linus do with his blanket when he grows up? [Make it into a sport coat]

5. What does Lucy want for Christmas? [Real estate]

6. In the school stage dance scene, what instrument does Pig-Pen play? [Bass]

7. Snoopy is called upon to imitate several animals for the school play. Which of the following is not one of them? a) sheep; b) goat; c) penguin; d) cow. [Goat]

8. How many tufts of green growth does the little tree have when Charlie Brown and Linus first spot it? [Three]

9. How many different ways does Schroeder play "Jingle Bells" for Lucy? [Three]

10. What color is the one ornament that Charlie Brown puts on his tree, which causes it to flop over? [Red]

Email your entries to derrickbang@gmail.com. Please, one entry per person. Winners will be selected randomly from entries with perfect scores. In the event nobody gets 100%, winners will be selected from entries with the most correct answers. 

Congratulations to our two winners: Doug and Bill. You know who you are...!

And the Hits just keep on coming!

As Guaraldi fans know, this is a big year for Dr. Funk — being the 50th anniversary of both his Grace Cathedral Jazz Mass, and the television debut of his Peanuts themes in A Charlie Brown Christmas — and Fantasy Records isn’t missing the opportunity to acknowledge these milestones.

The first treat arrives today, with the CD release of Peanuts Greatest Hits, a fresh assortment of Guaraldi’s most iconic themes for Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the gang. (A brand-new vinyl version will follow in September.) You’ll find the usual suspects, most notably “Linus and Lucy” (of course!), “Charlie Brown Theme,” “Oh, Good Grief” and his three compositions from A Charlie Brown Christmas. But the collection also includes a track that is relatively new to Fantasy: Guaraldi’s vocal rendition of the droll “Little Birdie,” previously available only on Peanuts Portraits.

Fantasy once again was gracious enough to let me write some new liner notes, and I wove that essay around a tantalizing “what if” that might have taken place in an alternate universe. In our real world, the first Guaraldi Peanuts tune most of us heard was “Christmas Time Is Here,” which plays over the opening scene in A Charlie Brown Christmas. But what if director/producer Lee Mendelson had been able to sell his earlier documentary, A Boy Named Charlie Brown, to a television network? How would that have affected the sequence in which we initially heard the 12 tracks on this new collection?

(Hey, I needed a fresh “hook” with which to approach these liner notes, and that seemed as good as any!)

Fantasy has additional plans between now and the end of the year. The 1998 CD release, Charlie Brown’s Holiday Hits, will be re-issued on vinyl. Much more ambitiously, 2009’s double-CD set, The Definitive Vince Guaraldi, will be re-released as a 4-LP, 180-gram vinyl box set: a lovely package that will include a poster of Schroeder and Guaraldi, enhanced liner notes with lots of 1960s-era Guaraldi photos and ephemera from my personal collection. Finally, perennial favorite A Charlie Brown Christmas will celebrate its golden anniversary in multiple formats (final details not yet set; stay tuned).

Those of us who still prefer the “warmth” of vinyl clearly have ample reason to celebrate.

But wait, there’s more!

Fantasy and the Concord Music Group have generously agreed to offer a few free CD copies of Peanuts Greatest Hits to my faithful blog followers. Merely handing them out would be too easy, so I’ve decided to turn it into a contest. Discs will be sent to the first five people who correctly answer this question:

Name two non-Peanuts Guaraldi compositions that he recorded on more than one Fantasy (vinyl) LP, back in the day (prior to 1970). Do not include 1964’s Jazz Impressions in your search, as its entire contents are drawn from earlier albums. And remember: Fantasy only. Don’t send me titles that popped up on Warner Bros., Crown or any other label.

Send your answers to the e-mail address at right ("Email Derrick"). Please do not send them as comments, because I'll simply delete them. (Besides which, I'll need your e-mail address.)

Good luck!

******

August 1 Addendum:

The contest is over, and many thanks to all of you who participated. Frankly, I'm quite surprised; I wasn't aware my readership was this large, or this gracious. Many of you wrote very nice comments about this blog, and my book, which I greatly appreciate. Makes all the supplementary research efforts even more rewarding.

That said, the correct answers are:

"Ginza," also known as "Ginza Samba," appears on three albums: Modern Music from San Francisco, Cal Tjader/Stan Getz Sextet and From All Sides.

"Star Song" appears on Vince Guaraldi, Bola Sete & Friends and The Latin Side of Vince Guaraldi.

And our five winners are:

Brad Adams
Damon Carmona
Dylan DeFeo
Scott McGuire
Michael Shirey

CDs will be on their way to you soon!

Birthday greetings

Dr. Funk would have turned 86 today: a ripe old age, but certainly not prohibitive, in terms of further sharing his talent. Plenty of jazz elder statesmen have continued to record and perform well into their 80s; it's nice to think, in an alternate universe somewhere, that Guaraldi is doing the same.

Concord/Fantasy hasn't let the moment pass; the label has acknowledged this birthday milestone with a spanking-new vinyl release of Guaraldi's career-making album, Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus. The LP jacket front is virtually indistinguishable from the album's later re-christening as Cast Your Fate to the Wind, following that song's chart-rising success and Grammy Award. Even the catalog number is identical: Stereo 8089/Fantasy 3337 ("High Fidelity").

The jacket back also appears the same, down to the "other Fantasy albums of interest" listed beneath Ralph J. Gleason's liner notes. Closer scrutiny, however, will reveal the Concord Music Group address in tiny print at the very bottom, along with a new catalog number (OJC-437) at the upper right.

The LP contents are identical to those pressed in 1962, and — unlike other recent LP re-issues of Guaraldi albums — the vinyl is basic black. (Alas, no fun color.)

AllAboutJazz.com has cited Guaraldi as its "Jazz Musician of the Day," and you can check out this honor here. The AllAboutJazz page, in turn, links to an essay I wrote many years ago, long before I decided to embark on a full-blown biography; you'll also find a modest selection of photos.

That appears to be it, in terms of acknowledgment by the wider world ... unlike last year, when KMUW 89.1 in Wichita, Kansas, devoted an installment of its award-winning show, Global Village, to Guaraldi. (I guess an 86th birthday isn't quite as exciting as an 85th. Those multiples of 5 always seem more significant.)

As for my own sentiments, on this day ... I can't really do better than what I wrote a year ago, so I'll refer you back to that post.

But I will add this: We can take enormous pleasure in the fact that Guaraldi's music continues to resonate just as much, 365 days after his previous birthday. Indeed, there's no shortage of fresh news about our favorite Italian leprechaun, as followers of this blog know. Nor does Concord show any signs of slowing down, in terms of CD and LP re-issues.

I recall being told, by drummer Mark Rosengarden, that Guaraldi's tipple of choice, during the latter part of his life, was Courvoisier. Acknowledging that this brand of cognac is something of an acquired taste, I nonetheless encourage the faithful Out There to raise a glass of the stuff, and join a heartfelt toast to the man whose small hands belied his massive jazz chops. May his celestial star ever brighten.

Dr. Funk's first Golden Anniversary disc

Guaraldi fans have two new items to put on their wish lists ... assuming said fans haven't already picked 'em up.

On Tuesday, May 13, the Concord Music Group unveiled 50th anniversary editions of Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, in two states: a CD newly re-mastered by engineer Joe Tarantino; and a collector's-edition LP that reproduces the original 1964 "gatefold" packaging, along with all its contents.

The CD features the original album's nine tracks, along with the bonus track of "Fly Me to the Moon," added when the album went digital back in the 1980s. Additionally, we get one more bonus track, new to this release: an alternate take of "Baseball Theme." The 16-page booklet has a reversable cover, so you can view either a reproduction of the aforementioned gatefold LP cover -- when the album's full title was Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown -- or the later cover that most people recognize. Perhaps in a nod to historical accuracy, the latter CD cover now only identifies this as "The original sound track recording," and leaves off the second half of the phrase ("of the CBS television special") ... which makes sense, since the documentary for which this score was composed, never aired on TV at all.

The disc is rather drolly designed to resemble a baseball, complete with stitching; the booklet and cover/interior page are laden with artwork taken from the 12 Charles M. Schulz "collectible lithographs of Peanuts characters" included in the 1964 gatefold edition. (Indeed, the CD cover art is taken from one of those 12 lithographs, shown above.) The booklet includes the original LP notes by both director/producer Lee Mendelson and jazz historian Ralph Gleeson, along with a new 1,900-word essay by my own self.

The collectible LP reproduces the original 1964 gatefold edition as accurately as possible, with one major change: This anniversary edition is pressed onto orange vinyl, in a nod toward Fantasy's original gimmick of releasing its LPs on colored vinyl (usually red or blue). From the outside, the gatefold package looks just as it did 50 years ago, up to and including the list -- on the back -- of "Other Fantasy albums of interest": eight titles, complete with their original Fantasy mono and stereo catalog numbers.

(This list undoubtedly was responsible for one of the common errors that has plagued many careless Guaraldi discographies. At first blush, these eight LPs appear to belong to Guaraldi, but that isn't true; two of them are Bola Sete albums ... and I've frequently found one of those, Tour de Force, incorrectly assigned to Guaraldi. Tsk-tsk!)

I note only one difference, between the front and back cover art of this 50th anniversary gatefold and my 1964 original: The latter lists the Fantasy catalog numbers for both the mono and stereo versions at the upper left of the front cover, while the anniversary edition cites only the stereo release.

The LP itself divides the original nine songs between the two sides in the same sequence, reproducing the spelling error present back in 1964: The little girl with the "naturally curly hair" is Frieda, not Freda. But a new mistake has crept in, as well: "Freda [sic] (With the Naturally Curly Hair)" is Side B's final track, as always has been the case. But Side B has only four tracks, yet this anniversary disc identifies that tune as Track 5 ... having skipped the number 4. (Oopsie!)

The LP is made from a fresh (new) master derived from the original analog tapes (as opposed to the CD re-master). The LP has no bonus tracks.

Lee Mendelson and Ralph Gleason's essays occupy the interior gatefold panels. As before, the sidemen remain uncredited. And no, my new essay isn't part of this LP, which makes sense, since it obviously wasn't part of the 1964 package.

The 12 Schulz lithographs are almost identical in size and content, including the original 1964 copyright assigned to "United Features Syndicate Inc., N.Y.C." But there are slight changes, reflecting a half-century difference between graphic reproduction. The paper stock is different; the 1964 lithos are on slightly shiny paper, which reflect any light sources. The new lithos also are roughly an eighth of an inch shorter horizontally, which -- depending on the image -- results in some artwork being chopped off one side or the other. 

Some of the colors are slightly different, generally slightly darker, and most visibly with the blues; the new blues are more "true." In the iconic pose of Charlie Brown on the pitcher's mound, for example, the sky behind him now looks more accurate, whereas the sky color in the 1964 counterpart is more of an aquamarine blue. Schroeder's piano is a slightly darker orange in the new litho; the background purples (floor and wall) in that image also are a bit darker. Snoopy's brown baseball glove, in the new litho, has the faint moiré pattern cross-hatching that one gets when scanning a halftone-screen image. Sharp-eyed folks also will notice that the new images, in some cases, omit just a touch of the artwork from the originals. In one litho, shown above, Linus stands in the ball field, next to a tree; the top of the tree extends out of the image, and the original has a little bit more "crown" than the new version. 

Mind you, these are all very minor distinctions, reported here simply for the sake of comparison. Nobody will care, and in fact I prefer the new paper stock because it's doesn't glare.

All in all, they're impressive packages — LP and CD — and, given the effort that went into both, I'm now quite curious to see what Concord will do next year, to similarly honor the 50th anniversary of the score for A Charlie Brown Christmas.