Something to devour from Omnivore

Big news, folks.

Omnivore Recordings — a terrific prestige label, with an impressive catalog — will release two Vince Guaraldi items on July 6: The Complete Warner Bros.–Seven Arts Recordings (encompassing Vince’s three Warner Bros.-Seven Arts albums: Oh, Good Grief!, The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi and Alma-Ville), as a two-CD set with four previously unreleased bonus tracks; and the classic Oh, Good Grief! album, on translucent red vinyl.

Check out this cool trailer.

Got your attention with the phrase “bonus tracks,” right?

It's true. The double-CD package includes never-heard-before covers of Bacharach/David’s “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” and the gospel hit “Oh, Happy Day,” along with a Guaraldi original titled “The Share Cropper’s Daughter” and an alternate take of “The Beat Goes On.”

Quoting now from Omnivore's press release:

Many people got to know Guaraldi through his 1963 Grammy Award-winning song, “Cast Your Fate to the Wind,” or via Sounds Orchestral’s Top 10 cover of it two years later. Lee Mendelson heard Guaraldi’s version while working on a Peanuts documentary; he contacted the pianist and asked him to score that project. Although Mendelson wasn’t able to sell that documentary to network television, he and Guaraldi subsequently reunited for what became the first Peanuts television special, A Charlie Brown Christmas. It was a match made in TV and musical history. With songs like “Linus and Lucy,” the show was a hit, and for more than five decades, not a holiday season went by without an airing. So potent and successful was the Peanuts/Guaraldi combination that the jazz pianist went on to score a total of 15 Peanuts television specials, a 1969 documentary and the debut feature film that same year.

In 1968, Vince made a label switch from his long-time home, Fantasy Records, to Warner Bros. Records. For his inaugural album, Oh, Good Grief!, he decided to re-interpret his Peanuts classics. In addition to the instantly recognizable Guaraldi sound of piano, bass and drums, he added electric guitar and electric harpsichord to the mix. The record was a smash hit.

For its 50th anniversary, Oh, Good Grief! will be presented by Omnivore Recordings the way the world first heard it: as stated on the original release’s back cover, “on shiny black vinyl.” (Well, actually, this special edition is “on shiny red vinyl.”) Mastered by Kevin Gray and pressed at world-class record-pressing plant RTI, this timeless album never has sounded better. 

Following Oh, Good Grief!,1969’s The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi lived up to its title and found the pianist experimenting: There’s a large string section, Guaraldi’s first recorded vocals (covering the singer/songwriter Tim Hardin), and original compositions that could be described as lengthy rock jams. 

Guaraldi’s last album for the label and final-ever album, 1970’s Alma-Ville, ranks among his best-ever releases. Six of the nine songs on this “return to jazz” project were Guaraldi originals; the set was recorded with several different ensembles. Besides the original compositions, Alma-Ville finds Guaraldi covering the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby,” which had become a staple of his live performances; Duke Pearson’s “Cristo Redentor”; and the Michel Legrand/Norman Gimbel song “Watch What Happens.”

Guaraldi’s three albums for Warner Bros.-Seven Arts have been produced for this reissue by Grammy Award-winning Omnivore, Cheryl Pawelski; and remastered by Grammy Award-winning engineer, Michael Graves (who, under his Osiris Studios banner, also handled remastering for earlier Guaraldi digital releases such as Vince Guaraldi with the San Francisco Boys Chorus and Oaxaca). The new liner notes are written by your humble biographer/blogger.

Orders can be made directly from Omnivore.

Mark your calendars: July 6 will be a big day!

A different sort of gold record

Record Store Day, now an international "holiday" celebrated on the third Saturday of April, began with a modest proposal back in 2007: that something should be done, along the lines of Free Comic Book Day — which began in 2002 — to call attention to the old-fashioned, Mom 'n' Pop retail music outlets that were vanishing from the landscape, thanks to the pernicious effect of Internet sellers.

The first Record Store Day took place in 2008; the event has since blossomed into a Very Big Deal that involves special appearances and performances by hundreds of recording artists, who meet and greet their fans at the surviving record stores across the country and around the world. The biggest attraction, however, likely is the release of special vinyl and CD singles and albums: many available only on the day in question, and only at these vintage brick-and-mortar stores.

In 2010, recognizing a promotional opportunity, the folks behind Record Store Day aligned their activities with what has come to be known as "Black Friday": the day after Thanksgiving, which is — for better or worse — recognized as the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. Dubbing their piggy-back event "Back to Black Friday," the Record Store Day team encouraged their North American brick-and-mortar record store clients to participate just as noisily in Black Friday activities. The sweetener: yet another round (albeit more modest) of artist appearances and vinyl/CD releases.

Which brings us to this year, and the question undoubtedly percolating just behind your lips: What, if anything, does this have to do with our beloved Dr. Funk?

Ahem. By now, you must have noticed the image above.

This year's Back to Black Friday celebration will take place on November 29, the day after Thanksgiving. A few of the special vinyl and CD releases will be keyed to the holiday season, and one of them will come from Fantasy Records: a faithful recreation of their 1964 Vince Guaraldi Trio single — "Linus and Lucy" on the A side, "Oh, Good Grief" on the B side — with a new picture sleeve. 

And the disc will be pressed onto gold vinyl.

Pretty cool, eh?

(My allegiance to historical accuracy compels me to point out that the original 1964 single in question, Fantasy 593X, came from the album Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, as opposed to the later soundtrack album for A Charlie Brown Christmas, as this gold vinyl re-release implies. Indeed, "Oh, Good Grief" isn't even on the Christmas album. Had Fantasy really wanted to be authentic, they'd have granted this special treatment to the single that did come from the Christmas album, Fantasy 608X, with "Christmas Time Is Here" on the A side, and "What Child Is This" on the B side. But I digress.)

Now, you can't order this special Guaraldi single online; the whole point is to bring warm bodies into old-style record stores. You can find the closest participating outlet here, and while you're visiting recordstoreday.com, you'll also want to check out the Back to Black Friday FAQ. This is important, because not every store will stock every special release; most probably will base their orders on customer requests. That's why you're reading these words now, as opposed to a month from now: It's up to you to visit your favorite music store and ask them to bring in a copy of Vince's disc. Or two, or three, if you're thinking of gifts to other deserving jazz fans. Or if you simply wish to hoard a few, against the inevitable rise in value a few years down the road.

Viewing the entire list of anticipated releases, I also note holiday offerings from the Blind Boys of Alabama, John Denver & The Muppets, and Ernie Kovacs (gotta get that one!). Guaraldi's disc, however, seems to be one of very few jazz releases.

So, what are you waiting for? Hopefully, you already know where to find your local music store, because you're a regular customer. If not, check the online resource, take a little trip, introduce yourself and ask for this spiffy Guaraldi special. 

The person-to-person eye contact will do you good.