Egg-citing news!

Guaraldi’s full score for 1974’s It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown will be available for purchase on on March 21. The album can be pre-ordered on CD or black vinyl at Amazon and the MVD Shop, as well as other online retailers and your favorite brick-and-mortar record store. (As always, it also will be available digitally.)

A full press release from Lee Mendelson Film Productions remains pending, as is any information concerning color vinyl variants. I’ll update this post as soon as details are known.

During an unusually busy half-year that began in October 1973, Guaraldi scored an unprecedented three Peanuts animated TV specials. His music for It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown — last on a list that began with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and It’s a Mystery, Charlie Brown — was completed during three 1974 sessions at San Francisco’s Wally Heider Studios, on January 30, March 1 and April 9. He was joined by Seward McCain, bass, while Glenn Cronkhite and Eliot Zigmund split the chores on drums.

Guaraldi favored electric keyboards on this score, with varied cues that are as larkish as the on-screen action. The title theme is a fleeting little number, and he sprinkles fragments of “Linus and Lucy” and “Peppermint Patty” throughout the show. A shopping sequence is blessed with the show’s longest cue: “Woodstock’s Dream,” a whimsical melody that offers droll counterpoint as the kids travel up and down escalators, while searching this massive store for eggs.

This album features a particularly special bonus track: a medley of "Woodstock" tunes performed nearly 50 years later by pianist David Benoit, alongside original Guaraldi sidemen Seward McCain (bass) and Mike Clark (drums), recorded at the same San Francisco studio — now called Hyde Street — where the Easter Beagle soundtrack originally was recorded. 

The track listing:

1. Peppermint Patty

2. Easter Theme / Easter Theme (Reprise)

3. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2 No. 3 - I. Allegro con brio

4. Snoopy and Woodstock

5. Linus and Lucy

6. Woodstock's Dream

7. Snoopy’s Gumballs / Sally and Linus

8. Woodstock's Dream (Reprise)

9. Marcie's Song (Kitchen Music)

10. Linus and Lucy (Reprise)

11. Woodstock’s Pad

12. Woodstock’s Dream (2nd Reprise)

13. Music Box Dance (Minuet in G Major, BWV Anh. 116)

14. Woodstock’s Dream (3rd Reprise)

15. Easter Egg Soup (Kitchen Music 2)

16. Linus and Lucy (2nd Reprise) / Linus and Lucy (3rd Reprise)

17. Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 - II. Allegreto

18. Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 - I. Poco sostenuto - Vivace

19. Salting Eggs / Linus and Lucy (4th Reprise)

20. Bonus Track: Woodstock Medley (Woodstock’s Wake-Up / Little Birdie / Woodstock’s Dream / Thanksgiving Theme / Little Birdie (Reprise))

Last-minute stocking stuffers?

Two new albums debuted this month, definitely of interest to Guaraldi fans.

In addition to this post, both also have been added (after the fact) to this year’s December 1 update of “The Sincerest Form of Flattery,” so you’ll want to check out how they scored.

 

Meanwhile...

 

This first newcomer, I must confess, was a bit of an eyebrow-lift.

 

Welsh musician Amanda Whiting is the first known person in the UK to obtain a Master’s Degree of Jazz in harp ... an achievement that initially seemed an oxymoron.

 

Jazz harp? Seriously?

 

And yet she definitely proves it, with the seasonal and heavily Guaraldi-influenced A Christmas Cwtch. That latter word is Welsh for cuddle, or embrace, which perfectly describes this lovely album.

 

Whiting is backed by the jazz duo of Aidan Thorne, bass; and Mark O’Connor, drums and percussion; their contributions mostly favor quiet shading and comping. Lucia Capellaro also adds soft cello touches during a leisurely reading of “In the Bleak Midwinter.”

 

Whiting opens and closes her album with fleeting solo riffs on “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” cleverly subtitled (respectively) “The Night Before” and “Has He Been?” The album’s quieter tunes are highlighted by her contemplative improv bridges, as heard in the moody, mysterious “Sugarplum”; a sweet and wistful handling of the Peanuts “Happiness Theme”; and a solemn arrangement of Bill Evans’ “Peace Piece.”

 

Whiting borrows Guaraldi’s familiar arrangements for “The Christmas Song,” “Christmas Time Is Here,” “Skating” and “O Christmas Tree.” The latter opens with solo harp — just like Guaraldi’s solo piano — and then Thorne and O’Connor kick things into a nice, mid-tempo swing. And if you still doubt a harp’s ability to fit in this environment, pay attention to Whiting’s jazz chops during the improv bridge.

 

She’s equally feisty during a vibrant run at Guaraldi’s “Christmas Is Coming,” which boasts cool walking bass; and the appropriately brisk handling of “Skating,” where her harp cascades evoke snowfall just as successfully as Guaraldi’s keyboard runs. The latter’s swing bridge is particularly cool, as also is the case with the lengthy trio improv bridge in “We Three Kings.”

 

The occasionally sassy chops aside, this is primarily “pretty jazz,” meant to be enjoyed during the quiet shank of an evening, perhaps while imbibing a final glass of eggnog after a boisterous party. But whatever descriptor is employed, this album definitely belongs in everybody’s collection of holiday music.

 

I can’t say the same of the next one.

 

The Commercialists — a Wisconsin-based trio consisting of Anthony Deutsch, piano; Clay Schaub, bass; and Patrick Morrow, drums — is one of many regional U.S. combos that have brightened the holiday season with annual performances of Guaraldi’s music from A Charlie Brown Christmas. Deutsch and his mates have been a popular seasonal draw at numerous venues for slightly more than a decade, and the just-released A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live at The Jazz Estate was recorded at that club on December 22, 2023.

Deutsch is a firecracker pianist with serious chops, best showcased on his trio’s covers of “Linus and Lucy” and “Skating.” But that’s getting ahead of things; the album (appropriately) opens with a Guaraldi-esque arrangement of “O Tannenbaum,” beginning with quiet solo piano and then building to a gentle trio number that grants Schaub a lovely bass solo. “My Little Drum” is next, again sounding like Guaraldi, until Deutsch strays into fresh territory with a vibrant keyboard bridge that offers hints of the familiar melody. 

 

“Christmas Time Is Here” and a peppy “Linus and Lucy” are equally engaging. “Skating” opens with a solid waltz beat, and Deutsch’s keyboard cascades sparkle; the lengthy keyboard bridge improv is backed by feisty walking bass, as the tempo increases ... then everybody brings the tune home.

 

Alas, this album subsequently goes off the rails.

 

After introducing the melody in “Christmas Is Coming” (mislabeled on the CD jacket), Deutsch and Schaub wander through a long, increasingly tedious bridge that shoots into the outer stratosphere. A mélange of “The Wassail Song” and “The Christmas Song” begins as Deutsch vocalizes the first tune in overly melodramatic fashion, after which he slides into “Christmas Song” with exaggerated pauses. The sidemen enter, with Schaub’s bass handling a bridge against Deutsch’s irritating, Keith Jarrett-style moaning and mumbling. At just a few seconds shy of 9 minutes, the band’s handling of this medley is beyond self-indulgent.

 

But Deutsch isn’t finished. He also talks/sings/mumbles his way through an equally lamentable reading of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” which might have made the Jolly Red Elf skip this town entirely.

 

The album concludes with a “surprise” bonus track, as Deutsch leads the venue patrons through a group sing-along of “Hark, the Herald Angels Sings,” the way A Charlie Brown Christmas concluded. I’m sure this was a sweet touch in person ... but it doesn’t quite work as an album finale.

 

All told, uneven at best.

The sincerest form of flattery: 2024 update

This post originally appeared back in December 2012, and was updated in 2016 and 2019. Although it deserves a fresh update this year — thanks to nine new entries! — adding to the original post wouldn't call attention to the enhanced information; there's also no reason newer readers would know anything about it. Ergo, a "repeat performance" with additional material. The sequence is chronological, and the new entries are bolded. Enjoy!

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While writing the final chapter of my book on Guaraldi, when it came time to briefly mention the unusual phenomenon of contemporary musicians who’ve chosen to cover the entire Charlie Brown Christmas score, I paused long enough to wonder whether this has happened very often.

Granted, jazz is a genre that encourages such behavior; consider the number of folks who’ve put their own stamp on, say, Miles Davis’ “All Blues.” But covering an entire album? Surely, that must be unusual.

And, indeed, it is ... but, by a curious coincidence, one of my other favorite jazz albums — also a TV score — has garnered the same attention: Henry Mancini’s iconic soundtrack for Peter Gunn. The series ran for three seasons, from September 1958 through September 1961, and Mancini produced two albums: The Music from Peter Gunn (1958) and More Music from Peter Gunn (1959).

To say that Mancini’s swingin’ themes made a splash would be an understatement. The first album reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop LP Chart, and suddenly everybody wanted a piece of the action. All sorts of folks covered the groovin' title theme, with Ray Anthony's version spending 17 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between January 5 and April 27, 1959; it peaked at No. 8 the week of March 2.

Ted Nash, Maxwell Davis and Pete Candoli had released the first cover album, titled simply Peter Gunn, the year before; Nash, Pete and Conte Candoli, calling themselves the Soundstage All Stars, followed with More Peter Gunn in 1959. Drummer Shelly Manne & His Men also released two albums in 1959: Play Peter Gunn and Son of Gunn. The Joe Wilder Quartet joined the fun in 1959, with Jazz from Peter Gunn; Ray Ellis and his Orchestra followed in 1960, with The Best of Peter Gunn. Manne & His Men returned to the well in 1967, with the outré Jazz Gunn (a little too far out for my taste, but that's just one vote).

It’s simple, really: When listeners really, truly love a particular score, they can’t get enough of it. Leonard Bernstein’s music for West Side Story is another good example; I couldn’t begin to tabulate all the jazz cover versions that album generated.

We therefore shouldn’t be surprised that Guaraldi’s beloved Christmas album has received the same treatment, and increasingly more often as time has passed.

But are they any good?

In most cases, yes, and well worth your time and money. And since this is the holiday season, it seems an appropriate time to discuss them all.

But let’s make it a bit more fun, and score the contestants according to my own whimsical parameters. Points therefore will be awarded for...

1) Covering all four of Guaraldi’s original tunes: “Christmas Time Is Here,” “Christmas Is Coming,” “Skating” and “Linus and Lucy” (5 points each, for a total of 20);

2) Covering all five of the traditional Christmas songs that Guaraldi arranged and included on the album: “O Tannenbaum,” “What Child Is This, (aka Greensleeves)” “My Little Drum (aka The Little Drummer Boy),” “The Christmas Song” and “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” (5 points each, for a total of 25);

3) Plus covering Beethoven’s “Für Elise” (25 point bonus);

4) And presenting them in the same album sequence (50 point bonus).

Fresh jazz covers of additional Christmas songs are nice, but count neither toward nor against the total score. Additional Guaraldi tunes also are welcome, and — again — count neither toward nor against the total score.

Finally, 10 points will be subtracted for unimaginatively calling the album A Charlie Brown Christmas, because that’s confusing. At the very least, the artist(s) in question should give their work some sort of original title.

Please note, though: The final tally applies solely to how faithful the cover elements are, and in no way reflects the musicality present. Jim Martinez’s album may score low in the “perfect cover” department, but it’s one of my favorites on this list.

Onward!

A Jolly Guaraldi Holiday 2024

As Charlie Brown would say, Good grief!

Talk about a growth industry...

By mid-December last year, this annual round-up of Guaraldi-themed concerts had grown to an astonishing length, with a whopping 171 entries — several of which cited multiple bookings for the given group — which was a massive jump over 2022. I expected some increase, given that Covid fears had eased ... but I sure wasn't prepared for an explosion of such magnitude.

Will it happen again this year?

Too soon to tell, since fresh bookings continue to be announced throughout the first half of December.

Call this a good start, then; we've already covered 37 American states, four Canadian provinces and two venues in the UK (London and Dublin). And I'm sure groups in some of the remaining 13 states are joining in the fun; I simply haven't heard about them yet.

I first traced the history and growth of this delightful annual tradition back in 2012, with a modest schedule that now seems quaint. This year's post will serve as a clearinghouse for any and all 2024 concerts that come to my attention. As always, I'll add to this schedule as new information becomes available, so you'll want to check back frequently. New entries and listings will be tagged as UPDATES. 

Anybody with information about a show (or shows) not listed here, is encouraged to submit the information in a comment; please be as detailed as possible. Such comments will not be published, but the show(s) will be added to the roster.

Let's start with mainstay groups with busy touring schedules:

• The Chris White Trio has become quite serious about honoring Guaraldi's holiday-themed Peanuts music. During the next month, White (on piano) will work with bassists Sean Jacobi, Mike Benning, Joe Policastro and Alex Austin; and drummers Ryan Jacobi, Kurt Lubbe, Dave Williams, Darren Scorza and Joe Adamik. The trio began this season back on Sunday, October 29, with the first of two performances of the music from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, at jazz clubs in Chicago, Illinois. One of those, Winter's Jazz Club, will host the trio's one-night tribute to the music from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on Wednesday, November 27. The group's full-schedule Charlie Brown Christmas shows (dozens!) will kick off Saturday, November 30, in Arlington, Illinois, with additional performances at numerous Illinois venues — and one night in Michigan — concluding Sunday, December 22, once again at Winter's. Details.

• Popular jazz pianist David Benoit traditionally headlines a concert tour of his Christmas Tribute to Charlie Brown each December. This year's schedule — which again features vocalist Courtney Fortune — kicks off Friday, November 29, in Hollywood, California, with subsequent stops in New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Arizona, additional California venues, and concludes December 19-22, at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley in Seattle, Washington. Check his website for details.

• The Ornaments — Jen Gunderman, piano; Martin Lynds, bass; and James Haggaerty, drums — will be joined by special guest soloists for their 19th annual performances of music from A Charlie Brown Christmas during a busy schedule that runs from December 14-22: two shows Saturday, December 14, at the Temple Theatre in Portland, Tennessee; and 12 shows Tuesday through Sunday, December 17-22, at the Eastside Bowl, in Nashville, Tennesee. Details. And do check out their 2011 live album.

• Doc Watkins and his Orchestra will begin their month-long Christmas in Jazz tributes to the music from A Charlie Brown Christmas at San Antonio's JazzTX, Texas, on Friday, November 29. Upcoming shows include November 30 and December 5-8, 10, 12-14 and 20-22. Details. They also scheduled a December 19 performance at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, also in San Antonio. Details. The icing on the cake: Watkins' terrific 2022 album, The Music of A Charlie Brown Christmas; do check it out!

• The Eric Byrd Trio — Byrd, piano and vocals; Bhagwan Khalsa, acoustic bass; and Alphonso Young Jr., drums and percussion — has made a cottage industry of Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas music, having thus far released two cover albums: a 2009 studio project, and a 2021 live performance. Both are available here. Byrd's combo begins its annual run on Saturday, November 30, in Maryland, with numerous subsequent performances in that state and Virginia, concluding Saturday, December 21. Details.

• The Heather Pierson Trio — Pierson, piano; Shawn Nadeau, bass; and Craig Bryan, drums — will began an ambition Charlie Brown Christmas tour on Saturday, November 30, in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. Subsequent stops will include venues in that state, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine, concluding on Sunday, December 22, in Waldoboro, Maine. Details.

Heart and soul!

Valentine's Day will come early next year.

January 17 will see the first-ever release of Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack to Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown.

This soundtrack debut will be one of the first highlights during what promises to be an exciting 75th anniversary year of the Peanuts comic strip, which debuted October 2, 1950. It'll also mark the 50th anniversary of this TV special, which debuted on January 28, 1975.

The album will be available in the usual formats: LP, CD and digital download. LP collectors will have three options, starting with the traditional black vinyl, available at Amazon and the usual mainstream outlets. As always, potential future albums of Guaraldi's Peanuts scores will depend on sales of each new release ... so buy one for yourself, and a second as a gift for a friend!

(Shop locally, if possible. Support your brick-and-mortar retailer!)

Additionally, a "Puppy Love Pink" BioVinyl variant will be available as a Barnes & Noble exclusive:

And a limited-edition "Heartburn Red" BioVinyl variant will be available as a Record Store Day exclusive, on April 12, 2025:

All options feature detailed liner notes by my humble self, and producers Sean and Jason Mendelson. 

The album's Lee Mendelson Film Productions web page can be viewed here, which includes ordering links and four sample tracks. The full LMFP press release is here.

(Bear in mind that the Record Store Day page doesn't list all participating outlets, so it'll be wise to check with your local shop.)

As had become tradition by the time this 13th Peanuts TV special went into production, Guaraldi composed all the music, which was performed by his trio, under the supervision of John Scott Trotter. Guaraldi handled all the keyboard elements, on piano, Fender Rhodes and ARP String Ensemble synthesizer; he also added occasional soft guitar licks. Seward McCain played bass, and Vince Lateano handled the drum work.

Guaraldi took a different direction with this special’s score, and made a point of not using most of his familiar Peanuts cues, such as “Peppermint Patty,” “Red Baron” and “Blue Charlie Brown.” Although “Linus and Lucy” briefly surfaces twice, the arrangements are so novel, that casual listeners could be excused for thinking they’re entirely different melodies. This approach was intentional, because Guaraldi's score is a “tone poem tapestry,” designed to reinforce the melancholy atmosphere of various love’s labors lost. That’s particularly true of quietly thoughtful tracks such as “Never Again,” “There’s Been a Change,” “Charlie Brown’s Wake-up” and “Jennie L.”

The album's 30 tracks feature the show's 22 score cues, followed by seven alternate takes and bonus mixes. The final track, "Last Call for Love," is a true bonus: When the recording session concluded, the trio jammed on a bluesy 6-minute piece, which features a truly terrific solo from McCain. 

Score tracks:

1. Heartburn Waltz

2. Heartburn Waltz (Reprise)

3. Linus and Lucy

4. Valentine Interlude #1 / Heartburn Waltz (2nd Reprise)

5. Piano Sonata No. 20 in G Major, Op. 49 No. 2 - 1. Allegro ma non troppo, by Ludwig van Beethoven

6. Heartburn Waltz (3rd Reprise)

7. Linus and Lucy (Reprise)

8. Paw Pet Overture

9. Freddie's Mood (Nocturne in E Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2 by Frederic Chopin)

10. Heartburn Waltz (4th Reprise)

11 Never Again

12 Music Box Dance (Minuet in G Major, BWV Anh. 116, by Johann Sebastian Bach)

13. Woodstock's Mambo

14. Heartburn Waltz (5th Reprise)

15. Jennie L.

16. Heartburn Waltz (6th Reprise)

17. Valentine Interlude #2 / Heartburn Waltz (7th Reprise)

18. There's Been a Change

19. Woodstock's Revenge

20. Charlie Brown's Wake-Up

21. Heartburn Waltz (Reprise)

22. Freddie's Mood (Show Version)

Bonus tracks:

23. Heartburn Waltz (Bonus Mix)

24. Jennie L. (Alternate Take)

25. Heartburn Waltz (Alternate Take)

26. Woodstock's Mambo (Bonus Mix)

27. Heartburn Waltz (Reprise) (Bonus Mix)

28. There's Been a Change (Alternate Take)

29. Heartburn Waltz (5th Reprise) (Bonus Mix)

30. Last Call for Love

The folks at Lee Mendelson Film Productions will get the New Year off to a terrific start!

Pumpkin Jazz

Thanks to the long-awaited 2022 release of Guaraldi's soundtrack to It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, a few of the groups that mount annual Charlie Brown Christmas holiday shows have added similar performances to celebrate that Halloween album. It's a small list thus far, but they certainly deserve the same sort of shout-out ... and I'm sure more bands will follow in the future.

If I learn of any others in a timely fashion, I'll add them as an UPDATE, so you might want to check back every few days.

(I expect to post the annual Christmas performance list in mid-November.)

As for this debut Great Pumpkin list ... I gotta say, if you live in Illinois, you're about to have a great week!

• The Mich Shirey Trio, also known as Guitar for Guaraldi — Shirey, guitar; Nick Fane, bass; and Joey Buttlar, drums — will perform the music from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, along with other Guaraldi treats, on Thursday, October 24, at the Tack Room in Chicago, Illinois. Details.

• The Doug Ferdinand Quartet — Ferdinand, keyboards; Patrick Keelan, vibraphone; Colin O'Malley, bass; and Brendan Mack, drums — will perform the music from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on Sunday, October 27, at the Blue Island Beer Company in Blue Island, Illinois. Details.

• The Chris White Quartet — White, piano; Greg Dudzienski, sax and flute; Sean Jacobi, bass; and Ryan Jacobi, drums — will perform the music from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on Tuesday, October 29, at Hey Nonny in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Details.

• The Mich Shirey Trio, also known as Guitar for Guaraldi — Shirey, guitar; Nick Fane, bass; and David Kuchera drums — will perform the music from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, along with other Guaraldi treats, on Wednesday, October 30, at The Whistler in Chicago, Illinois. Details.

• The Chris White Quartet — White, piano; Greg Dudzienski, sax and flute; Sean Jacobi, bass; and Ryan Jacobi, drums — will perform the music from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on Wednesday, October 30, at The Winters Jazz Club in Chicago, Illinois. Details.

Vince on the Web: 2024 update

This topic hasn't been revisited since 2014, and it's definitely time for another look. Rather than link back to that earlier post, I'll simply repeat, modify and update it here.

Guaraldi fans are lucky; all of the albums under his own name have remained in print and been readily available since their initial release, with new ones arriving rapidly these days. 

But what about material that saw limited commercial release, or none at all?

Quite a few nuggets exist, thanks to the Web. Some are housed in authorized online archives that share them with the general public; others are bootlegs that (shall we say) lack that level of legitimacy, but nonetheless can be enjoyed by folks who haven't yet discovered them.

Onward!

Our first stop is SugarMegs Audio, "where live music lives since 1996." The site hosts a massive archive of more than 120,000 concert recordings, in whole or in part. Most are rock/pop, but you'll find other things as well. (One can get lost in this site for days...) On the homepage, scroll down to where THE STREAMING AUDIO COLLECTION is headlined, then click on the "database interface" link below. That'll bring up a page with a small white SEARCH box on the left. Enter the name "Guaraldi," and — as these words are typed — you'll get 15 hits. Most are other performers covering one or more Guaraldi songs, but two entries actually feature Vince. From the top, they are:

• A shared billing with no less than Carlos Santana, during a benefit for the College of Marin in Kentfield, California, on the afternoon of October 7, 1972. The band also included Coke and Pete Escovedo; other personnel, if present, remain unnamed. Although numerous sources agree that the entire show was broadcast by a local radio station — some claim KPFA, others KSAN — only two fragments seem to have survived: a portion of a jam running just shy of 7 minutes, and a second, longer fragment from an extended jam version of "Evil Ways," which clocks in at about 15:38. You'll find them both here, stitched together as a single file. Guaraldi's electric keyboard can be heard quite clearly throughout both fragments, although the melodic quality of his contribution is open to debate. Mostly, he delivers the extemporaneous riffs that characterized his occasional rock-inflected appearances at the Matrix, during this part of his career. This file's nice bonus, however, is the DJ who speaks over the music at roughly 20:40, to identify Santana on guitar, and Guaraldi on electric piano.

• The massive jam during the final night of the five-day farewell party for San Francisco's Fillmore West, which ran June 30-July 4, 1971. Guaraldi was part of the final evening's "San Francisco Musicians Jam," which included Van Morrison, the Tower of Power horn section, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Cold Blood, Hot Tuna, the Loading Zone and even rock impresario Bill Graham, on cowbell. The entry labeled "FillmoreWestFinalNightJams1971" focuses on that set. Guaraldi played electric organ. You'll be hard-pressed to hear him over the chaos, but you're welcome to try!

The campaign heats up!

 Back in the spring and summer of 1972, as presidential contenders Richard Nixon and George McGovern jockeyed for advantage, an increasingly popular underdog candidate entered the fray. Hallmark kicked off that campaign with the lenticular button shown above.

Alas, Snoopy was defeated at the polls. We can only speculate how much better our country would be today, had he become The World-Famous President.

 

Another equally important election took place on October 29 that year, just nine days before Nixon galloped home with 60.7 percent of the popular vote. Linus Van Pelt and Russell Anderson faced off in You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown, the eighth prime-time Peanuts special from the artistic dream team of Charles Schulz, Lee Mendelson, Bill Melendez and Vince Guaraldi.

As previously mentioned in my July 10 post, Guaraldi’s soundtrack for this special debuts this Friday, September 6. Three physical releases will be available: a CD; a regular black vinyl LP, available at all retailers; and a “Woodstock Yellow” vinyl LP, excusive to independent record stores. The album also will be available via all streaming services, and as a digital download. Click here for purchase and streaming links to select stores and services (although the album also will be available from many other retailers and digital services).

 

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Looking ahead, fans of colored vinyl variants will be pleased to learn that last year’s soundtrack album for A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving will be re-released in three new exclusive versions on October 18:

 

• A picture disc from Barnes & Noble, featuring two scenes from the special

• A “turkey tan” vinyl from Target, and

• A “purple jelly bean” vinyl available only from independent record stores.

Note: The musical content is exactly the same as last year’s LP release. And, of course, the regular CD, black vinyl and digital releases also remain available. Purchase links for all options can be found here.

This Election features a different McCain!

Heath Holland, host of the pop-culture podcast Cereal at Midnight, has been delivering marvelously passionate shows about Lee Mendelson Film Productions’ recent, never-been-seen-before releases of Guaraldi’s scores for the vintage Peanuts TV specials, always with the equally enthusiastic participation of Sean and Jason Mendelson.

Check out the previous shows devoted to A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown (which also earned a second show).

 

Holland’s just-posted coverage of You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown finds the aforementioned individuals similarly excited — and excitable — but it’s also extra-special for an additional reason. Bassist Seward McCain, a former Guaraldi sideman, also participates in this super-sized episode; he’s on camera for most of the first half-hour. His memories, anecdotes and commentary are wonderful.

 

I don’t want to spoil the fun to be had while watching the entire show, but I couldn’t help extracting some of Seward’s choice remarks.

 

In his voice, then:

 

It was interesting to hear these [album] cuts, because it reminded me of how Vince worked. We would show up at the studio — usually a two-day session — and spend all day recording, from late morning to late hours at night. Vince was very purposeful; he knew what order he wanted to record everything. He didn’t want to write things out and make it sound mechanical; he liked it loose ... to play like we did on trio gigs.

 

Vince would bring in themes and ideas; he’d already been talking with John Scott Trotter or Lee [Mendelson], and he had a real plan. He’d bring in a storyboard on paper, and he knew the timings of everything; he was very well prepared every time. It could be improvised; he’d say, “Okay, we’ve got a cue here that’s about a minute and a half” or “This one is 17 seconds.” Sometimes Vince would say, “I dunno ... we need some mood music,” and he’d just start playing something! Of course, some of it was themes from other shows, and we’d do a new version of, say, “Linus and Lucy.”

[The music on the album] sounds fresher to me, because you don’t hear it in the show so much, because it’s designed to be a background; this way you can just listen to them. I’ve never had these tracks this way, and it’s so much fun.

 

I wonder where the time has gone, because I feel like the same person, particularly when I listen to this record. I just turned 80, but I have no sense of it (other than a doctor visit or two). This record pulls me back into the studio, with those players. They’re good, strong memories. You hear Vince’s voice in the studio. You hear him count it off, or say something, and that really makes you feel like you’re listening to tracks, and not a prepared album. That’s pretty fun.

 

I’d probably still be in the band, if Vince were still alive.

 

Like, wow.

 

I’d kill to be able to go back in time, and include that final line in my book.

 

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On a related note...

 

As I explain in my liner notes — and in an amusing example of history repeating itself — much the way It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown began life as It Is a Short Summer, Charlie Brown, this special originally was to be called You’re Elected, Charlie Brown ... until the very last second. Wiser heads pointed out that a) Charlie Brown never wins anything; and b) Linus is the person campaigning, not good ol’ Chuck. Last-minute adjustments were made in such haste that the chalkboard title, as this special begins, has an afterthought “Not” inserted with a caret, and — listen carefully — the kid chorus still sings “You’re Elected, Charlie Brown.”

How “last minute” was this change made? Late enough to prevent being able to modify this promotional ad, which ran in TV Guide on October 28, 1972! 

Vinyl madness: 2024

I figured it was only a temporary reprieve.

 

We all wondered, after last year’s sole new vinyl release of A Charlie Brown Christmas — a picture disc from Barnes & Noble — if the annual tsunami of variant LPs had come to an end.

 

After all, we got eight variants each, in 2021 and ’22 ... which, including last year’s single entry — and assuming my math is accurate — brings the total to 43 (!). I’m still waiting to hear from somebody who has purchased and displayed all of them, because that photo will get pride of place in a future blog entry.

 

Meanwhile, rumors of the program’s termination obviously were premature. As of now, I’m aware of four 2024 variants. On top of which, one of my many scouts in the field — a helpful chap named Wes (I have spies everywhere) — sent me the photo at left yesterday. Apparently his local Walmart already has its new variant on display, and for sale ... in mid-August. 

 

Knowing how Charlie Brown frowned upon the commercialization of Christmas in the iconic 1965 TV special — and how Sally groused, when the gang visited a department store in 1974’s It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, about Christmas decorations being up so prematurely — I’m pretty sure the Peanuts gang would disapprove of Walmart’s move.

 

That aside, we can look forward to... 

A metallic gold, with green-colored swirl, from Target...

 

 A metallic iridescent green, from Urban Outfitters...

 

This nifty picture disc, from Barnes & Noble...

  

And the aforementioned “Tinseltown Colored Vinyl,” from Walmart.

 

Release dates of the other three are mid-September and mid-October.

Here's a quick link for ordering.

Will there be more?

 

Stay tuned...