Vinyl Madness 2025: Part 1...

...because I’m certain of a Part 2 within another few weeks.

 

As befits this 75th anniversary year of Peanuts — October 2 is the actual diamond anniversary date — all manner of folks have jumped on the bandwagon: everything from clothes and plush, to toys, electronics and even art installations.

 

Needless to say, that list includes the two record labels dedicated to Guaraldi.

 

Vinyl variants of A Charlie Brown Christmas have been an annual tradition since 2014, but this year Craft Recordings — in partnership with numerous retailers — has pulled out all the stops.

 

But before discussing those, let’s first focus on the holiday that too frequently feels forgotten, between Halloween and Christmas.

Lee Mendelson Film Productions will issue a pair of Charlie Brown Thanksgiving variants: a picture disc, exclusive to Barnes & Noble (different from their 2024 picture disc); and a "yellow jelly bean" disc, exclusive to Record Store Day.

The Barnes & Noble album can be ordered here.

 

Information on Record Store Day’s participating brick-and-mortar outlets is here.

 

Both albums will be released on September 26.

 

********

 

Moving on to A Charlie Brown Christmas...

 

To paraphrase Bette Davis from 1950’s All About Eve, "Fasten your seat belts; it’s going to be a bumpy ride!”

 

We’re anticipating nine vinyl variants. They’re all discussed in Craft’s official press release.

 

The snazziest is this zoetrope disc from Craft, scheduled for release on September 12:

 

It can be pre-ordered here, and do check out this nifty promotional video. (It also can be purchased at Amazon and your local brick-and-mortar record store, among other outlets.)

 

The most unusual release will be this 4-inch “tiny vinyl” from Target, with only one song on each side: “Linus & Lucy” and “Christmas Time Is Here.” It’ll be released on October 31, and can be pre-ordered here.

 

Craft also is releasing a standard black vinyl disc in a holographic foil jacket; Walmart is releasing a red and gold vinyl in a similar holographic foil jacket. Both will be available August 29. The Craft LP can be ordered here (and is available elsewhere, as well); the Walmart album can be ordered here.

 

Best Buy will issue a bright neon green vinyl disc in a holographic foil jacket; Craft also will feature a glitter-colored vinyl in a holographic foil jacket. Both also will be available August 29. Pre-order the Best Buy album here, and the Craft album here (and this one is exclusive to Craft).

 

Barnes & Noble will feature a truly nifty two-sided picture disc, available September 26 (and, again, it's different from previously released picture discs); Target’s second offering will be a tree-green disc in a holographic foil jacket, available October 10. Pre-order the Barnes & Noble disc here; and the Target album here.

 

Finally, Urban Outfitters will offer a “blizzard swirl” album in a holographic foil jacket; once again, I don't yet have ordering information.

 

Folks interested in “one stop shopping” will find links for most of the above here, along with mention of numerous other iterations.

 

Craft hasn’t yet released details about its plans for It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown — which is ironic, since Halloween comes before the other two holidays! — although I am aware of a “ghost white” pumpkin-shaped vinyl, exclusive to Target, which can be ordered here. I'll include that when I got full information about Halloween releases, which should follow shortly in the promised Part 2.

 

********

 

On an entirely different note (no pun intended)...

Folks with keyboard talents, and a desire to emulate Dr. Funk, will be pleased by the pending arrival of this new songbook from Hal Leonard: Music from Peanuts Holiday Specials. 

 

Sean and Jason Mendelson worked with the publisher, to select the best tracks from the more recently released TV special scores.

 

The complete song list:

 

• Charlie Brown Theme

• Charlie Brown's Wake-Up

• Charlie's Blues

• Christmas Is Coming

• Christmas Time Is Here

• Easter Theme

• Graveyard Theme

• The Great Pumpkin Waltz

• Heartburn Waltz

• Linus And Lucy

• Linus And Lucy - Easter Beagle Edition

• Little Birdie

• Marcie's Song (Kitchen Music)

• Never Again

• Paw Pet Overture

• Peppermint Patty

• Red Baron

• Skating

• Thanksgiving Theme

• Woodstock's Dream

 

Although some of the above have appeared in previous songbook collections, roughly half have been transcribed for the first time. The book can be preordered here.

Time to flex those fingers! 

********

And, one final note: I spent an enjoyable half-hour discussing Guaraldi on the most recent edition of Davisville, the local public affairs radio show hosted by longtime journalist Bill Buchanan. He has been very generous about granting me air time to discuss my biography, and other Guaraldi-related matters. You can listen to the show here.

Wheels within wheels!

This 75th Peanuts anniversary year gets better and better!

On top of which, this also marks the 50th anniversary of You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown, which won an Emmy Award after its debut back on October 28, 1975. It was the 14th Peanuts special to feature a Guaraldi score.

The special's story, inspired by Schulz's son Craig's then-interest in motocross, finds Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty competing in a charity motocross race, trying to overcome the challenges of crashes, mud and the antics of a strangely familiar Masked Marvel.

By way of celebrating that double-anniversary Lee Mendelson Film Productions has announced that Guaraldi's complete soundtrack will be released on July 11, 2025.

The album features the 14 tracks that make up Guaraldi's full score, along with a bonus track of unused cues originally intended for the special's beginning (but were left behind when something else was inserted instead).

But — as the saying goes — that's not all, folks!

The album also includes four tracks of music that Guaraldi composed, and his trio performed, for Bicycles Are Beautiful, a now quite obscure 1974 non-Peanuts film — also produced by Lee Mendelson — that promoted bicycle riding and safety.

The performers on Good Sport are Guaraldi (piano, electric piano, clavinet, ARP String Ensemble, and Rhythm Ace Drum Machine), Seward McCain (bass) and Mark Rosengarden (drums and guiro). The Bicycles are Beautiful tracks feature Guaraldi (electric keyboard), McCain (bass) and Glenn Cronkhite (drums). 

The album was produced by Sean and Jason Mendelson; mixed at WonderWorld Studio by Grammy and Emmy Award-winning mixing engineer Clark Germain, and restored and re-mastered by Vinson Hudson (who has mastered all the LMFP releases). All tracks have been mastered from the original session tapes.

The soundtrack will be available on CD, vinyl and digitally, and can be pre-ordered from Amazon and other sources now.

The vinyl version is particularly special. The LP is a Zoetrope album: a picture disc with animated scenes from the cartoon, which come to life as the record spins. (You may need special lighting for best results; the album includes a QR code that'll take you to instructions for viewing the Zoetrope effect.) It's totally cool.

Initially only a Zoetrope vinyl was announced, but later LMFP added a plain black vinyl option as well.  However, it will not be available until September 12.

The physical albums feature rare photographs; track-by-track analysis by album producer Sean Mendelson; notes from album producer Jason Mendelson; an essay giving historical context by my own self; and a short essay by Craig Schulz, who discusses the special's inspiration.

Additional information:

• The full You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown press release

• The Lee Mendelson Film Productions webpage for the album

• Short preview samples for several tracks on Soundcloud

• The complete "Motocross" track on YouTube

The track list:

You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown

1. Motocross

2. Peppermint Patty

3. You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (Centercourt)

4. Fanfare / Fanfare (Alternate Take) / Hospital Scene / Hospital Scene (Bonus)

5. Bass Blues

6. Linus and Lucy

7. Motocross (Reprise)

8. You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (Unused Opening Cues)

9. The Great Pumpkin Waltz

10. Motocross (2nd Reprise)

11. Motocross (3rd Reprise)

12. Motocross (4th Reprise)

13. Motocross (5th Reprise Extended with Additional Piano)

14. Lunch Theme / Motocross (6th Reprise)

15. You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (Reprise)

Bicycles are Beautiful

16. Bicycles are Beautiful (Reprise)

17. Bicycle Ballad (Medley)

18. Bicycle Bounce (and Reprise)

19. Bicycle Wizard (and Reprise)

I know, I know ... July is too far away, right?

Anticipation always makes the eventual purchase that much more exciting!

As for what might be next ... keep watching this blog!

From album to manuscript page

I’ve played piano since childhood, although I never rose beyond the level necessary to perform for local community theater productions. Even so, I’ve continued to dabble, and of course have purchased every Guaraldi songbook or sheet music single that came to my attention.

I started young. In the late '60s and early ’70s, Pointer Publications, a division of what then was Hal Leonard/Pointer Publications, put out a series of easy piano books — the Peanuts Keyboard Fun series — which were adapted from the early TV specials. The books typically contained 32 pages, and the two center pages featured full-color illustrations from the show in question. The musical contents tended to cross over from book to book; in other words, if you had two books, they’d have some of the same songs, and some unique to each book.

The books were $2.95 each, and included the following volumes:

 

 • A Charlie Brown Christmas

 • Charlie Brown's All Stars

 • It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

 • You’re in Love, Charlie Brown

 • He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown

 • It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown

 

My library has grown substantially since then, and recent years have been a true Renaissance. As a sidebar to all the recent Peanuts soundtrack albums released by Lee Mendelson Film Productions, Sean and Jason Mendelson also worked with Hal Leonard LLC, a music publishing and distribution company that dates back to 1947, to publish many cues and songs never before released in sheet music format, as I covered in an earlier post.

 

I recently realized, as a result of my ongoing collaborations with Sean and Jason, that I had an “in” to answer a question that has long intrigued me:

 

How does a song get transcribed? What’s the process?

 

Sean put me in touch with Ben Culli, Hal Leonard’s Vice President of Editorial and Production, who turned me over to keyboard publications editor Mark Carlstein. He and I had a delightful chat a few weeks ago, and all my questions were answered.

 

The first one was obvious: Are transcribers musicians themselves?

 

“Yes,” Mark replied, “that’s absolutely imperative.”

 

So ... when starting work on a new tune, Mark — a pianist himself — handles the initial steps.

 

“The first thing is to get a good recording that’s indicative of the song. If I’m looking at Bill Evans, he might have recorded a given tune half a dozen times, and I’d want one that best represents him playing that music.”

 

Next: “catalogue” the tune.

 

“Every song has a road map. In the same way you’d follow a route, to get from A to B, a given song will last a certain number of bars, in a certain time signature, and in a certain key signature. Some sections may repeat, or not; typically in jazz, you don’t have exact repeated sections, as often is the case in pop music.

 

“I then send the representative tune to one of our transcribers, along with my road map; they listen to it, and write down everything they hear. All the parts are important. If words are part of the song, those words also must be transcribed. All of the melody’s rhythms must be notated precisely.

 

“What you look at, when you sit down to play something from a songbook, is a finished document that the transcriber built from the ground up.”

 

In the case of a Guaraldi trio composition, the transcriber pays attention to both the keyboard work, and the bass, to pick up the latter’s supplementary notes. 

 

“The trio musicians will be playing the same harmonies and chords, but not necessarily the same notes. (We always ignore the drums, because that’s a non-tonal portion of the recording.)”

 

Vocalists, often backed by larger ensembles, are trickier.

 

“Take a Taylor Swift recording. It’ll have a bass line, a guitar player, a piano player, perhaps another keyboard player, perhaps a secondary guitar player, the vocals and the words. All of that must be distilled into something that can be played — say, in the case of a pianist — by one person with two hands. As a result, a lot of compromises are involved, and it’s necessary to focus on the essence of the song. 

 

“How much of what the bass player does should be included? Some of it can’t be played by a pianist, and it’ll never be in the same octave, because what the bassist plays sounds too low on a piano keyboard; the two hands must be kept closer together. 

 

“You also can’t play a busy guitar part at the same time you’re playing the melody and bass line.

 

“Everything can’t be included, and that’s the biggest challenge for our transcribers who handle vocals, because we always include the melody in the right hand, and everything else must be inserted around that. Our transcribers therefore start first and foremost with the melody, because it’s imperative that it be presented in a way that can be played by that one person with two hands.”

 

Are vocal pieces easier than instrumentals?

 

“Yes, because you’re looking primarily at the melody and bass line; far fewer parts must be coordinated into a single playable score. 

 

“Alternatively, right now I’m working with one of our best transcribers on a jazz piano Omnibook, which includes classic recordings by Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson and everybody else you’d immediately recognize. But few of the pieces are solo piano; most involve at least bass and drums, and perhaps one or two horns. In such cases, you can’t include every single thing that every instrument plays, but all of the piano stuff is transcribed precisely — everything exactly as was played by that particular artist, on that particular recording — and the other instruments go onto other staves. One pianist can’t possibly play everything, but an Omnibook like this serves as a reference of sorts.”

 

What determines the necessary skill level required to play the result?

 

“That gets into arrangements. ‘Exact transcription’ means note for note, and the result can be quite complex and extremely difficult to play, because we’re talking about musicians who have extraordinary skills. If you’ve tried to play anything by Oscar Peterson, you know right away; it’s next to impossible. But something like the Omnibook isn’t what Hal Leonard does most. The bulk of what Hal Leonard does, is to take songs that people know, and to present them in different ways: different grade and skill levels. 

“Looking at just piano, we have at least a dozen different skill series, and of course we also have stuff for clarinet, violin and all sorts of other instruments. So, one person might do the initial transcription, and then several other people will handle the various arrangements.”

 

Why are some transcriptions in a key that differs from the original performance?

 

“We try to present things with no more than four sharps, or four flats. When we transcribe and arrange what we call ‘sheet music’ for the consumer, 1) the melody must be in the piano, so it can be played; and 2) it can only be reasonably difficult, at worst. 

 

“We’re super-conscious of keeping things at an average consumer’s ability level, so that almost anybody can pick up that sheet music and make use of it, and enjoy it. Part of that involves avoiding complicated key signatures.

 

“A lot of jazz and pop musicians like keys that have five and six flats, because it works well under their hands, like certain sharp keys work better for guitar players. 

 

“But the rest of us,” Mark added, with a chuckle, “don’t like seven sharps or seven flats.”

 

Indeed, some books are deliberately signature-simple.

 

“One of our most popular series is My First Fake Book, and every song is in the key of C major. We make it easy for the consumer, and of course you can transpose a song into any key you want.”

 

During my childhood, almost everybody I knew had a piano in their home, as also was the case in ours. These days, though, one sees very few pianos in homes. Has that affected sales of songbooks and sheet music singles?

 

“No, because all sorts of electronic keyboards are available these days; they’re less expensive and portable. The nature of the product has changed, because so much is available online; a lot of people download sheet music, as opposed to walking into a store and pulling something off a rack.”

 

Mark laughed at my next comment: One of my ongoing pet peeves has been the annoyance of square-bound songbooks. I’ve long felt that every songbook should be spiral-bound ... but I guessed (accurately) that must be too expensive.

 

“As far as I’m concerned, having the book stay open, while on the music rack, is the most important thing. So for Hal Leonard’s jazz piano solos series, at 96 pages, we switched the binding to what we call ‘lay-flat binding,’ so you can open the book anywhere, and it stays open and doesn’t split the spine.

“As it happens, the Guaraldi volume in that series is one of my favorites.”

That book is pictured at left; check it out here. Click on "closer look," below the photo, to see sample pages from "A Day in the Life of a Fool (Manha de Carnival)," "Great Pumpkin Waltz" and "Skating."

 

In the case of the Guaraldi cues and themes recently released in The Peanuts Piano Collection, Ben then explained that one final step was involved: “Sean reviewed the transcriptions prior to release, and offered a few very small suggestions and tweaks.”

 

And there you have it.

 

Many thanks to Mark and Ben, for fully satisfying my curiosity.

Mellow yellow!

No surprise; yet another treat has been announced for this, Peanuts' 75th anniversary year.

Seven years ago, almost to the day, Omnivore Recordings announced the release of 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. Full details are in this earlier post.

Earlier this morning, Omnivore announced a special "Peanuts Anniversary" version of Guaraldi's first Warners album, Oh, Good Grief, on banana yellow vinyl, along with companion versions on CD and black vinyl. All are the re-mastered versions by multiple Grammy Award-winning restoration and mastering guru Michael Graves.

As a bonus, all three variants include my new liner notes, written specifically for this anniversary release, which will hit stores on May 30.

Check out this cool promotional video and Omnivore's press release, and — while you're at it — place an advance order!

********

A few weeks ago, I spent an enjoyable hour chatting with William Pepper, who runs It's a Podcast, Charlie Brown. My episode, No. 139, debuted yesterday; you can find it here. We talked about Peanuts (of course), but with a particular focus on Guaraldi.

William came prepared with good questions, and the resulting discussion was a lot of fun. I hope you all enjoy the listen!

A milestone anniversary

This is Guaraldi-related only to a slight degree ... but an important one.

All sorts of things and events will help mark this year's 75th anniversary of Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts newspaper strip, but Abrams ComicArts likely will take center stage with this lavish coffee table book.

The Essential Peanuts — an opulent hardcover in a slipcase — is assembled by Mark Evanier. It presents the most iconic and essential Peanuts comic strips with fresh historical and cultural context. The book also features an introduction by Patrick McDonnell, a foreword by Jean Schulz, and contributions from 15 notable commentators. The book is designed by Chip Kidd, and includes a portfolio of collectible Peanuts ephemera: postcards, prints, an embroidered patch, stickers and a facsimile of a classic Peanuts comic book.

“Having loved Peanuts since I was about Charlie Brown's age (and no more successful at kite-flying), I was thrilled when Abrams ComicArts asked me to spend weeks reading and writing about the comic strip that was so much more than just a comic strip,” Evanier said. “The only drawback was that I tried writing the book sitting on the roof of a doghouse, but I kept falling off.”

Evanier is the award-winning author of Kirby: King of Comics and MAD Art. A respected writer, historian and editor, he has worked extensively in the worlds of comic books and television, earning a reputation as one of the foremost authorities on comics and animation. Evanier has earned three Emmy Award nominations, and he received the Lifetime Achievement Award for animation from the Writers Guild of America.

“As we mark 75 years of Peanuts, this partnership with Abrams ComicArts is a testament to the lasting impact of Schulz’s beloved characters,” noted Craig Herman, vice-president of Global Brand Experiences, and Publishing, at Peanuts Worldwide. “Since being introduced to the world on October 2, 1950, Peanuts has been at the forefront of pop culture, and we can’t wait for fans to discover this extraordinary anniversary edition.”

The Essential Peanuts underscores how and why the comic strip transcends cultural, generational and linguistic barriers to remain relevant and beloved. By exploring Schulz's creative ambition, his wry commentary on childhood struggles and triumphs, and his enduring influence on art, literature and everyday life, Evanier not only celebrates an incomparable legacy, but also reveals the universal appeal at the heart of Peanuts.

The 15 commentators:

• Robb Armstrong

• Rob Boutilier 

• Paige Braddock

• Alberto Brambilla 

• Benjamin L. Clark 

• Ben Folds

• Sarah Gillespie 

• Chip Kidd

• Amy Lago

• Mike Massimino

• Akio Matsunaga

• Jeff Morrow

• Hilary Price

• Shuntaro Tanikawa ...

...and me, thus the Guaraldi connection. My essay discusses how Dr. Funk became involved with Schulz's characters, when Lee Mendelson heard "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" on his car radio at an opportune moment.

Save coffee table space for this one, because you won't want to miss it. The Essential Peanuts will hit bookstores just in time for the actual 75th anniversary, on October 2, 2025. 

A couple of terrific reunions

Two new YouTube goodies absolutely deserve your attention.

The first is the most recent episode of Heath Holland’s Cereal at Midnight podcast, an ongoing program that he cheerfully describes as “the culmination of an entire lifetime of nerdy pursuits.”

 

That’s a fair descriptor of many episodes, but I wouldn’t call this one nerdy. 

 

With an assist from Jason and Sean Mendelson, and timed to the upcoming release of the soundtrack for It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, Heath gathered three veteran jazzmen — drummers Mike Clark (perhaps best known for working with Herbie Hancock) and Eliot Zigmund (famously with Bill Evans), and bassist Seward McCain (Mose Alison, Cleo Lane and others) — for a group Zoom session, to discuss their long-ago stints as members of Vince Guaraldi’s various combos.

 

The hour-long result is a wealth of reminiscences, anecdotes and some observations about jazz itself. Aside from their times with Guaraldi, topics include the respective jazz scenes in New York and San Francisco — and the often notorious divide between East and West Coast jazz — and how exposure to classical music (!) influenced their careers.

 

It's also fun to see how these three guys genuinely enjoy the camaraderie. Goodness, Seward and Eliot hadn’t seen or spoken to each other in decades.

 

I don’t want to spoil the viewing experience, but — as I furiously jotted notes — a few nuggets are worth mentioning.

 

Seward McCain and Vince Guaraldi at Butterfield's circa 1974-76

When each was asked what it was like, to play on a project that would be viewed on television by millions of folks, Seward’s response was quite philosophical. Unlike playing in front of live crowds, he began, even large ones, “You get no feedback, playing the music for a Charlie Brown special; you just play and leave. It’s still a bit of an unreality to me, the huge number of people that heard this music.”

Mike’s comment is almost unbelievable, because he didn’t realize he was making music for a television special: “[Vince] would call and say we’d be in the studio that day, no clue what we’d be playing. I don’t recall him ever saying anything about Charlie Brown. He’d just say, Okay, give me a groove like this, or give me 28 seconds of this, and I had no idea what it was for. He’d play like Wynton Kelly, and we’d just swing all night. And then this stuff aired on TV for years, before I even knew I was on it!”

 

Eliot credits his time in Vince’s trio with getting him the gig with Bill Evans; Mike recalls being recommended to Guaraldi by saxophonist Vince Denham, and fondly recalls the “great jams” at San Francisco’s Pierce Street Annex. All three men still perform; Eliot, soon to turn 80, wittily observes that “Drummers need to stay in good shape. I don’t dig carrying the drums, but I love playing them.”

 

And here’s something I never knew before: Mike mentions playing classical music with Vince at San Francisco’s Glide Memorial Church. (It’s worth noting that chanteuse Faith Winthrop, who was backed by Guaraldi’s early hungry i trio, founded that church’s community gospel group.)

 

Seriously, Mike? When? When?!?

 

All three still remember Vince fondly. 

 

“Vince was fun to be around,” Eliot says, wistfully, “and he loved to swing.”

 

“Vince played with rhythm, and he was in the groove,” Seward adds. “His notes were a lot of fun. Vince laid it down.”

 

“He had a dirty beat,” Mike concurs. “He could play New York style. And he could play two-handed boogie-woogie like nobody else.”

 

Referencing the fact that Guaraldi can be heard saying “Cue 1!” at the top of the first track on the Easter Beagle album, Mike adds, “As soon as I heard his voice, it hit me in the heart, and made me think how much I loved that guy.”

 

Amen to that.

 

********

 

The aforementioned album concludes with a truly special bonus track, recorded in 2021 at the same San Francisco studio where this soundtrack was laid down half a century ago: a brand-new “Woodstock Medley” — blending “Woodstock’s Wake-Up,” “Little Birdie,” “Woodstock’s Dream” and “Thanksgiving Theme” — by the trio of Seward, Mike and pianist David Benoit. It’s a fabulous performance, running just shy of 7 minutes.

 

I’ve known, pretty much since the medley was laid down, that Sean and Jason also filmed it ... and I’ve yearned, for almost four years, to see that footage.

 

Well, now everybody can watch it, in Sean’s marvelous music video, which he co-produced with Jason, and co-edited with Palmer Mendelson. The film is a captivating document of the studio performance, interspersed with brief “talking head” commentaries by the three musicians.

The nicest, heart-tugging touch: a final shot of Lee Mendelson, wielding a clapboard, while standing in front of Peanuts memorabilia that includes an impressively huge stuffed Snoopy.

Honesty, guys; clap yourselves on the back. This is a treasure! 

Full Impressions!

Following this month's earlier announcement of a Record Day Exclusive edition of the previously unreleased alternate takes from the original recording sessions that produced 1964's Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Craft Recordings has just announced the expanded edition of that classic album, to help celebrate this 75th anniversary year of Peanuts.

Available for pre-order today on two-CD and digital platforms, the newly remastered album includes the aforementioned 11 previously unreleased outtakes, along with the original album's longtime favorite tracks: “Linus and Lucy,” “Baseball Theme,” “Charlie Brown Theme” and many others.

Street date is April 11.

Read the full Craft press release here. Pre-orders can be made here.

The tracks are newly remastered from the original tapes by Grammy Award-winning engineer Paul Blakemore. The package also includes new liner notes by ye humble blogmeister, along with essays from producer Lee Mendelson and music journalist Ralph J. Gleason, both of which appeared in the album's original gatefold pressing.

(It's important to note, however, that Mendelson's notes were dropped when the LP was reissued in a standard, single-sleeve jacket. Re-reading Mendelson's notes today is quite eye-opening!)

Track Listing (CD/Digital):

Disc 1:

1.    Oh, Good Grief

2.    Pebble Beach

3.    Happiness Theme (Happiness Is)

4.    Schroeder

5.    Charlie Brown Theme

6.    Linus and Lucy

7.    Blue Charlie Brown

8.    Baseball Theme

9.    Frieda (with the Naturally Curly Hair)

Disc 2:

1.    Linus and Lucy (Studio Test)

2.    Linus and Lucy (Take 3)

3.    Happiness Theme (Happiness Is) (Take 4)

4.    Pebble Beach (Take 7)

5.    Baseball Theme (Take 1)

6.    Oh, Good Grief (Take 1)

7.    Schroeder (Take 3)

8.    Baseball Theme (Take 2)

9.    Oh, Good Grief (Take 1/Later Session)

10.  Schroeder (Take 2)

11.  Blues for Peanuts

12.  Charlie Brown Theme (Take 4)

13.  Blue Charlie Brown (Take 1)

14.  Frieda (with the Naturally Curly Hair) (Take 1)

15.  Fly Me to the Moon

16.  Autumn Leaves

This year is becoming quite the Guaraldi extravaganza! 

Record Store Day surprises!

Guaraldi fans are in for quite a treat, when April 12 — Record Store Day — rolls around.

We’re already primed for the upcoming release of It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, as detailed in this earlier post.

But as an additional bonus, the folks at Lee Mendelson Film Productions have just announced a Record Day exclusive of this album: individually foil-stamped and numbered, on — are you ready for this? — egg-shaped vinyl. To drive folks even crazier, the LPs will come in five different colors ... and they’re “mystery colors.” You won’t know what you’ve got, until you take it home and check it out.

Additional details can be found on the official LMFP press release, and full details about all of the album’s iterations are available on this LMFP master release.

But wait ... there’s more!

The crafty folks at Craft Recordings (sorry, couldn’t resist) have kept this release secret until now: a Record Store Day exclusive version of Guaraldi’s Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown.

But no; not the 1964 album that we all know and love. 

This LP will feature new and unreleased alternate takes of songs from the original recording sessions!

 

Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown (Alternate Takes) features two alternate versions of “Linus and Lucy,” including an early studio test; outtakes of “Oh, Good Grief”; the charming ode to fellow pianist “Schroeder”; the sweepingly carefree “Baseball Theme,” and more. 

“It’s not a children’s album,” All About Jazz pointed out, “but rather a top-notch series of breezy jazz treatments.”

 

This edition is pressed on sky-blue vinyl, limited to 3,400 copies, and mixed and mastered from the original analog sources by Grammy Award-winning engineer Paul Blakemore. The lacquers were cut by Matthew Lutthans at Cohearent Audio.

 

The track list:

 

Side A

1. Linus and Lucy (Studio Test)

2. Linus and Lucy (Take 3)

3. Happiness Theme (Happiness Is) (Take 4)

4. Pebble Beach (Take 7)

5. Baseball Theme (Take 1)

6. Oh, Good Grief (Take 1)

7. Schroeder (Take 3)

8. Baseball Theme (Take 2)

9. Oh, Good Grief (Take 1 / Later Session)

 

Side B

1. Schroeder (Take 2)

2. Blues for Peanuts

3. Charlie Brown Theme (Take 4)

4. Blue Charlie Brown (Take 1)

5. Frieda (With the Naturally Curly Hair) (Take 1)

Double-CD and digital release will occur on April 4; see this updated post.

This album is one of Craft's seven RSD releases; full details are here.

The complete list of RSD exclusives can be found at the Record Store Day website, which also includes a list of participating stores across the country. But remember: That list never is complete, so it’s best to call your favorite brick-and-mortar record store, in order to reserve or purchase one or both of these albums.

And should it prove necessary, on April 12 ... get in line early! 

Chart action: The 2024 holiday season

After 2023 produced only a single vinyl edition of A Charlie Brown Christmas, we wondered if the "multiple variants" fad had concluded.

Answer: definitely not.

2024 gave us four variants, as detailed in this earlier post.

And those multiple variants clearly had an impact on sales and chart position. 

The album returned to the Billboard 200 on November 16, entering at #170. The subsequent results: #108 (11/23), #58 (11/30), #29 (12/7), #17 (12/14), #18 (12/21), #12 (12/28) and peaked at #11 (1/4) ... one notch higher than the previous year. It then dropped precipitously to #138 (1/11) and vanished the following week.

It did significantly better in the Jazz Albums chart, debuting at #13 on August 31 (!). The subsequent ride was quite a roller coaster: #15 (9/7), #13 (9/14), #20 (9/21), #18 (9/28), #14 (10/5), #9 (10/12), #7 (10/19 and 10/26), #5 (11/2), #4 (11/9), #3 (11/16), #2 (11/23 and 11/30), #3 (12/7, 12/14, 12/21 and 12/28), #4 (1/4 and 1/11), #7 (1/18), #10 (1/25), #15 (2/1), #17 (2/8), #20 (2/15) and #24 (2/22, 3/1 and 3/8), and finally vanished the following week. All told, it remained in this chart for slightly more than half a year!

The Traditional Jazz chart was quite similar, starting at #11, also on August 31. The subsequent results: #13 (9/7), #11 (9/14), no appearance on 9/21 (!), #13 (9/28), #12 (10/5), #7 (10/12), #6 (10/19, 10/26 and 11/2), #3 (11/9 and 11/16), #2 (11/23 and 11/30), #3 (12/7, 12/14, 12/21 and 12/28), #4 (1/4 and 1/11), #5 (1/18), #8 (1/25), #12 (2/1), #13 (2/8) and #15 (2/15). It vanished the following week.

Apparently, people continued to purchase the album well past Christmas!

Since it continues to appear in the latter two charts, I'll continue to update this post, if necessary ... so check back occasionally.

Billboard's seasonal Top Holiday Album chart was somewhat frustrating. As expected, A Charlie Brown Christmas did quite well, starting at #3 on November 2, and remaining in the top 10 for the rest of the season: #2 (11/9), #5 (11/16), #4 (11/23 and 11/30), #6 (12/7), #5 (12/14), #6 (12/21), #5 (12/28), #7 (1/4) and #4 (1/11), after which that chart was closed until later this year. Nobody could dislodge Michael Buble from the top spot, and Vince also couldn't beat Nat King Cole!

The news was better, however, in the Hot 100. "Christmas Time Is Here" re-entered the chart at #48, on December 21 ... then rose to #46 the following week, and then #31 on January 4. The latter is an all-time high!

But wait ... there's more!

Thanks to the Lee Mendelson Film Productions' recent release of the soundtrack to Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown on black vinyl and two variants — as detailed in this earlier post — that album also began to chart!

It debuted on the Jazz Albums chart on 2/1, at #9, then dropped to #13 (2/8), #22 (2/15) and then rebounded to #16 (2/22).

It debuted on the Traditional Jazz Albums chart the same day, at #7, then dropped to #11 (2/8). It vanished on 2/15, but then reappeared at #12 on 2/22.

It also debuted on the Top Albums chart that same day, at #48 ... but vanished the following week.

(In case you're wondering, Billboard always dates its charts on the Saturday following each Tuesday's fresh set of statistics.)

As I said above, keep checking back ... because I suspect we aren't done yet! 

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.)

An "Easter Purple" colored vinyl variant, limited to 2,000 individually numbered BioVinyl copies, is available solely at independent record stores. Check with your local store, to reserve or purchase a copy. Recordstoreday has a list of stores, but the list is incomplete; best to give your preferred store a call, even if it isn't on the list.

As an additional bonus, the folks at Lee Mendelson Film Productions also announced a Record Day exclusive of this album: individually foil-stamped and numbered, on — are you ready for this? — egg-shaped vinyl. To drive folks even crazier, the LPs will come in five different colors ... and they’re “mystery colors.” You won’t know what you’ve got, until you take it home and check it out.

Additional details about the Record Store Day release can be found on the official LMFP press release, and full details about all of the album’s iterations are available on this LMFP master release.

Three sample tracks can be streamed here, and ordering links for all iterations are here.

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))