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!