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.

 

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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 26:

 

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; it's expected on October 17, and can be ordered here.

 

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.

 

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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! 

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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.

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! 

Bits & bobs: late spring 2024

The colored vinyl craze shows no sign of letting up.

When the soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving debuted last October, fans of solid media had a choice of formats: CD, plain black vinyl, Record Store Day's jelly bean green vinyl, and Target's cranberry vinyl.

Bet you thought that would be it, right?

Nope.

Those vinyl color variants blew out so quickly, many folks never even saw one in person, let alone were able to purchase one. Well, you'll have another chance. This coming October 18, participating Record Store Day outlets will unveil yet another vinyl variant: jelly bean purple! Details are here.

If you're late to the party, or need a reminder about the album details, check out this earlier post.

Honestly, my LP shelves are sagging...!

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Back in early 2022, I ran a post about how the folks at Lee Mendelson Film Productions, in collaboration with Hal Leonard Publishing, had made (initally) 18 of Guaraldi's less well-known Peanuts themes and cues available via downloadable sheet music folios. 

Quite a few more subsequently were released, as you can discover by doing a search at Sheet Music Direct for "Vince Guaraldi." (It helps to narrow the search by sub-selecting "Piano Solo.")

Folks who prefer old-fashioned songbooks (and I'm one of them) will be pleased to learn that Hal Leonard has published 20 of these themes and cues in a book titled The Peanuts Piano Collection. It isn't new -- having been issued in May 2022 -- but I never got around to mentioning it ... until now.

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The new content in the just-published second edition of my Guaraldi biography includes an appendix that lists the use of Guaraldi's music in popular culture ... which is to say, TV shows and movies. I tried to make it authoritative as of publication date, but (of course!) this is the sort of data that quickly becomes incomplete.

Case in point: director Richard Linklater's audacious new film Hit Man, which had a brief theatrical release beginning May 24, and then debuted on Netflix on June 7. The film's charms are many, and I can't recommend it enthusiastically enough; check out my full-length review. (For those unaware, I wear many hats; I've also been a film critic since ...  well, way back in the day.)

The story is set in New Orleans, and the soundtrack is laden with songs by longtime local stalwarts such as Jelly Roll Morton and Dr. John, along with rising newcomers Rob49 and Tuba Skinny. You'll also hear a very familiar tune twice during the film, most memorably during the end credits: Allen Toussaint's gorgeous cover of "Cast Your Fate to the Wind."

Now, I'd like to think that my recommendation — and the involvement of Linklater and stars Glen Powell and Adria Arjona — would be sufficient motivation ... but if you're still wavering, how can you miss this opportunity to hear Guaraldi's signature tune in such a setting?