I’m always delighted when fresh information allows
a new entry to be placed in my timeline of Guaraldi’s activities ... and even
more pleased when said information simultaneously solves a mystery.
My good buddy Doug — a frequent contributor to
this blog — has been investigating Dave Brubeck of late, via various archives
that included expanded subscription access to Newspaper.com, a fabulous site
that I frequently consulted while researching my Guaraldi bio. My (roughly)
year with Newspapers.com was back in 2010 and ’11; the nifty thing is that the
site continuously expands, as more digitized publications are added to the
archive. Thus, when Doug also indulged a whim to investigate Guaraldi a bit, he
came across several items I’d not seen before.
The first is a TV program description. The
Thursday, April 20, 1961, issue of San Rafael’s Daily Independent Journal, in writer Hal Case’s “Checking the
Channels” column, includes this paragraph:
Another KQED
attraction [Friday] night, at 10:30, will be a one-time-only battle of talent
between three artists in different fields: illustrator Don Freeman, jazz
pianist Vince Guaraldi, and pantomimist Bernard Bragg. The trio will challenge
each other to ad lib performances.
In an earlier Independent
Journal issue (Saturday, April 15), the actual TV listing titles this
half-hour special Trio, with a brief
explanation that reads “artist Don Freeman, pianist Vince Guaraldi and
pantomimist Bernard Bragg.”
The program likely was broadcast live from San
Francisco’s KQED Channel 9 studio, and there’s no evidence that a recording has
survived. (More’s the pity.)
Freeman died back in 1978, after a successful
career as an author and illustrator of children’s books; his best-known title
likely is Corduroy. His son has
mounted a loving tribute website. Bragg had a long and successful career as a
performer, playwright, director and poet; his website is filled with
information, photos and video clips.
But here’s the really
cool part:
The first printing of my book incorrectly identified
the individuals in this photo, on Page 162, as Guaraldi, director Lee Mendelson
and animator Bill Melendez. Several people quickly pointed out the error,
including Mendelson himself (which once again demonstrates the folly of relying
on a single, so-called “authority” for information, and the need to double- and
triple-source everything). Subsequent
printings corrected that error, but nonetheless left me clueless regarding the
identities of the other two men. Well, early 1960s photos of Bragg and Freeman
have left no doubt: This photo, reprinted above, must’ve been taken at KQED either before or
after the show. From left, we’re looking at Guaraldi, Bragg and Freeman.
And, so, another mystery yields to determined
investigation. Way to go, Doug!
********
Elsewhere on the small screen...
The June 11, 1967, Lubbock [Texas] Avalanche-Journal — gotta love the name
of that newspaper — reported that Art Linkletter’s House Party show would spend
the next several days “traveling the musical gamut.” Guaraldi was the guest
scheduled for Wednesday, June 14.
That’s the first I’ve heard of such a booking. If
it took place, it’s another of Guaraldi’s many television appearances likely
lost to us.
********
On a more amusing note, my book briefly discusses
an incident that occurred at The Trident on August 30, 1963 (bottom of Page
128). Guaraldi, performing with his trio one evening, apparently became annoyed
by the noise made by three women at the bar. As detailed in the September 28 issue
of The San Francisco Chronicle, one
of the women filed a criminal battery complaint against Guaraldi, outlining a
series of charges; Guaraldi’s attorney insisted, in response, that the accuser
was guilty of assault herself. Doug uncovered an Independent-Journal squib (also September 28) that tells the story
slightly differently, with some additional information. The big eyebrow-raiser
is that Guaraldi failed to appear before Judge Joseph G. Wilson at the Marin
Municipal Court, which resulted in a bench warrant being issued for the absent
Dr. Funk (and this detail likely is what caused the incident to reach the
inquisitive eyes of reporters at the two newspapers).
Details regarding final dispensation of the case
finally appeared on October 26, also in the Independent-Journal.
Marin Municipal Court Judge Harold J. Haley found Guaraldi guilty of disturbing
the peace on the evening in question, and fined him $110. The separate charge
against Guaraldi, of battery, was dropped. Guaraldi did not appear in court,
but his attorney promised that the fine would be paid by Tuesday, October 29.
And that appears to have been the end of it.
********
Speaking of amusing...
The August 16, 1969, edition of the Detroit Free
Press reprinted portions of a recent Herb Caen column from the San Francisco Chronicle (which is
intriguing all by itself; I wouldn’t have thought Caen’s Bay Area-centric
musings had any appeal to readers outside of California). One sentence is worth
quoting in its entirety:
Pianist
Vince Guaraldi’s Fu Manchu moustache caught fire at Les Crepes on North Point
the other night, and was saved from extinction only by the heroic efforts of
owner Peter Slizyk, wielding a bottle of 7-Up.
Now that
would have been something to witness...
********
The May 11, 1973, Independent-Journal included a good-sized display ad promoting a
KQED Channel 9 Fun Fair, scheduled for the following day at Mill Valley’s Town
& Country Village. Attendees had a chance to win a Swiss watch, and were
encouraged to “guess the weight of the big cheese.” Meet ’n’ greet sessions were
scheduled with luminaries such as KPIX-TV news anchor Ron Magers; San
Francisco-based sportscaster Barry Tompkins; Emmy Award-winning songwriter Rita
Abrams, perhaps best known for the hit tune “Mill Valley”; San Francisco radio
personality Carter B. Smith; and a certain Vince Guaraldi.
As you can see, all of them were billed below Koko
the Clown, Juggling Bakers and Goofus the Clown.
That’s a pretty low blow.
********
The early portion of my book’s Chapter 10
discusses the evolution of what eventually became director/producer Lee
Mendelson’s half-hour documentary, A Boy
Named Charlie Brown, with Page 163 citing the drastic trim — the program’s
original running time had been an hour — that left guests stars Bing Crosby,
Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Arnold Palmer on the cutting-room floor, along
with much of Guaraldi’s music. (As far as we know, Mendelson’s original
60-minute version no longer exists.)
Before that unhappy development, a May 4, 1964,
article in Pennsylvania’s Pittsburgh
Press (of all places!) offered a few tantalizing details about what we
never got to see. Mendelson, quoted in the article, mentions that the show “has
been in production for more than five months,” and that one of the guest
artists would be “jazzman Cal Tjader” (who isn’t mentioned in any of the
several other articles discussing the film’s production).
Here’s the story’s key paragraph:
[For the
special], Mendelson has roamed the country: St. Paul, Minnesota (where Charles
Schulz and Charlie Brown were born); in Hawaii (for a “Happiness” scene at a
children’s luau); at the Rose Bowl (construction of a Linus-Snoopy float); and
at the Crosby Pro-Amateur Golf Tournament (Schulz was one of the amateurs
playing the ocean-side course).
Well, the Rose Bowl float survives in the existing
30-minute version of the documentary, available on DVD from the Charles M.
Schulz Museum. But all the rest, backed by great Guaraldi themes, obviously got excised.
As Charlie Brown would say, Rats!
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