Plenty of Respect: 2024 update

Three years have passed since I last addressed the topic of other jazz artists doing covers of Guaraldi compositions, back in this post.

To recap, the goal is to compile an ever-expanding list of jazz artists who've recorded a) original tribute compositions honoring Guaraldi; and b) covers of Guaraldi compositions other than "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" and the Charlie Brown Christmas quartet — "Linus and Lucy," "My Little Drum," "Christmas Is Coming" and "Christmas Time Is Here" — because they've long been popular targets.

(As it happens, I didn't find any new original tribute compositions this time.)

Aside from keeping up with albums released since March 2021, I've also been on the prowl for older works. Spotify, iTunes and discogs have been helpful to a degree, but I really needed a database that could do more precise searches. I recently found a really cool one: The Mechanical Licensing Collective's Musical Works Database, which can be accessed here. The advantage is the ability to search by composition and composer: quite useful with respect to some of Guaraldi's more generic titles. (As the most obvious examples, several people have written songs called "Joe Cool," "Peppermint Patty" and "Pebble Beach.")

Thanks to this database, I discovered — as just one example — that former Guaraldi sideman Eddie Duran covered "Ginza" (aka "Ginza Samba") on his 1979 album of the same title.

The following list represents the new entries which have been added to the master list in the aforementioned March 2021 post. "Macedonia" and the title theme to It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown appear for the first time.

I'm intrigued by the fact that "Great Pumpkin Waltz" seems so popular. Might it blossom into a "breakout cover" that'll become another Guaraldi standard? Time will tell!

• Air Music

Ron LeGault Quintet, Charlie Brown Goes to The Nutcracker

• Charlie Brown Theme

Nate Hance Trio, A Charlie Brown Christmas NHanced

Ron LeGault Quintet, Charlie Brown Goes to The Nutcracker

Isaiah J. Thompson Septet, A Guaraldi Holiday

Oliver Mewes Trio, Trio

• Ginza Samba

William Beatty, The Path of Green Stones

Eddie Duran, Ginza

Dick Fregulia Trio, Be There Now!

Claudio Giambruno, Overseas

Giuliano Perin’s Good Vibes Quartet, Sweet Lines

• Great Pumpkin Waltz

Joshua Bowlus, Sleigh Ride

C. Holmes Trio, Christmas & You

Shai Jaschek, First Fall

Luke Carlos O’Reilly, The Perfect Christmas

Mich Shirey Trio, Guitar for Guaraldi

Isaiah J. Thompson Septet, A Guaraldi Holiday

• Happiness Theme

Ron LeGault Quintet, Charlie Brown Goes to The Nutcracker

Harry Skoler, Conversations in the Language of Jazz

• Heartburn Waltz

Isaiah J. Thompson Septet, A Guaraldi Holiday

• It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown

Mark Kross Trio, Cacciatore

• Little Birdie

Clara Plestis (single)

Isaiah J. Thompson Septet, A Guaraldi Holiday

• Macedonia

Guido Pistocchi Quintet, Spring Time

• Oh, Good Grief

Nate Hance Trio, A Charlie Brown Christmas NHanced

• Pebble Beach

Mason Embry Trio, A Song for You

Ron LeGault Quintet, Charlie Brown Goes to The Nutcracker

Roby Perissin and the Latin Jazz Ensemble, Tribute to Latin Jazz

• Peppermint Patty

Nate Hance, A Charlie Brown Christmas NHanced

Oliver Mewes Trio, Trio

• Schroeder

Nate Hance Trio, A Charlie Brown Christmas NHanced

• Thanksgiving Theme

Isaiah J. Thompson Septet, A Guaraldi Holiday 

Summer comes early this year!

Big news, gang.

Lee Mendelson Film Productions has made good on its promise to deliver another of Vince Guaraldi's iconic Peanuts soundtracks.

Their announcement went live earlier today:

Available for the first time ever!

Vince Guaraldi’s complete soundtrack for 1969's It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown

Limited release in celebration of the special's 55th anniversary

Available exclusively on "Camp Green" Vinyl (12-inch, 45 RPM) 

for Record Store Day, April 20th

    “This entire score is can’t-be-played-often-enough ear candy. It’s as fresh and vibrant today — and as swinging — as when it was laid down 55 years ago: yet another captivating display of Guaraldi’s compositional genius and keyboard wizardry.

    Summer never sounded so sweet.”

— From the liner notes by Derrick Bang, Author, Vince Guaraldi at the Piano

Lee Mendelson Film Productions (LMFP) is thrilled to announce the release of Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack to It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown, the sixth animated Peanuts special, from writer/creator Charles Schulz, director Bill Melendez and producers Melendez and Lee Mendelson. The special originally aired on CBS-TV on September 27, 1969, and currently can be streamed on Apple TV+.

 

The album includes the original recordings that comprise the special's song cues, plus six bonus and alternative tracks that never have been released or heard before.

Track list:

A1. CHARLIE BROWN THEME

A2. LINUS AND LUCY

A3. IT WAS A SHORT SUMMER, CHARLIE BROWN

A4. OH, GOOD GRIEF!

A5. YOU’RE IN LOVE, CHARLIE BROWN

A6. SCHROEDER

A7. BUS BLUES / BUS BLUES (REPRISE)

A8. IT WAS A SHORT SUMMER, CHARLIE BROWN (REPRISE)

A9. FRIEDA (WITH THE NATURALLY CURLY HAIR)

A10. OH, GOOD GRIEF! (REPRISE)

A11. COME AND GET IT / HASH / HASH WITH HORN / AM BREAK / TAH DAH 

A12. BON VOYAGE

A13. PEPPERMINT PATTY

A14. LOVE WILL COME (NOVA BOSSA)

A15. HE’S YOUR DOG, CHARLIE BROWN

B1. PEBBLE BEACH

B2. YOU’RE IN LOVE, CHARLIE BROWN (REPRISE)

B3. HE’S YOUR DOG, CHARLIE BROWN (REPRISE)

B4. MASKED MARVEL

B5. AIR MUSIC

B6. MASKED MARVEL (REPRISE) / MASKED MARVEL (2ND REPRISE) 

B7. YOU’RE IN LOVE, CHARLIE BROWN (2ND REPRISE)

B8. LINUS AND LUCY (REPRISE)

B9. OH, GOOD GRIEF! (2ND REPRISE)

B10. CHARLIE BROWN THEME (REPRISE)

B11. IT WAS A SHORT SUMMER, CHARLIE BROWN (2ND REPRISE) 

Bonus content:

B12. LINUS AND LUCY (ALTERNATE)

B13. WORKING ON “IT WAS A SHORT SUMMER, CHARLIE BROWN” 

B14. BUS BLUES (ALTERNATE)

B15. PEBBLE BEACH (ALTERNATE)

B16. MASKED MARVEL (ALTERNATE)

B17. LINUS AND LUCY (REPRISE ALTERNATE)

(Three sample tracks can be heard here.)

 

Guaraldi lovingly created the soundtrack for the summer camp adventure that finds Charlie Brown and his gang facing off against the girls’ camp members, led by Peppermint Patty. The album's large jazz combo also delivers the best rendition of Guaraldi's classic tune, “Love Will Come (Nova Bossa),” and features his first use of additional percussion supplied by Victor Feldman.

 

The recording features Guaraldi (piano), Monty Budwig (double bass), Jack Sperling (drums), Conti and Pete Candoli (trumpet), Frank Rosolino (trombone), Feldman (percussion), Herb Ellis (guitar), William Hood and Peter Christlieb (woodwinds), with John Scott Trotter as orchestra leader. The album was produced by Sean and Jason Mendelson, sons of Peanuts producer Lee Mendelson, and restored and re-mastered by Vinson Hudson.

 

The album will be available exclusively at participating retail outlets starting April 20, 2024, as part of Record Store Day. Store locations and additional information is available at recordstoreday.com.

The album's Record Store Day page is here.

 

The album includes liner notes and a track-by-track analysis by Derrick Bang and Sean Mendelson. The package also boasts images from the special, and of the recently re-discovered original tape boxes (which led to this release).  

 

For an extended version of the press release and more information, click here. 

********

Pretty cool, eh?

To anticipate the obvious question, CD and digital releases will follow later this year, and will be announced at a future date. (Stay tuned!)

Some of the adjectives in the press release above are a bit breathless, but the enthusiasm is warranted. I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project, because it's absolutely Guaraldi's jazziest and sassiest Peanuts soundtrack, thanks to the larger-than-usual combo involved (because he was simultaneously working with some of these cats on the score for the Peanuts gang's big-screen debut, in A Boy Named Charlie Brown).

This new release was made possible, in part, by the enthusiastic response — and better-than-anticipated sales figures — of last year's soundtrack debut of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. And you know how this works: If Short Summer proves similarly successful, that'll increase the chances of additional Guaraldi treats, moving forward.

Record Store Day lines form well before opening time ... so don't oversleep on April 20th!