Bits & Bobs

Bassist Ron McClure just released a memoir, appropriately titled Bass in Time.

McClure briefly was a member of Guaraldi's trio, from late 1973 through early 1974. 

By the time he came into Guaraldi's orbit, the bassist already had enjoyed a busy career on both coasts. McClure toured California in the mid-1960s with Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Cobb and Wynton Kelly. McClure eventually moved to California in 1969, at which point he joined the jazz quartet The Fourth Way, alongside Eddie Marshall, Mike Nock and Michael White. McClure returned to New York in 1971 and stayed for a year; he then bounced back to California in the summer of ’72. Drummer Mike Clark and McClure had gotten to know each other by this point; when Guaraldi was in need of a bassist, Clark suggested his friend.

During a chat I had with Ron several years ago, he recalled being awed when first introduced to Guaraldi.

"I remember going out to his house; it was beautiful. I had played with Charles Lloyd for four years, and was making less than $10,000 a year. And here Vince was doing the Peanuts gigs, and he had made records, and he was older than I was … and he was famous! Vince looked like God to me; I felt like I was playing with Andre Previn."

My first known timeline citation of Guaraldi, McClure and Clark working together took place during a recording session at San Francisco's Wally Heider Studios, on October 8, 1973, for a future album that never happened. The trio ran through several takes of Charlie Parker's "Billie's Bounce" and one of Vince's longtime favorites, "Autumn Leaves." The second take of the latter eventually wound up on the posthumous 2006 Guaraldi album North Beach, although (shamefully) neither McClure nor Clark was credited. The remaining takes — including an initial five-minute romp through "Billie's Bounce," which gave McClure plenty of room to stretch — have yet to surface.

McClure also recalled subbing in for at least one night, during the Guaraldi trio's subsequent booking at El Matador, from December 28 to January 5, 1974.

Despite McClure’s desire to work regularly with Guaraldi — the bassist particularly hoped for some of the Peanuts action — the dynamic seemed off. It wasn’t anything tangible; if anything, Guaraldi seemed to fear that McClure, with his East Coast jazz sensibilities, was too good for him.

“He told me, ‘You’ll break my heart and run away with some name band, and I’ll be stuck without a bass player again,’” McClure recalled. “People tend to hire people they feel comfortable with, and feel that they can get. So I understood what he meant.”

At first blush, McClure's book seems quite imposing, at 724 pages (!). But it's actually an easy read, with roughly six dozen short chapters in (more or less) chronological order; each reads like an anecdote, or brief slice of McClure's history. I loved his account of being asked to become Dionne Warwick's bassist, in 1964 — they sat next to each other years earlier, in a theory class at the Hartt College of Music  — and turning her down. The following chapter, citing McClure's first encounter with tempestuous drummer Buddy Rich, took place during a six-week gig at Las Vegas' Thunderbird Hotel lounge, every night from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. (Yikes!) Given that I came of age in the 1970s, I was particularly captivated by how McClure wound up joining Blood, Sweat & Tears in January 1974 (thus proving that Guaraldi's instincts had been accurate!), and staying with that group for a couple of years.

There's much, much more — Ron has led a charmed life! — but I don't want to spoil the fun. And since this is a blog devoted to Guaraldi, I'll conclude with McClure's concluding comments about Vince:

"Most people don’t realize what a good jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi was. He had tremendous chops on the piano, and could swing his ass off like Wynton Kelly, one of his greatest influences. He was a great jazz improviser as well as a very imaginative composer."

The book is available directly from McClure, at rondixmcclure@gmail.com

The price is $20. Message Ron directly, and send payment via Venmo, Zelle or PayPal.

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It's variant season again...

We can look forward to two new Charlie Brown Thanksgiving vinyl variants. The first is a Record Store Day exclusive: a pink jelly bean variant, at left, scheduled for release on October 2, which can be pre-ordered here, or, better yet, buy it from your local brick and mortar music store.

The second is a new picture disc, available from Barnes & Noble, scheduled for release on October 9. It can be pre-ordered here. (Be advised: The Barnes & Noble website also still has listings for the 2024 and 2025 Charlie Brown Thanksgiving picture discs, so don't mistakenly order one of those again!)

And, looking a bit further ahead...

On January 22, 2027, Record Store Day will release another heart-shaped vinyl version of "Selections from Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown." The shape of the vinyl will be identical to the red version released earlier this year, but this new one will be "hot pink." It can be pre-ordered here or, again, purchased from your favorite brick and mortar music store.