Wheels within wheels!

This 75th Peanuts anniversary year gets better and better!

On top of which, this also marks the 50th anniversary of You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown, which won an Emmy Award after its debut back on October 28, 1975. It was the 14th Peanuts special to feature a Guaraldi score.

The special's story, inspired by Schulz's son Craig's then-interest in motocross, finds Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty competing in a charity motocross race, trying to overcome the challenges of crashes, mud and the antics of a strangely familiar Masked Marvel.

By way of celebrating that double-anniversary Lee Mendelson Film Productions has announced that Guaraldi's complete soundtrack will be released on July 11, 2025.

The album features the 14 tracks that make up Guaraldi's full score, along with a bonus track of unused cues originally intended for the special's beginning (but were left behind when something else was inserted instead).

But — as the saying goes — that's not all, folks!

The album also includes four tracks of music that Guaraldi composed, and his trio performed, for Bicycles Are Beautiful, a now quite obscure 1974 non-Peanuts film — also produced by Lee Mendelson — that promoted bicycle riding and safety.

The performers on Good Sport are Guaraldi (piano, electric piano, clavinet, ARP String Ensemble, and Rhythm Ace Drum Machine), Seward McCain (bass) and Mark Rosengarden (drums and guiro). The Bicycles are Beautiful tracks feature Guaraldi (electric keyboard), McCain (bass) and Glenn Cronkhite (drums). 

The album was produced by Sean and Jason Mendelson; mixed at WonderWorld Studio by Grammy and Emmy Award-winning mixing engineer Clark Germain, and restored and re-mastered by Vinson Hudson (who has mastered all the LMFP releases). All tracks have been mastered from the original session tapes.

The soundtrack will be available on CD, vinyl and digitally, and can be pre-ordered from Amazon and other sources now.

The vinyl version is particularly special. The LP is a Zoetrope album: a picture disc with animated scenes from the cartoon, which come to life as the record spins. (You may need special lighting for best results; the album includes a QR code that'll take you to instructions for viewing the Zoetrope effect.) It's totally cool.

Initially only a Zoetrope vinyl was announced, but later LMFP added a plain black vinyl option as well.  However, it will not be available until September 12.

The physical albums feature rare photographs; track-by-track analysis by album producer Sean Mendelson; notes from album producer Jason Mendelson; an essay giving historical context by my own self; and a short essay by Craig Schulz, who discusses the special's inspiration.

Additional information:

• The full You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown press release

• The Lee Mendelson Film Productions webpage for the album

• Short preview samples for several tracks on Soundcloud

• The complete "Motocross" track on YouTube

The track list:

You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown

1. Motocross

2. Peppermint Patty

3. You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (Centercourt)

4. Fanfare / Fanfare (Alternate Take) / Hospital Scene / Hospital Scene (Bonus)

5. Bass Blues

6. Linus and Lucy

7. Motocross (Reprise)

8. You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (Unused Opening Cues)

9. The Great Pumpkin Waltz

10. Motocross (2nd Reprise)

11. Motocross (3rd Reprise)

12. Motocross (4th Reprise)

13. Motocross (5th Reprise Extended with Additional Piano)

14. Lunch Theme / Motocross (6th Reprise)

15. You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (Reprise)

Bicycles are Beautiful

16. Bicycles are Beautiful (Reprise)

17. Bicycle Ballad (Medley)

18. Bicycle Bounce (and Reprise)

19. Bicycle Wizard (and Reprise)

I know, I know ... July is too far away, right?

Anticipation always makes the eventual purchase that much more exciting!

As for what might be next ... keep watching this blog!

Egg-citing news!

Guaraldi’s full score for 1974’s It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown will be available for purchase on on March 21. The album can be pre-ordered on CD or black vinyl at Amazon and the MVD Shop, as well as other online retailers and your favorite brick-and-mortar record store. (As always, it also will be available digitally.)

An "Easter Purple" colored vinyl variant, limited to 2,000 individually numbered BioVinyl copies, is available solely at independent record stores. Check with your local store, to reserve or purchase a copy. Recordstoreday has a list of stores, but the list is incomplete; best to give your preferred store a call, even if it isn't on the list.

As an additional bonus, the folks at Lee Mendelson Film Productions also 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 about the Record Store Day release 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.

Three sample tracks can be streamed here, and ordering links for all iterations are here.

During an unusually busy half-year that began in October 1973, Guaraldi scored an unprecedented three Peanuts animated TV specials. His music for It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown — last on a list that began with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and It’s a Mystery, Charlie Brown — was completed during three 1974 sessions at San Francisco’s Wally Heider Studios, on January 30, March 1 and April 9. He was joined by Seward McCain, bass, while Glenn Cronkhite and Eliot Zigmund split the chores on drums.

Guaraldi favored electric keyboards on this score, with varied cues that are as larkish as the on-screen action. The title theme is a fleeting little number, and he sprinkles fragments of “Linus and Lucy” and “Peppermint Patty” throughout the show. A shopping sequence is blessed with the show’s longest cue: “Woodstock’s Dream,” a whimsical melody that offers droll counterpoint as the kids travel up and down escalators, while searching this massive store for eggs.

This album features a particularly special bonus track: a medley of "Woodstock" tunes performed nearly 50 years later by pianist David Benoit, alongside original Guaraldi sidemen Seward McCain (bass) and Mike Clark (drums), recorded at the same San Francisco studio — now called Hyde Street — where the Easter Beagle soundtrack originally was recorded. 

The track listing:

1. Peppermint Patty

2. Easter Theme / Easter Theme (Reprise)

3. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2 No. 3 - I. Allegro con brio

4. Snoopy and Woodstock

5. Linus and Lucy

6. Woodstock's Dream

7. Snoopy’s Gumballs / Sally and Linus

8. Woodstock's Dream (Reprise)

9. Marcie's Song (Kitchen Music)

10. Linus and Lucy (Reprise)

11. Woodstock’s Pad

12. Woodstock’s Dream (2nd Reprise)

13. Music Box Dance (Minuet in G Major, BWV Anh. 116)

14. Woodstock’s Dream (3rd Reprise)

15. Easter Egg Soup (Kitchen Music 2)

16. Linus and Lucy (2nd Reprise) / Linus and Lucy (3rd Reprise)

17. Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 - II. Allegreto

18. Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 - I. Poco sostenuto - Vivace

19. Salting Eggs / Linus and Lucy (4th Reprise)

20. Bonus Track: Woodstock Medley (Woodstock’s Wake-Up / Little Birdie / Woodstock’s Dream / Thanksgiving Theme / Little Birdie (Reprise))

A kinder, gentler Election

It has been a busy summer.

Hot on the heels of Guaraldi’s never-before-released score for It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown, the similarly never-before-released score for the eighth prime-time Peanuts TV special, You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown, will debut on September 6 on CD, 12-inch BioVinyl and via digital download. Pre-orders are available now, at the usual outlets. 

 

A Woodstock Yellow BioVinyl variant will be available as a Record Store Day Exclusive.

 

Check out the Lee Mendelson Film Productions press release here.

 

Guaraldi — on keyboards, vocals and guitar — is joined by Tom Harrell, trumpet; Pat O’Hara, trombone; Mel Martin, clarinet, soprano sax and piccolo; Seward McCain, bass and flute; and Glenn Cronkhite, drums. John Scott Trotter was music supervisor. This album is produced by Sean Mendelson and Jason Mendelson; remixed at Bones and Knives by Terry Carleton; and restored and re-mastered by Vinson Hudson.

 

The album features the 16 studio recordings which became the TV special’s score, along with nine bonus/alternative tracks.

Show score:

1. "Incumbent Waltz"

2. "You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown"

3. "Oh, Good Grief!"

4. "Cookin' Snoopy (Fast Piano Jazz)"

5. "Blue Charlie Brown"

6. "Incumbent Waltz (Reprise)"

7. "Linus and Lucy"/"Poor Charlie Brown"

8. "Joe Cool (Vocal)"

9. "Incumbent Waltz (Second Reprise)"

10. "Elect Linus (Dilemma)"/"Woodstock's Wake Up"

11. "Joe Cool (Unused Reprise)"

12. "Oh, Good Grief! (Reprise)"

13. "Deserted Charlie Brown"

14. "You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown (Reprise)"

15. "Linus and Lucy (Reprise)"

16. "You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown (Second Reprise: End Credits)"

Bonus Content

17. "Joe Cool (Alternate Take 1)"

18. "Joe Cool (Alternate Rehearsal Take)"

19. "Blue Charlie Brown (Alternate Take 1)"

20. "African Sleigh Ride (Bonus Track)"

21. "Cookin' Snoopy (Fast Piano Jazz; Alternate Takes 1, 2 and 3)"

22. "Incumbent Waltz (Second Reprise, Alternate Take 1)"

23. "Incumbent Waltz (Second Reprise, Alternate Take 3)"

24. "Incumbent Waltz (Unused Cue)"

25. "Linus and Lucy (Acoustic Piano Mix)"

Four tracks can be previewed here.

 

Music highlights include a terrific arrangement of "Joe Cool” — much longer than what is heard in the special — which boasts nifty flute and guitar touches. Other tasty treats include an unexpectedly peppy handling of “Blue Charlie Brown,” two delightful variations on “Linus and Lucy,” and McCain’s deft bass work on “Oh, Good Grief (Reprise).”

 

The LPs and CDs are eco-conscious. The LPs are made with BioVinyl, a new product that replaces petroleum in S-PVC by recycling used cooking oil or industrial waste, resulting in considerable CO₂ savings compared to traditional PVC. Each record also comes in a reusable, compostable PLA bag made of 99% renewable material. The jacket, label and liner notes are made from sustainably forested trees, for minimum ecological harm. (None of these modifications sacrifices acoustic or optical quality.) The CDs also are made of recycled material, and their paper content comes from sustainably forested trees.

 

All physical copies feature extensive liner notes by my very own self, along with similarly detailed notes by Sean Mendelson, son of Peanuts producer Lee Mendelson. The LP release also includes rare photographs and images from the original tape boxes: recent re-discoveries that led to this release.

 

Remember: The ongoing wave of these "new" soundtracks depends upon the sales generated by each release ... so buy one for yourself, and a second copy as a gift for a friend!