Vinyl Madness 2025: Part 2 (with a bonus)

Okay, I knew we'd get more, given that the 75th anniversary of the Peanuts comic strip debut is coming up on October 2...

...but seriously?

As my FiveCentsPlease blog colleague Scott suggested, we've now descended into vinyl insanity.

Truly, I feel sorry for the completists out there who are determined to get everything. (And I know you exist, because I hear from some of you.)

I'd love to think this is the final tally for what remains of 2025, but honestly ... I won't be surprised if a few more pop up, in the next month. If any more are announced, they'll be added to this post, so check back in a few weeks.

Meanwhile, let's dig in.

A previous blog post focused vinyl variants of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas, so we'll consider those two done. (Fingers crossed.)

So, let's move now to It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. And, as it happens...

...Target is offering a ghost-white, pumpkin-shaped LP, due for release Friday, September 26. It can be ordered here.

Urban Outfitters also has an exclusive picture-disc LP, released Friday, October 10.

Great image choice! It can be ordered here.

Record Store Day will feature this stunning 60th anniversary edition of A Charlie Brown Christmas, with a pop-up gatefold (and standard black vinyl).

It will be released November 28, during RSD's "Black Friday" events, via your local brick-and-mortar music store.

And here's a surprise: The famed "big three" Peanuts holiday specials aren't the only albums getting variant treatment, because...

...the recently released score for You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown is getting a "leaky pumpkin orange vinyl" from Urban Outfitters, due for release on October 17. It can be ordered here.

Actually, Urban Outfitters jumped into the game big-time this year, also with...

...a 4-inch yellow "tiny vinyl" excerpt from Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, also due for release on October 17. It can be ordered here.

Peanuts Greatest Hits is getting two vinyl variants: the first a 75th anniversary picture disc, available Friday, September 26, at numerous sources; and an exclusive Urban Outfitters black and yellow disc, due October 17.

The picture disc can be ordered here (among other places), and the Urban Outfitters variant here.

But Urban Outfitters isn't done yet...

...because they're also offering an exclusive "crayons colored vinyl" version of Peanuts Portraits, due October 17. It can be ordered here.

So, you undoubtedly assume that's enough, right?

Nope.

Record Store Day's many brick-and-mortar outlets throughout the country also will offer exclusive CD releases on October 17, starting with...

...the awesome, six-disc box set of Vince Guaraldi: The Peanuts Collection (Volume 1) containing Lee Mendelson Film Productions' previous releases (same music, same mastering, same liner notes). The contents include the six albums cited below, bearing the new cover art also cited below. It can be ordered here.

Additionally, your favorite brick-and-mortar stores will offer half a dozen individual Peanuts special scores as CD releases — again, same music, same mastering, same liner notes — with "Indie exclusive cover art," starting with Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown and You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown:

Valentine can be ordered here; Elected can be ordered here.

Next up: "Indie exclusive cover art" versions of It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown and It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown:

Easter Beagle can be ordered here; Short Summer can be ordered here.

Finally (dare I say finally?), you can salivate over "Indie exclusive cover art" versions of You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown, and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving:

(So I guess we weren't done with Thanksgiving after all...) Good Sport can be ordered here; Thanksgiving can be ordered here.

So ... is that truly it, for the rest of the year? As I said above, while I'd love to think so, this year already has been full of surprises, so we shouldn't discount the possibility of one or two more.

Rest assured, if anything else pops up, you'll find out here.

Meanwhile ... better work extra hours, because your bank accounts are about to take a serious hit!

A summer with Vince

Vinyl fans are in for a treat; Craft recently announced new editions of two Guaraldi Peanuts-themed compilation albums.

I'm particularly pleased, as I provided fresh liner notes for both albums. It'll be fun to see my name in a larger font size!

I'll turn the rest of this post over to Craft's press announcement:

********

Craft Recordings announces two vinyl reissues to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Charles M. Schulz’s beloved Peanuts comic strip, which debuted in seven newspapers across the country on October 2, 1950. 

The first is a limited-edition picture disc of Peanuts Greatest Hits, featuring the faces of Snoopy and Woodstock; it will be available on July 24. The second release, coming August 21, is the first-ever vinyl pressing of Peanuts Portraits. Both titles, which are available for pre-order, feature the enduring music of the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Peanuts Portraits, in addition, includes several recordings from Guaraldi and pianist George Winston which have never been available on vinyl. 

Limited to 2,500 individually numbered units, the collectible Peanuts Greatest Hits picture disc offers music for all seasons from the animated TV specials, including the instantly recognizable “Linus And Lucy,” the classic “Great Pumpkin Waltz” and yuletide favorite, “Christmas Time Is Here.” Side A features a cheerful-looking Snoopy, while his avian sidekick, Woodstock -- who made his first official appearance in the Peanuts comic strip 50 years ago this June -- graces Side B. The collection also includes some of Guaraldi’s earliest Peanuts compositions, such as “Baseball Theme,” which originally appeared on his 1964 LP Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown: the soundtrack for an unreleased TV special about the comic strip’s anti-hero. Another highlight is “Little Birdie,” written for the 1973 special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and featuring a rare vocal by Guaraldi.

On vinyl for the very first time is Peanuts Portraits, which collects the vivid musical cues that Guaraldi wrote for the cast of Peanuts characters. With his evocative compositions, the artist added new dimensions to beloved regulars such as Peppermint Patty, Schroeder, Sally and (of course!) Charlie Brown. In addition to nine songs performed by Guaraldi, the album includes two classic Peanuts tunes recorded in the 1990s by pianist George Winston. Eight of the selections on Peanuts Portraits -- including Winston’s renditions of “Linus And Lucy” and “Masked Marvel,” along with Guaraldi’s alternate takes of tracks such as “Frieda (With the Naturally Curly Hair)” and “Charlie’s Blues” -— will make their vinyl debut.

While Peanuts Portraits will be released across all major music retailers on black vinyl, fans also can find an exclusive edition of the album via Vinyl Me, Please. Limited to 1,000 copies, the LP will be pressed on 180-gram red vinyl.

(This actually is the second picture vinyl edition of Peanuts Greatest Hits; the first, featuring the images of Charlie Brown and Lucy, debuted in September 2015.)

********

Drummer Jerry Granelli joined the Guaraldi Trio on February 21, 1963, for a three-night gig at the Berry Patch, in Sacramento, California. He and bassist Fred Marshall became Guaraldi's third "classic trio," working together during the post-"Cast Your Fate to the Wind" rush that turned Dr. Funk into a Northern California jazz star. The trio blossomed into a quartet with the arrival of Bola Sete, and they became a multi-month mainstay at Trois Couleur in the spring of 1964.

Granelli and Marshall went their separate ways after that gig finally concluded on May 31, although the former reunited with Guaraldi briefly for a few tracks on The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi, and some cues for the big-screen film A Boy Named Charlie Brown.

Granelli then spent the bulk of his career alongside jazz/blues pianist, singer and composer Mose Allison.

More recently, Granelli has been fronting Charlie Brown Christmas tribute concerts each December at a handful of Canadian venues, mostly close to his Nova Scotia home. No surprise, then, that he finally decided to honor both of the icons with whom he spent so many happy years, with a tribute album titled The Jerry Granelli Trio Plays Vince Guaraldi & Mose Allison.

Guaraldi is recognized with three tracks, to Allison's seven (which is appropriate, considering that Granelli was at the latter's side for much, much longer). Granelli is joined by pianist Jamie Saft and bassist Bradley Christopher Jones.

The album opens with an oddly ethereal handling of "Cast Your Fate to the Wind," the initial 60 seconds of which sound like all three musicians are still warming up. But they eventually settle into a lovely reading of Guaraldi's Grammy Award-winning hit, which is highlighted by Saft's sensitive keyboard work.

Their work on "Christmas Time Is Here" is even sweeter, with Granelli tastefully understated while both Saft and Jones contribute lyrical solos. The Guaraldi highlight, though, is an extended run at "Star Song," which Granelli should know quite well (having recorded it, alongside Vince, on three different albums). Granelli sets up a tasty, bossa nova-flavored atmosphere, while Saft and Jones trade the melody back and forth, comping the other during each hand-off.

Granelli's trio maintains a gentle touch on all three of these Guaraldi tunes; the same cannot be said for their Allison covers, which are far more outré. Guaraldi fans therefore are advised to tread carefully; give the album a listen on Spotify first, before jumping to purchase.

(And, just in passing, this has got to be one of the most unattractive album covers I've ever seen!)