Grab your deerstalkers!

The 75th anniversary celebration of Guaraldi's professional career continues with the debut soundtrack release of It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown: the 11th Peanuts TV special, which debuted February 1, 1974.

The show was written by Charles Schulz, produced by Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson, and directed by Phil Roman. 

Guaraldi is joined by Tom Harrell, trumpet; Seward McCain, bass; and Mike Clark and Eliot Zigmund, drums. The combo took its time laying down this score, with six sessions at San Francisco's Wally Heider Studios: December 14 and 16-19, 1973; and January 23, 1974.

The 15 soundtrack cues are accompanied by four bonus tracks from the Mystery recording session, along with two jazz standards recorded around the same time, featuring Ron McClure on bass.

The album was mixed by Terry Carleton at Bones, and Knives Studio, and restored and mastered by Vinson Hudson. Sean and Jason Mendelson produced the album, which includes a four-page insert with art from the special, extensive liner notes by Sean and Jason Mendelson, and an historical essay by my own self.

The special "clear magnifying glass" biovinyl Record Store Day LP will debut on August 21, at your local brick-and-mortar music shop. It will be packaged with a magnifying glass, designed to help solve some of this release's "Easter egg" mysteries. 

CD, digital and additional vinyl information will be released at a later date.

The album can be pre-ordered at this Record Store Day page. (Bear in mind that not all stores get listed; if you don't see your local favorite, give 'em a call.)

TRACK LIST

1. Little Birdie

2. Mystery Theme/Mystery Theme [Reprise]

3. It's A Mystery, Charlie Brown

4. Sassy Sally/It's A Mystery, Charlie Brown [Reprise]

5. Mystery Theme [2nd Reprise]

6. Cops And Robbers

7. It's A Mystery, Charlie Brown [2nd Reprise]

8. Mystery Theme [3rd Reprise]

9. It's A Mystery, Charlie Brown [3rd Reprise]

10. Sally's Blues

11. Mystery Interlude #1

12. Joe Cool

13. It's A Mystery, Charlie Brown [4th Reprise]

14. Mystery Theme [4th Reprise]

15. Mystery Theme [5th Reprise]

BONUS TRACKS

16. It's A Mystery, Charlie Brown [2nd Reprise - Alternative Take]

17. Snoopy Holmes

18. Mystery Theme [Viberslap Mix/Studio Banter]

19. Little Birdie [Alternate Vince Whistle]

20. Cops And Robbers [Rhythm Section Mix]

21. Joe Cool [Just Vince Mix]

22. Autumn Leaves [Take 1]

23. Billie's Bounce [Take 2]

********

But wait, there's more!

Target has just announced an exclusive, "tiny vinyl" edition of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, which will debut July 17.

Side A features "The Great Pumpkin Waltz," and "Graveyard Theme" is on side B.

Time to once again break out your tiny record players!

A bittersweet anniversary ... and an amazing treat

Fifty years ago today, likely in the late afternoon, Vince Guaraldi would have smiled in satisfaction.

He and his trio members — Seward McCain, bass; and Jim Zimmerman, drums — had just completed the third and final recording session for the 15th Peanuts TV special, It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown, at San Francisco’s Wally Heider Studio. They probably had dinner together: either somewhere in the city, or en route to Menlo Park, where they then took the stage for the first set of their ongoing Friday evening performances at Butterfield’s, the supper club where Guaraldi’s trio had been in residence since the spring of 1974.

 

“We played to a pretty full house the first set, and it was quite good,” McCain recalled. “The last song we played was ‘Eleanor Rigby,’ and Vince had a nice, exciting version.”

 

After the set concluded, Zimmerman followed Guaraldi into the adjacent Red Cottage Inn, where they had a regular “green room” in which to kick back between sets.

 

“Vince was feeling sick to his stomach,” Zimmerman recalled, speaking with the precision of one who has carried every little detail in his head, during all the intervening years. “He got up, maybe to go to the bathroom … and went down.”

 

And died. That quickly.

 

I cannot imagine the overwhelming grief in that moment, or during the next days, weeks and months, as his family, friends and colleagues mourned his passing. He was a force of nature who could suck all the air out of a room, who delighted in becoming the center of attention. 

 

But I certainly understand the sense of loss — of what his ensuing career could have been — from this distant remove.

 

It also hit me personally, at the time. I was in my third year at UC Davis, already many years into being an avid Guaraldi fan. I knew he performed regularly in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, but — key detail — I didn’t have a car. I figured that didn’t matter; what was the rush? Guaraldi was only 47; surely there was plenty of time.

 

But no.

 

The somber gravity of this day — 50 years later — has been assuaged, to a degree, by the folks at Lee Mendelson Film Productions. Today they’ve debuted two special items.

 

The first is a sweetly edited series of interviews with McCain, Zimmerman, drummer Lee Charlton and Lee Mendelson, sharing their memories of Vince’s passing, and his influence, and the loss to the jazz world. Be warned: It’s quite sad, in spots.

 

The second, however, will bring a smile to your face. Indeed, you just might let out a cheer.

 

I refer you to this earlier post, when I explained what brought Guaraldi, guitarist Bola Sete, bassist Tom Beeson and drummer John Rae to San Francisco’s KQED Channel 9 studios on August 21, 1964, to record a series of short music “fills” that would air at the end of each episode of the imported British series Stories of Guy de Maupassant. Sete did two solo numbers, then joined Guaraldi’s trio for a quartet reading of “Star Song.” That concluded Sete’s participation, after which Guaraldi’s trio played three songs; the session finished when Guaraldi soloed on two takes of “Treat Street.”

 

Thanks to months of negotiations, Lee Mendelson Film Productions was able to obtain permission to share one of the trio numbers.

 

This is the only known video recording of Guaraldi and his trio performing his iconic Peanuts theme, “Linus and Lucy.” And take note of the aforementioned date: August 21, 1964. Months before jazz fans would be able to hear the tune on the album Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, and well over a year before the nation at large would hear “Linus and Lucy” while watching A Charlie Brown Christmas.

So: This is both a sad day, and a happy day. Guaraldi still is very much with us, and — as I’ve been saying, during the past few years — some of us are doing our best to ensure that he’ll become an American “evergreen” composer, like George Gershwin and Cole Porter. Heck, why stop there? Assuming Schroeder doesn’t mind, let’s make Vince an American Beethoven.

Blessings to the folks at Lee Mendelson Film Productions!

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!

A couple of terrific reunions

Two new YouTube goodies absolutely deserve your attention.

The first is the most recent episode of Heath Holland’s Cereal at Midnight podcast, an ongoing program that he cheerfully describes as “the culmination of an entire lifetime of nerdy pursuits.”

 

That’s a fair descriptor of many episodes, but I wouldn’t call this one nerdy. 

 

With an assist from Jason and Sean Mendelson, and timed to the upcoming release of the soundtrack for It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, Heath gathered three veteran jazzmen — drummers Mike Clark (perhaps best known for working with Herbie Hancock) and Eliot Zigmund (famously with Bill Evans), and bassist Seward McCain (Mose Alison, Cleo Lane and others) — for a group Zoom session, to discuss their long-ago stints as members of Vince Guaraldi’s various combos.

 

The hour-long result is a wealth of reminiscences, anecdotes and some observations about jazz itself. Aside from their times with Guaraldi, topics include the respective jazz scenes in New York and San Francisco — and the often notorious divide between East and West Coast jazz — and how exposure to classical music (!) influenced their careers.

 

It's also fun to see how these three guys genuinely enjoy the camaraderie. Goodness, Seward and Eliot hadn’t seen or spoken to each other in decades.

 

I don’t want to spoil the viewing experience, but — as I furiously jotted notes — a few nuggets are worth mentioning.

 

Seward McCain and Vince Guaraldi at Butterfield's circa 1974-76

When each was asked what it was like, to play on a project that would be viewed on television by millions of folks, Seward’s response was quite philosophical. Unlike playing in front of live crowds, he began, even large ones, “You get no feedback, playing the music for a Charlie Brown special; you just play and leave. It’s still a bit of an unreality to me, the huge number of people that heard this music.”

Mike’s comment is almost unbelievable, because he didn’t realize he was making music for a television special: “[Vince] would call and say we’d be in the studio that day, no clue what we’d be playing. I don’t recall him ever saying anything about Charlie Brown. He’d just say, Okay, give me a groove like this, or give me 28 seconds of this, and I had no idea what it was for. He’d play like Wynton Kelly, and we’d just swing all night. And then this stuff aired on TV for years, before I even knew I was on it!”

 

Eliot credits his time in Vince’s trio with getting him the gig with Bill Evans; Mike recalls being recommended to Guaraldi by saxophonist Vince Denham, and fondly recalls the “great jams” at San Francisco’s Pierce Street Annex. All three men still perform; Eliot, soon to turn 80, wittily observes that “Drummers need to stay in good shape. I don’t dig carrying the drums, but I love playing them.”

 

And here’s something I never knew before: Mike mentions playing classical music with Vince at San Francisco’s Glide Memorial Church. (It’s worth noting that chanteuse Faith Winthrop, who was backed by Guaraldi’s early hungry i trio, founded that church’s community gospel group.)

 

Seriously, Mike? When? When?!?

 

All three still remember Vince fondly. 

 

“Vince was fun to be around,” Eliot says, wistfully, “and he loved to swing.”

 

“Vince played with rhythm, and he was in the groove,” Seward adds. “His notes were a lot of fun. Vince laid it down.”

 

“He had a dirty beat,” Mike concurs. “He could play New York style. And he could play two-handed boogie-woogie like nobody else.”

 

Referencing the fact that Guaraldi can be heard saying “Cue 1!” at the top of the first track on the Easter Beagle album, Mike adds, “As soon as I heard his voice, it hit me in the heart, and made me think how much I loved that guy.”

 

Amen to that.

 

********

 

The aforementioned album concludes with a truly special bonus track, recorded in 2021 at the same San Francisco studio where this soundtrack was laid down half a century ago: a brand-new “Woodstock Medley” — blending “Woodstock’s Wake-Up,” “Little Birdie,” “Woodstock’s Dream” and “Thanksgiving Theme” — by the trio of Seward, Mike and pianist David Benoit. It’s a fabulous performance, running just shy of 7 minutes.

 

I’ve known, pretty much since the medley was laid down, that Sean and Jason also filmed it ... and I’ve yearned, for almost four years, to see that footage.

 

Well, now everybody can watch it, in Sean’s marvelous music video, which he co-produced with Jason, and co-edited with Palmer Mendelson. The film is a captivating document of the studio performance, interspersed with brief “talking head” commentaries by the three musicians.

The nicest, heart-tugging touch: a final shot of Lee Mendelson, wielding a clapboard, while standing in front of Peanuts memorabilia that includes an impressively huge stuffed Snoopy.

Honesty, guys; clap yourselves on the back. This is a treasure! 

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))

Heart and soul!

Valentine's Day will come early next year.

January 17 will see the first-ever release of Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack to Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown.

This soundtrack debut will be one of the first highlights during what promises to be an exciting 75th anniversary year of the Peanuts comic strip, which debuted October 2, 1950. It'll also mark the 50th anniversary of this TV special, which debuted on January 28, 1975.

The album will be available in the usual formats: LP, CD and digital download. LP collectors will have three options, starting with the traditional black vinyl, available at Amazon and the usual mainstream outlets. As always, potential future albums of Guaraldi's Peanuts scores will depend on sales of each new release ... so buy one for yourself, and a second as a gift for a friend!

(Shop locally, if possible. Support your brick-and-mortar retailer!)

Additionally, a "Puppy Love Pink" BioVinyl variant will be available as a Barnes & Noble exclusive:

And a limited-edition "Heartburn Red" BioVinyl variant will be available as a Record Store Day exclusive, on April 12, 2025:

All options feature detailed liner notes by my humble self, and producers Sean and Jason Mendelson. 

The album's Lee Mendelson Film Productions web page can be viewed here, which includes ordering links and four sample tracks. The full LMFP press release is here.

(Bear in mind that the Record Store Day page doesn't list all participating outlets, so it'll be wise to check with your local shop.)

As had become tradition by the time this 13th Peanuts TV special went into production, Guaraldi composed all the music, which was performed by his trio, under the supervision of John Scott Trotter. Guaraldi handled all the keyboard elements, on piano, Fender Rhodes and ARP String Ensemble synthesizer; he also added occasional soft guitar licks. Seward McCain played bass, and Vince Lateano handled the drum work.

Guaraldi took a different direction with this special’s score, and made a point of not using most of his familiar Peanuts cues, such as “Peppermint Patty,” “Red Baron” and “Blue Charlie Brown.” Although “Linus and Lucy” briefly surfaces twice, the arrangements are so novel, that casual listeners could be excused for thinking they’re entirely different melodies. This approach was intentional, because Guaraldi's score is a “tone poem tapestry,” designed to reinforce the melancholy atmosphere of various love’s labors lost. That’s particularly true of quietly thoughtful tracks such as “Never Again,” “There’s Been a Change,” “Charlie Brown’s Wake-up” and “Jennie L.” (Although no Peanuts character ever had the latter name, the tune must be a tribute to Vince's grandmother, Jenny L. Marcellino. What better time to do this, than in a love-themed Valentine's show?)

The album's 30 tracks feature the show's 22 score cues, followed by seven alternate takes and bonus mixes. The final track, "Last Call for Love," is a true bonus: When the recording session concluded, the trio jammed on a bluesy 6-minute piece, which features a truly terrific solo from McCain. 

Score tracks:

1. Heartburn Waltz

2. Heartburn Waltz (Reprise)

3. Linus and Lucy

4. Valentine Interlude #1 / Heartburn Waltz (2nd Reprise)

5. Piano Sonata No. 20 in G Major, Op. 49 No. 2 - 1. Allegro ma non troppo, by Ludwig van Beethoven

6. Heartburn Waltz (3rd Reprise)

7. Linus and Lucy (Reprise)

8. Paw Pet Overture

9. Freddie's Mood (Nocturne in E Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2 by Frederic Chopin)

10. Heartburn Waltz (4th Reprise)

11 Never Again

12 Music Box Dance (Minuet in G Major, BWV Anh. 116, by Johann Sebastian Bach)

13. Woodstock's Mambo

14. Heartburn Waltz (5th Reprise)

15. Jennie L.

16. Heartburn Waltz (6th Reprise)

17. Valentine Interlude #2 / Heartburn Waltz (7th Reprise)

18. There's Been a Change

19. Woodstock's Revenge

20. Charlie Brown's Wake-Up

21. Heartburn Waltz (Reprise)

22. Freddie's Mood (Show Version)

Bonus tracks:

23. Heartburn Waltz (Bonus Mix)

24. Jennie L. (Alternate Take)

25. Heartburn Waltz (Alternate Take)

26. Woodstock's Mambo (Bonus Mix)

27. Heartburn Waltz (Reprise) (Bonus Mix)

28. There's Been a Change (Alternate Take)

29. Heartburn Waltz (5th Reprise) (Bonus Mix)

30. Last Call for Love

The folks at Lee Mendelson Film Productions will get the New Year off to a terrific start!

This Election features a different McCain!

Heath Holland, host of the pop-culture podcast Cereal at Midnight, has been delivering marvelously passionate shows about Lee Mendelson Film Productions’ recent, never-been-seen-before releases of Guaraldi’s scores for the vintage Peanuts TV specials, always with the equally enthusiastic participation of Sean and Jason Mendelson.

Check out the previous shows devoted to A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown (which also earned a second show).

 

Holland’s just-posted coverage of You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown finds the aforementioned individuals similarly excited — and excitable — but it’s also extra-special for an additional reason. Bassist Seward McCain, a former Guaraldi sideman, also participates in this super-sized episode; he’s on camera for most of the first half-hour. His memories, anecdotes and commentary are wonderful.

 

I don’t want to spoil the fun to be had while watching the entire show, but I couldn’t help extracting some of Seward’s choice remarks.

 

In his voice, then:

 

It was interesting to hear these [album] cuts, because it reminded me of how Vince worked. We would show up at the studio — usually a two-day session — and spend all day recording, from late morning to late hours at night. Vince was very purposeful; he knew what order he wanted to record everything. He didn’t want to write things out and make it sound mechanical; he liked it loose ... to play like we did on trio gigs.

 

Vince would bring in themes and ideas; he’d already been talking with John Scott Trotter or Lee [Mendelson], and he had a real plan. He’d bring in a storyboard on paper, and he knew the timings of everything; he was very well prepared every time. It could be improvised; he’d say, “Okay, we’ve got a cue here that’s about a minute and a half” or “This one is 17 seconds.” Sometimes Vince would say, “I dunno ... we need some mood music,” and he’d just start playing something! Of course, some of it was themes from other shows, and we’d do a new version of, say, “Linus and Lucy.”

[The music on the album] sounds fresher to me, because you don’t hear it in the show so much, because it’s designed to be a background; this way you can just listen to them. I’ve never had these tracks this way, and it’s so much fun.

 

I wonder where the time has gone, because I feel like the same person, particularly when I listen to this record. I just turned 80, but I have no sense of it (other than a doctor visit or two). This record pulls me back into the studio, with those players. They’re good, strong memories. You hear Vince’s voice in the studio. You hear him count it off, or say something, and that really makes you feel like you’re listening to tracks, and not a prepared album. That’s pretty fun.

 

I’d probably still be in the band, if Vince were still alive.

 

Like, wow.

 

I’d kill to be able to go back in time, and include that final line in my book.

 

********

 

On a related note...

 

As I explain in my liner notes — and in an amusing example of history repeating itself — much the way It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown began life as It Is a Short Summer, Charlie Brown, this special originally was to be called You’re Elected, Charlie Brown ... until the very last second. Wiser heads pointed out that a) Charlie Brown never wins anything; and b) Linus is the person campaigning, not good ol’ Chuck. Last-minute adjustments were made in such haste that the chalkboard title, as this special begins, has an afterthought “Not” inserted with a caret, and — listen carefully — the kid chorus still sings “You’re Elected, Charlie Brown.”

How “last minute” was this change made? Late enough to prevent being able to modify this promotional ad, which ran in TV Guide on October 28, 1972! 

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! 

Stanford unlocks its vaults

If the relevant Facebook post can be taken as gospel, as of last September 2, Stanford University made the entire contents of its campus newspaper available online: every issue of The Stanford Daily, from 1892 onward. That's ... quite impressive.

It also represents a fresh windfall for researchers seeking Northern California-based information, as I recently discovered. One of my many Guaraldi-themed investigations happened to pull up a page from the Daily last week, which raised eyebrows and quickly led to the archive home page. A search on the term "Guaraldi" gives 78 results, a good many of which yielded fresh information and/or served as supplementary sources for already established details (always a good thing). A 79th hit pops up when searching for the incorrectly spelled "Guraldi," which once again proves that one must remember to explore alternate spellings of desired terms.

As with all well-designed archives, the results include both articles and advertisements that include Guaraldi's name; the latter are always fun to see, and I snagged several to enhance the visuals on my extensive Guaraldi timeline.

June Cochran, back in the day

As a result of one such ad, I now know that the Guaraldi Trio's appearance at Grodin's Music Festival — on September 29, 1963 — found Dr. Funk sharing the stage not only with Dave Brubeck, The Four Freshmen and The Brothers Four, but also Carol Brent, Georgie & Teddy, and "Top Rock Stars" ... along with "7 Playboy Playmates, including June Cochran, Playboy Playmate of the Years."

Goodness, what an afternoon that must have been!

A few years further along — on April 23, 1965 — a mischievous music brief mentions that Guaraldi and Bola Sete are at El Matador, and that "As an extra added attraction, bullfight movies will be shown on Sunday night, to jazz accompaniment, no doubt."

The first substantial treat appears May 9, 1966: a review of the previous evening's benefit concert at Stanford's Frost Memorial Amphitheater, which featured headliner Glenn Yarbrough, with an opener by Guaraldi's combo. Despite that billing, staffer Aaron Ross' (somewhat harsh) critique actually devotes more space to Guaraldi, beginning with the first paragraph and continuing onward:

Cool, relaxed, easygoing, that's the mood set by Vince Guaraldi at the Sunday concert for the Convalescent Home. Vince first gained recognition in 1960 with his album "Black Orpheus," taking the sound track from that movie and setting it to jazz.

I'm sorry to say, Vince's music hasn't changed much from those days; he still uses many of the same compositional formulas today. His solos are sometimes interesting, but on the whole are filled with standard clichés.

I don't mean to say that he's a prostitute, just that he's safe. He sticks to the security blanket that brought him fame and fortune. This is sad, because he's a very talented and capable musician. Someday, I hope he shows it.

Vince, for the past few years, has featured a guitarist. The first was Bola Sete, who was such a success, he took off on his own. More recently, he's been featuring George Morel, a semi-classical guitarist from Buenos Aires, Argentina, a very fine technician who has brought a refreshing change of pace.

Current Events

Photo courtesy the Associated Press

A few Guaraldi-themed tidbits in the news...

The Rev. Canon Malcolm Boyd, the famed priest, author and activist who made quite a splash with his 1965 book of prayers, Are You Running with Me, Jesus?, died February 27, at the impressive age of 91.

Boyd was a hard-charging activist who never worried about whether his socio-political image would clash with his religious training; indeed, he cheerfully employed the latter to further all manner of causes in the realms of civil rights, gender equality and much more.

Early in his career, in the late 1950s and early '60s, he was a popular coffeehouse fixture who reached out to the era's poets and beatniks, earning the media label "the espresso priest." This eventually brought him to San Francisco, where his path crossed Guaraldi's on two notable occasions: first and most famously on May 21, 1965, when Boyd delivered the core sermon during the debut of Guaraldi's Jazz Mass at Grace Cathedral. Alas, Boyd's stirring oratory wasn't included on the album — Vince Guaraldi at Grace Cathedral — that Fantasy subsequently released.

That said, the original Fantasy LP, released in September 1965, was packaged with a printed copy of Boyd's sermon. (And here's a funny story: I wasn't aware of that until just a few days ago, when somebody mentioned that detail in passing. Curiosity prompted me to pull out my old LP, where — lo and behold — I did indeed find the single-fold "booklet." I'd never known it was there! All the many, many times I played that record, back in the pre-CD days, but the printed sermon never revealed itself by sliding out with the disc. And since I bought the LP used, probably at some point in the 1970s, it no longer had the wrapper which likely bore a sticker mentioning the inclusion of that document, and so I didn't know to look for it!)

Their second collaboration took place in September 1966, during the first week of what would become Boyd's month-long run at the hungry i. Activist comedian Dick Gregory was the headliner; Boyd shared the bill, "performing" his prayers/poems to musical accompaniment. His regular partner, guitarist Charlie Byrd, had a conflicting gig at El Matador the first week; Guaraldi is known to have stepped in for at least one night, and possibly for that entire week.

Boyd was famous enough to have earned lengthy obituaries in newspapers and media outlets throughout the country, but the best I've seen (by far) is this one, from the Episcopal News Service. It even mentions Guaraldi, if only in passing.

Boyd was a titan. My wife and I were fortunate to see him perform in person, in August 2010, when filmmakers Toby Gleason and Andrew Thomas screened their just-completed documentary, The Anatomy of Vince Guaraldi, at the second annual Sausalito Film Festival. The film was followed by Boyd, who — accompanied by a piano trio — re-created the beatnik-era style of jazz-inflected prayer and poetry that would have characterized that memorable month at the hungry i. As I wrote in my book's epilogue:

Audience members could close their eyes, lean back, let the experience wash over them, and imagine the intervening years melting away: imagine being transported back to 1966, in spirit if not body, to witness the birth of a new sort of prayerful protest movement.

Boyd clearly was moved by Gleason and Thomas' film: enough so that he made a point of introducing Thomas to Michael Battle, who had begun work on an authorized biography of Boyd, which was published in 2011 as Black Battle, White Knight. In that book, Battle reprints an e-mail that Boyd wrote, shortly after viewing The Anatomy of Vince Guaraldi for the first time. Excerpting the relevant portion of that note:

I realize the incredible impact of the Jazz Mass on my consciousness. More to the point, I can see its impact on Vince Guaraldi. ... For both of us, I think, we'd found a freshness, an innocence and simplicity, that would mark us indelibly. I look back at the event, collaborating with Vince, as a kind of magical moment. Two strangers met, exchanged a brief encounter on a great stage, and the gods seemed to smile or, at least, show friendliness.

After that, we went our own ways.

As it happens, Boyd has become Thomas' most recent project. The filmmaker is collaborating with author/scholar Mark Thompson on a documentary-in-progress titled Disturber of the Peace: The Many Lives of Malcolm Boyd. Additional information can be found at the film's web site.

We need more impassioned agitators like Boyd, but — as the saying goes — we'll not see his particular like again, any time soon.

******

On a happier (concert) note...

Our Canadian neighbors will have the opportunity to enjoy a Guaraldi program at 10:30 a.m. Friday, March 13, when pianist Duncan Cooper and his trio — John Beach, bass; and Chris Lingard, drums — present "A Tribute to Vince Guaraldi" at the John M. Parrott Art Gallery in Belleville, Ontario. The event apparently will be more than music, as Cooper also promises to discuss Guaraldi's life and career. Admission appears to be free; check here for details.

Down here in the States, veteran jazz pianist Larry Vuckovich, Guaraldi's one and only formal student (way back in the day!), will honor his mentor with a couple of concerts in the near future: a treat for those of us in California.

First up is "Larry Vuckovich's Vince Guaraldi Tribute Ensemble," performing at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 14, at the Piedmont Piano Company in Oakland. The set list will be familiar to those who've enjoyed Vuckovich's recent Guaraldi tributes, described in this earlier post. The band personnel have changed a bit: bassist Seward McCain has been replaced by Jeff Chambers, and drummer Leon Joyce Jr. is sitting in for Akira Tana. McCain's absence is unfortunate, since he also remains a direct link to Guaraldi, having been part of Dr. Funk's final band, back in the 1970s.

Ticket information and other details can be found here.

Later in the spring and down in Southern California, the Los Angeles Jazz Institute is presenting an ambitious, four-day tribute to jazz impresario Howard Rumsey, "Music for Lighthousekeeping." Rumsey, 97 years young, is best known for forming the ensemble that became known as the Lighthouse All-Stars, the house band at the eponymous Hermosa Beach restaurant/nightclub. The festival, taking place May 21-24 at Los Angeles' Sheraton Gateway hotel, will feature 26 concerts, rare films and special presentations.

The schedule is frankly stunning, in terms of the talent assembled for this long weekend, and must be seen to be believed; take a gander at this program.

Guaraldi fans will want to pay particular attention to "Concert 23," detailed at left, which features Vuckovich and his band.

But that's not the only Guaraldi element. Four short cinema events are scheduled throughout the weekend, all boasting "rare films from the L.A. Jazz Institute Archive." The May 23 screening, dubbed Mambo Las Vegas, makes a point of mentioning Guaraldi. I've no idea what those archive materials might be, although I'm trying to find out (and will share whatever I learn in this space).