Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas

Vince Guaraldi had already established himself as an accomplished jazz pianist in the 50’s after having grown up around other jazz performers in his family.  He honed his skills in the bands of Cal Tjader and Woody Herman in the 1950’s.

In 1963, Vince Guaraldi was approached by Lee Mendelson to compose some music for a Peanuts documentary that was being produced.  Vince Guaraldi quickly agreed.  The music was produced and released.  The documentary was filmed but was not released.  But this formed a partnership between Vince Guaraldi and Lee Mendelson that would have lasting effects forever in the minds of children and adults alike for all time to come.

When it came time to produce A Charlie Brown Christmas for televised release, of course Vince Guaraldi was onboard.  In reality, the music was composed and recorded before the television special was drawn.  Charles Schultz drew the cartoon from inspiration from listening to the music.

The album did not chart on the Billboard charts until 1987, reaching as high as 13 on the Christmas chart.  The CD re-issue has continued to chart every year on both the Christmas charts and the Pop charts.  It was certified 5 times platinum in 2022.

The artwork on the CD is a little different from the original artwork on the LP.  Very similar; the Christmas tree is drawn differently, and some of the characters on the cover have had their images reversed.  But it is a very good and very close representation of the original.

The CD insert contains a list of musicians and a short endorsement of Vince Guaraldi.  The back of the insert lists the songs with writer credits.  The track listing is the same as the original release that contained 11 songs.  There is one bonus track included on the CD release starting in 1988 and more bonus tracks on releases starting in 2006.

The CD opens with O Tannenbaum.  A soulful rendition of the German version of O Christmas Tree.

The second track, a traditional Christmas hymn called What Child Is This, was recorded at the same time as the other songs, but did not appear in the TV special.

The 3^rd track, My Little Drum, is one of 6 songs Guaraldi wrote for the soundtrack album.  It’s kind of not right to say that because as stated earlier, the songs were chosen and recorded before anything was drawn.  My Little Drum features the choral voices of the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Children’s Choir of San Rafael, outside of San Francisco.  To me, the arrangement seems to be influenced by The Little Drummer Boy.  Throughout the song, the children’s voices maintain a monotonic cadence supplemented with a left hand piano bass chord, also monotonic.

The 4th track features Linus And Lucy.  Everyone knows this song!  And everyone knows from where they know this song.  This has to be one of the most popular Christmas songs ever written.  All over the world, people know this as the song that plays over the classic dance scene in the special.  Written in 1963 as the overall theme for the original Peanuts documentary that never aired, it was a defining song of what would influence Vince Guaraldi throughout the recording of the Christmas special album.

Linus And Lucy is followed by an instrumental version of the TV special’s opening sequence, Christmas Time Is Here.  A more haunting version than the one with vocals, this is a fantastic contrast to the song that played right before it.

Following the instrumental version of Christmas Time Is Here, is the vocal performance.  Once again featuring the voices of the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Children’s Choir of San Rafael.  This is the OTHER song everybody knows, and where they know it from.

If all that was not enough, Skating plays next.  Another classic from the TV special.  A Vince Guaraldi original, it was written early on in the beginning of the recordings.  Playing over the scene with Lucy and Snoopy skating, you can just vision the scene as the song plays.

The 8^th track follows.  Hark! The Herald Angels Sing closes out the TV special.  The children have discovered the true meaning of Christmas and gather around Snoopy’s doghouse and in unison sing this perfect carol.

Christmas Is Coming is another original number.  This should be familiar to everyone.  A longer, jazzier piece, the first part and the middle part is used also for dance scenes of the special.

If my recollection serves me right, the song Fur Elise is the song Schroeder is playing when Lucy approaches him to inquire if he knows how to play Jingle Bells.  Not a Christmas song, but a wonderful inclusion from the special.

The original album closes with The Christmas Song, the classic written by Mel Torme and Robert Wells.  This song was not included in the TV special.

The CD version from 1988, which is the one I have in my collection, features one bonus track.  Purposely titled Greensleeves, this version of What Child Is This is a longer version than appears on track 2.

I’m telling you, there is not a bad song on here!  THIS IS A MUST HAVE FOR ALL CHRISTMAS COLLECTIONS.  You should have this, then you can entertain your friends, your family and even yourself with classic Christmas songs that will take you back to childhood.  That being said, I think most people enjoy some of the songs a lot, and others they would probably pass on.  This may not be a Christmas CD that you put on and listen straight through, but it contains classics that need to be in every collection.

Vince Guaraldi died of a sudden heart attack in 1976 at 47 years of age.  Otherwise, there would have been much more ‘Charlie Brown’ music to have come from him.

I give this CD :

*****