CONCORD MUSIC GROUP REISSUES VINCE GUARALDI’S CLASSIC SOUNDTRACK TO A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN
Most of us recall A Charlie Brown Christmas — the classic animated special that originally aired on network television during the holiday season of 1965 — as the moment when pianist Vince Guaraldi first breathed life into the entire Peanuts gang with a series of compositions that have since become as iconic as the characters themselves.But a year earlier, Guaraldi had scored a Peanuts TV special of an entirely different kind. After the success ofA Man Named Mays, a documentary of San Francisco Giants center fielder Willie Mays, TV producer/director Lee Mendelson set out to tell the story of another ball player who had soared to similar fame during that same era: the hapless but resilient sandlot underdog, Charlie Brown. The result was A Boy Named Charlie Brown, a 60-minute documentary about Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz.
A limited edition, collectible vinyl reissue of the original 1964 Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown soundtrack is set for release by Fantasy Records via the Concord Music Group on May 13, 2014. As adoring fans of both Guaraldi’s and Schulz’s work, Concord has proudly put significant effort into faithfully restoring all components of the LP with a special bonus: orange vinyl. The reissue comes complete with Schulz’s classic, quirky design, historic liner notes in a gatefold jacket, and reproductions of 8 x 10 lithographs of Peanuts characters.
A reissue of A Boy Named Charlie Brown will also be made available on CD. Enhanced with 24-bit remastering by engineer Joe Tarantino and brand new liner notes by Peanuts historian Derrick Bang, the release marks the 50th anniversary of the original Fantasy soundtrack to the television documentary with one of the most interesting backstories in entertainment history.
Due to the whims of network programmers at the time, A Boy Named Charlie Brown never aired. Even an alternate version edited down to 30 minutes wouldn’t sell. Nevertheless, Fantasy forged ahead with the 1964 release of the documentary soundtrack — originally titled Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown,but later shortened in subsequent pressings — without the cross-promotional support of its television counterpart. Regardless of the project’s hamstrung origins, Guaraldi’s compositions, augmented by bassist Monty Budwig and drummer Colin Bailey, paint an evocative backdrop to Schulz’s cast of engaging and enduring characters.
“Consider the historical irony,” says Bang. “This must be one of the few times (the only time?) that a record label has released a soundtrack album for a film never granted public exposure.”
Among the nine tracks from the original Fantasy recording is the now-iconic “Linus and Lucy,” which eventually made its way to prime-time television a year later in the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas,which aired on the CBS network in December 1965.
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Dianna Ranere