Vince Guaraldi Trio -- Charlie Brown Theme

Wikimedia Commons

Earlier today, just purely by accident, I found out that the late jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi would have celebrated his 98th birthday today (he passed away in 1976 at the age of 47). He does have a file here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" since my love for "Peanuts" and he's basically been the guy for "Peanuts" soundtracks. In fact, I can say with confidence that Guaraldi was the first piano player that I'd ever heard as a baby because of his fabulous work on "A Charlie Brown Christmas", the legendary Xmas animated special.

Speaking of "A Charlie Brown Christmas", I hadn't known until recently that this special and perhaps the entire "Peanuts" mass media franchise can thank their existence because of a documentary about the popular comic strip "Peanuts" that had been planned to air back in 1963 simply couldn't come to fruition due to financing woes. "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" was to have been the title for this documentary (the title was then used later for the 1969 feature film) by Lee Mendelson.

And yet, Guaraldi did come up with a 1963 soundtrack called "Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown" that contained the iconic "Linus & Lucy" which would become the theme for the overall "Peanuts" franchise and included in the soundtrack for the Christmas special a couple of years later. For years, I'd assumed that "Linus & Lucy" was the Charlie Brown theme and not the song titled after Chuck's best friend and biggest thorn in his side respectively. So, you can imagine when I finally found out the truth, I remarked that this would be a typically Charlie Brown development...the most famous song in the round-headed kid's world doesn't even have his name attached to it.

In fact, it wouldn't be for many more years that I discovered that there was a "Charlie Brown Theme" by Guaraldi. By that time, I was living in Japan and getting into jazz so picking up a few Guaraldi and "Peanuts" albums was becoming normal. Upon this discovery, I also found out about its inclusion in the 1963 soundtrack for the unaired documentary. Getting to hear it, it starts out sounding as if the jazzman had been imagining how Charlie Brown has lived his usual life: ambling laconically his way to and from school as Guaraldi plays with his keys. Then, the pacing and complexity amp up some more as Chuck handles his alternately contemplative and frustrating relationships with Linus, Lucy, Snoopy and everyone else in his world. It all reaches a surprisingly triumphant climax before the tune settles back down to the main ambling melody. Afterwards, I assume that Chuck hits bed or the bath to commiserate about why he can't talk to the red-haired girl or throw a decent pitch in baseball.

The fact that the documentary project failed ended up galvanizing Mendelson and a lot of other parties who loved "Peanuts" to get even more intense about getting something on the air, and they finally pulled it off in 1965.

Chiemi Eri -- Autumn Leaves

 

We in the Northern Hemisphere are still several days away from the official beginning to autumn, but it was pretty cool this morning when I went out and so I figure that some of the leaves in the trees are considering a change in colour. Maybe it is indeed time to order those Pumpkin Lattes.

Let's then start this round of KKP today with something appropriate. "Autumn Leaves" is a jazz and pop standard which I've usually heard as a mournful instrumental and according to Wikipedia, it started out as a French song, "Les Feuilles mortes" (The Dead Leaves), composed by Joseph Kosma in 1945. Given English lyrics by Johnny Mercer, the man behind "Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses", it became a No. 1 hit on Billboard back in 1955 when it was performed by pianist Roger Williams. 

Singer Chiemi Eri（江利チエミ）gave her own sultry and smoky version of "Autumn Leaves", which was translated into Japanese as "Kareha"（枯葉...Dead Leaves）, as a track on her May 1959 album "Chiemi no Standard Album"（チエミのスタンダード・アルバム）. Assisted by jazz musician/songwriter Hachidai Nakamura（中村八大）on piano and Nobuo Hara and His Sharps & Flats（原信夫とシャープスアンドフラッツ）, there is a nice contrast between the moody jazz that could befit a film noir and the delicate harp perhaps symbolizing the leaves falling off the trees. 

Allow me to finish off with a ten-minute version by the incomparable Vince Guaraldi. There's even a brief cameo of one of his other masterpieces of the season near the end.

The Vince Guaraldi Trio -- A Charlie Brown Christmas

 

This week's Reminiscings of Youth will be an appropriately seasonal one, and it has to do with a soundtrack for a cartoon that is almost as old as I am and is probably much more beloved. In fact, for anyone who wants that Normal Rockwell Christmas feeling in the house over the Holidays, it wouldn't hurt to have this playing on the stereo.

Of course, the cartoon that I'm talking about is the December 1965 "A Charlie Brown Christmas", the 30-minute special which has become a Holiday tradition on TV. Of course, in the early years when I saw this, I didn't understand any of the religious significance or the surprising personality quirks among the characters. However, as I grew older and got to understand why Charles M. Schulz created "Peanuts", I got to notice and appreciate the simplicity, the angst, the poignancy and the message that were all put out there. 

A couple of years ago, during the nadir created by the pandemic, I wrote about the main theme for "A Charlie Brown Christmas", "Christmas Time Is Here" by Vince Guaraldi & Lee Mendelson, a lovely and solemn Xmas song (perhaps reflecting Charlie's state of mind) performed by choristers from St. Paul's Episcopal Church, according to Wikipedia. Well, in the time since then, I figured that it's time to shine a light on some of the other wonderful tracks on the soundtrack because they have also made their mark on a lot of Peanuts fans' memories.

It's ironic then that despite watching the special and listening to the Vince Guaraldi Trio's songs there, I wouldn't get the actual album on CD until I was living in Japan. But then again, that was the time when jazz finally grabbed me through artists such as Bill Evans, Diana Krall and Miles Davis. Of course, listening to Evans, especially his trademark "Waltz for Debby", reminded me of that Peanuts music created by Guaraldi and so it wasn't too far down the line before I finally got "A Charlie Brown Christmas".

Allow me then to highlight some of my favourite tracks.

"O Tannebaum" is a gently swinging version of the classic Xmas song. It's amazing how splendidly the tracks were paired with the particular scenes in "A Charlie Brown Christmas", so I remember clearly that Chuck and Linus were shopping for that Christmas tree when Guaraldi's "O Tannebaum" was playing. Listening to the trio go at it here, I simply thought it must have been amazing and maybe terrifying when the decision was made to bring West Coast jazz to a cartoon filled with little kids. But it worked and now I believe that Christmas and jazz go together like bread and butter.

"Linus and Lucy" was and is the song that I will always associate "Peanuts" with. In fact as a kid, I had thought that this was specifically Charlie Brown's theme for years until I got the news that it was titled as such. Of course, the big dance scene is also engraved into my memories and it pops out whenever this Guaraldi jazz boogie comes to mind. Personally, I think the boy in orange deserves the award for Best Dancer. I also think that the dance scene is so iconic, I wouldn't be surprised if there were videos out there with real people trying to perform those dances whenever "Linus and Lucy" comes on at a party.

"Skating" is another Guaraldi/Peanuts representative that I had loved for years before finally finding out what the title was. It's a joyful number that truly and melodically features what a day at the skating rink is like. Folks from 8 to 88 are skimming smoothly over the ice as "Skating" is playing and they're enjoying the simple straight lines and graceful curves; no need for Lutzs or Salchows here.

Along with "O Tannebaum", I was surprised to realize that almost half the soundtrack consists of the Vince Guaraldi Trio's covers of established Xmas classics. Another one is "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" that ends the show and can cause quite a bit of lachrymal flow under the right mood. The Robert Merrill version of the song is truly epic and stirring in its own way but the one used in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is much quieter but no less triumphant.

"Christmas is Coming" had its debut on "A Charlie Brown Christmas" to start off the dance scene before it got taken over by "Linus and Lucy". Before knowing the title, I'd thought that it didn't really have anything to do with the Holidays, but come to think of it now, there is that big feeling of expectation and excitement imbued into Guaraldi's melody about the impending arrival of Santa Claus and December 25th. Aside from its place in the special, the song could also be an ideal accompaniment during all that cooking and decorating around the house before the big turkey dinner.

I've got one more track here that I'd like to mention. Not only was Beethoven's "Für Elise" as performed on the special the first time that I got to see the serious Schroeder on his toy piano, it was the first time that I'd heard the composition by one of the great masters. Since then, I have heard "Für Elise" in various forms including a cover by either Pink Lady or Candies in Japan. However as they say, it's always the first one.

For this ROY then, let's find out who won some of the Japan Record Awards in 1965. 

Grand Prize: Hibari Misora -- Yawara (柔）

Best New Artist: Hiroshi Wada & Mahina Stars & Miyoko Tashiro -- Aishite, Aishite, Aishichattanoyo (愛して愛して愛しちゃったのよ）

Best Composer Award: Chieko Baisho -- Sayonara wa Dance no Ato ni （さよならはダンスの後に）

Vince Guaraldi -- Great Pumpkin Waltz/Graveyard Theme (from "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown")

 

In the last few years of my stay in Japan, I was collecting those big volumes of the old "Peanuts" newspaper strips which began in 1950. Although those tomes went all the way to Charles M. Schulz's final productions in 2000, I basically stopped collecting them after I reached the 1980 edition since I think the heyday of Charlie Brown and Snoopy was within those first thirty years. The above two photos display the October 26, 1959 strip showing Linus' first mention of the Great Pumpkin as Lucy must be thinking about committing her little brother to a hospital somewhere.

Interestingly enough, it was 56 years ago today that the television adaptation of those Halloween hijinks of Charlie and the gang made its debut on CBS. "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" made its premiere less than a year after "A Charlie Brown Christmas" as the second holiday-themed Peanuts special, and I've also enjoyed this Halloween-themed one over the decades. The introduction of the show with Linus and Lucy getting out into the pumpkin patch, accompanied by a reprise of the iconic "Linus and Lucy" by jazz pianist and composer Vince Guaraldi, was able to remind viewers of the Van Pelt siblings' different personalities without a word said in the first minute and a half.

Linus' raving and ranting about the Great Pumpkin aside, I think the one other scene that has stuck in fans' memories is Charlie Brown's perennial "treat".

Now, as I promised when I wrote on the theme song for "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" a few weeks ago, I will be giving my Halloween-themed Reminiscings of Youth article (KKP's 9,100st!) in the form of the song that has remained in my head from "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". "Great Pumpkin Waltz" by Guaraldi and five other musicians was a song whose title I hadn't even known; it was just a number that I knew as a theme for the special. It wasn't until I had purchased George Winston's tribute to Guaraldi, "Linus and Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi" in 1996 and listened to Winston's slower, longer and even more soulful rendition the piece that not only did I finally find out the title but also that it was a particularly beautiful waltz. It's up there with one other waltz created for pop ears, "Lover", by Rodgers and Hart which was also a ROY article early last year. The original by Guaraldi hits harder in the special especially in the scene when Sally Brown decides to sit in the pumpkin patch with her sweet Baboo.

When I was prepping this ROY article, I discovered that the music which accompanies the title reveal and the Peanuts kids getting spooked was also pretty good, so I've included it here. According to Wikipedia, it was originally titled by Guaraldi as "D Minor-Major Groove" when he did a recording session with bassist John Mosher and drummer Johnny Markham back in 1958, but he brought it back for the special under the new title of "Graveyard Theme". There is some playfully sinister feeling in the brief musical cue, although I think that for a graveyard song, it's still pretty happy.

Anyways, I will be coming up with a J-Halloween song for next Monday. There were a few singles coming out in Japan around October 1966 of course, although Halloween wouldn't become a thing for a few more decades there.

Linda Yamamoto -- Kommachauna （こまっちゃうナ） (September 1966)

The Wild Ones -- Omoide no Nagisa（想い出の渚） (November 1966)

The Spiders -- Yuuhi ga Naiteiru (夕陽が泣いている） (September 1966)

Vince Guaraldi -- Thanksgiving Theme (from "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving")

 

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all those in the Great White North and Happy Sports Day (although the day has already passed as I write this) to all those in Japan. My family had planned to hit one of our favourite restaurants for some turkey dinner but when we saw the crowds amassing at the front door, we hightailed it to an alternative. It wasn't turkey but that was fine; we were just glad to have another meal together.

As any biography on the history of the beloved American comic strip "Peanuts" will sagely inform you, "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" was the third in the series of holiday-themed specials focusing on Charlie Brown and Snoopy. Considering that for the longest time, I'd only watched those specials, I naturally assumed that the Thanksgiving special was simply the third special, period, following "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" (whose theme I will cover in a few weeks). In fact, though, it was the tenth prime-time special with the Peanuts gang with a whole bunch of other non-holiday shows in between.

My highlights from the November 20th, 1973 first airing of "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" aren't quite as plentiful as the ones for the iconic Xmas special, but they do include my first time catching Peppermint Patty on television (although she apparently appeared on a 1966 special), the whole cooking sequence that you can see at the top of the article, the soulful "Little Birdie" sung by Vince Guaraldi himself above, and the fact that Woodstock was more than happy to devour a turkey at the end of the show (I've just read somewhere that comparing Woodstock's species to a turkey would be akin to comparing a human with a cow which alleviates my mixed feelings...a little).

Speaking of the famous jazz pianist and composer, Guaraldi was once more called upon to come up with a theme song for this Charlie Brown special. Although I would have to place "Thanksgiving Theme" third behind the previous two themes for the holiday shows, that would still be like ranking beef, chicken and salmon for me in terms of my favourite animal protein. They're all good and with "Thanksgiving Theme", there are those rolling piano riffs interspersed with the softer passages reminiscent of the falling leaves of autumn.

Now, what was being released at around the same time that "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" was broadcast for the first time in America? Well, I found out from the "CD/Record Release Date Calendar".

(November 20th) Yumi Arai -- Hikoki Gumo （ひこうき雲）

(November 21st) Kenji Sawada -- Miserareta Yoru （魅せられた夜）

(November 21st) Momoe Yamaguchi -- Kinjirareta Asobi （禁じられた遊び）

In any case, for my fellow Canadians, please enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner!🦃

Christmas Time Is Here by Vince Guaraldi & Lee Mendelson

 Merry Christmas in Japan and Merry Christmas Eve here!

This is not only a collaboration between the Labels of Reminiscings of Youth and Xmas here on the blog, but it's the farthest back that I've gone for a ROY article. In fact, I should correct the category here and say that it's more of a Reminiscings of Babyhood or Just-Graduated-From-Foetushood because I was only born some weeks before "A Charlie Brown Christmas" made its debut on CBS on December 9th 1965. Certainly, there's no way that I can remember the first time that Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and the rest of the bunch made their way onto television screens together for the first time, since in all likelihood I was in the crib getting my 18 hours of beauty rest (which failed utterly) but I know that I've been watching it since I was a little kid.

I've enjoyed the whole thing over and over and I even bought the DVD for "A Charlie Brown Christmas" about a decade or so ago in Japan. Of course, a lot of things debuted for the first time including the characters and the famous "Linus & Lucy" theme which is arguably the theme song for the entire she-bang known as "Peanuts" (geez, ol' Chuck can't even catch a break there). One of my favourite scenes in the special is most of the characters boogying away to "Linus & Lucy" with Schroeder on the piano, Snoopy on the guitar and Pig-Pen on wood bass. My brother and I always giggled at Frieda's dancing.

Of course, if I got the DVD for the special then I just had to get the classic soundtrack with the Vince Guaraldi Trio. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and the music are absolutely inseparable and at the time that I saw it annually, I heard and treated the soundtrack not as jazz but just "Charlie Brown music" because of that distinct Guaraldi piano. From what I read about the production of the special back in 1965, though, was that inserting wistful jazz music into a kiddie program was thought to be downright insane at the time.

Happily, braver heads and ears prevailed. But along with "Linus & Lucy", "Skating" and all the rest, there is the opening theme "Christmas Time Is Here" by Guaraldi and television producer Lee Mendelson with the chorus from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in San Rafael, California. I cannot imagine the introduction for the show without this song, and whenever I get introduced to a jazz pianist that I hadn't heard before, I immediately compare that artist with Guaraldi via "Christmas Time Is Here". That was the case when I first heard the velvety tones of Bill Evans back in Japan. I listened to Evans' trademark "Waltz for Debby" and found the lilting and romantically swinging melody reminiscent of Guaraldi's "Charlie Brown music" (although I know that Evans started his career before Guaraldi), and internally remarked, "Yep, he's my guy!" and ended up buying a number of his albums.

The soundtrack is a must-play at this time of year, and I will listen to it again later tonight just before Christmas Eve gives way to Christmas Day. Wow! That's something...55 years since it was released. But what was released in Japan back in December 1965? Thanks again to "Showa Pops" for the answers.

1. Sachiko Nishida -- Akasaka no Yoru wa Fukete （赤坂の夜は更けて）

2. Mahina Stars -- Namida-kun Sayonara （涙くんさよなら）

3. Saburo Kitajima -- Hakodate no Hito （函館の女）

P.S. Of course, there are all of the covers of "Christmas Time Is Here"!

Canada's own Sarah McLachlan and Diana Krall

Anita Baker

Kei Kobayashi