The Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites
| The Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | August 19, 2003 | |||
| Recorded |
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| Venue | Mr. D's, San Francisco, California (The Charlie Brown Suite) | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 52:35 | |||
| Label | RCA/Bluebird | |||
| Producer | Dawn Atkinson | |||
| Vince Guaraldi chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
The Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites is a compilation album by jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi released by RCA/Bluebird in 2003. The album is a mix of previously released material, newly discovered studio recordings, plus a live concert recording entitled The Charlie Brown Suite. All songs were originally composed for use in several Peanuts television specials.[2]
Background
The Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites is the result of efforts made by Vince Guaraldi's son, David, to secure the rights needed to distribute some of his father's previously unreleased material.
The centerpiece selection is the orchestrated, 40-minute Charlie Brown Suite, culled from the archives of New Age pianist George Winston. Winston, a lifelong Guaraldi fan, recorded the performance live on May 18, 1969, during a benefit performance at Mr. D's, a theater/restaurant in San Francisco's North Beach region. The orchestral accompaniment was performed by chamber ensemble Amici Della Musica, under the direction of Richard Williams.[3] Originally taped on a reel-to-reel audio tape recording device, Winston provided David Guaraldi with the master recording, who, along with producer Dawn Atkinson, assembled the tapes for remastering and "sweetening" to make the concert more presentable for a mainstream release.[2] The suite itself is divided into seven separate movements, connecting the Peanuts songs into an integrated whole.[2]
The CD release also features a big band rendition of "Linus and Lucy" that was included on the 1973 holiday television special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Also included is an undated live nightclub recording of Guaraldi’s non-Peanuts signature tune, "Cast Your Fate to the Wind".[2]
Cover art
The cover art is a modified replica of that originally used for the 1964 release Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown with a caricature of Guaraldi’s head replacing the real Guaraldi featured on the 1964 release.
Reception
Despite the wealth of material Guaraldi recorded for the Peanuts television specials, only three album’s worth of songs were released during his lifetime (Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1964), A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) and Oh, Good Grief! (1968)). Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits (1998) was the first posthumous release of previously unavailable material. The Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites became the second posthumous release, providing a different interpretation of Guaraldi’s ubiquitous Peanuts songs.[3]
Guaraldi historian Derreck Bang commented that the arrangement "skillfully weaves half a dozen songs into an integrated whole."[2] AllMusic critic Thom Jurek said, "the seemingly simple harmonics and snappy melodies that comprised the Charlie Brown pieces are merely the springboard for dizzying, dreamy, and rhythmically advanced, sophisticated composition and arrangement," adding that the suite contains "great treasures in American music and haunted by childlike nursery rhymes while being saturated in jazz; they comprise something unique in the vernacular and are a sheer, warm delight for virtually anyone but the most snobbish and harmonically challenged to listen to."[1]
Track listing
All songs written by Vince Guaraldi except where noted. Incorrectly titled tracks appear along with their proper titles.[2][1]
| No. | Printed title | Correct title (if applicable) | Television special | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Linus and Lucy" (with full band) | A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) | 4:13 | previously unreleased; recorded 1973 | |
| 2. | "The Charlie Brown Theme" | "Oh, Good Grief" | 2:38 | co-written by Lee Mendelson; previously released on Oh Good Grief! (1968) |
The Charlie Brown Suite
| No. | Printed title | Correct title (if applicable) | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3. | "Linus and Lucy" (live) | 8:13 | preceded by "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" | |
| 4. | "Happiness Is" (live) | "Great Pumpkin Waltz" (live) | 5:49 | |
| 5. | "Peppermint Patty" (live) | 5:52 | ||
| 6. | "Charlie Brown Theme" (live) | "Oh, Good Grief" (live) | 5:37 | co-written by Lee Mendelson |
| 7. | "Rain, Rain, Go Away" (live) | 4:58 | ||
| 8. | "Red Baron" (live) | 5:57 |
| No. | Title | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9. | "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" (live) | 6:42 | recorded live, date and location unknown[2] |
Personnel
- The Vince Guaraldi Trio - The Charlie Brown Suite[2]
- Vince Guaraldi – piano
- Peter Marshall – bass
- Bob Belanski – drums
- The Vince Guaraldi Quartet - "Cast Your Fate to the Wind"[2]
- Vince Guaraldi – piano
- Eddie Duran - guitar
- Fred Marshall – bass
- John Waller – drums
References
- ^ a b c Jurek, Thom. Review of The Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites at AllMusic. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Bang, Derrick. "Vince Guaraldi on LP and CD: The Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites". fivecentsplease.org. Derrick Bang, Scott McGuire. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- ^ a b Moon, Russell (25 August 2003). "Vince Guaraldi: The Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites". Spectrum Culture. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
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