Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas [180g Audiophile]

The familiar piano melody of "Linus And Lucy" helped make Vince Guaraldi's music inseparable from the Peanuts television specials. His 1965 soundtrack, A Charlie Brown Christmas, brings jazz trio performances together with traditional carols and original compositions written for the animated Christmas television special. The album features Guaraldi on piano with bassists Fred Marshall and Monty Budwig and drummers Jerry Granelli and Colin Bailey.

"O Tannenbaum" opens with a traditional Christmas melody before moving into Guaraldi's piano-led jazz interpretation. "Linus And Lucy" uses its unmistakable repeating bass figure and buoyant piano theme, while "Skating" moves through a brisk, flowing instrumental passage. "Christmas Time Is Here" appears twice, first as an instrumental and then with children's vocals, giving the soundtrack two different treatments of its central holiday song. "Christmas Is Coming" adds another lively original to the program.

The Original Jazz Classics edition was mastered in analog from the original tapes, with lacquers cut by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab. Quality Record Pressings manufactured the 180g LP, housed in a Stoughton tip-on jacket with an obi strip. The performances come from the 1965 television special, and the album contains both vocal and instrumental versions of "Christmas Time Is Here."

• Format: Vinyl LP
• Standout tracks: "Linus And Lucy," "Christmas Time Is Here," "Skating," "O Tannenbaum"
• Pressing details: Original Jazz Classics Series, 180g Audiophile Vinyl, AAA All-Analog Mastering, Original Master Tapes, Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab, QRP Pressing, Stoughton Tip-On Jacket, Obi Strip
• Genre/style: Cool Jazz, West Coast Jazz, Christmas, and Soundtrack
• UPC: 888072759015

"Hark, The Herald Angels Sing" and "The Christmas Song" bring familiar carols into Guaraldi's jazz setting. Alongside "Linus And Lucy," "Skating," and both versions of "Christmas Time Is Here," they form the soundtrack to the 1965 Peanuts television special.

* The Spotify track list may not exactly represent the tracks and audio of this LP edition.

Track List:

Side A:

1. O Tannenbaum
2. What Child Is This
3. My Little Drum
4. Linus And Lucy
5. Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental)

Side B:

1. Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal)
2. Skating
3. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
4. Christmas Is Coming
5. Für Elise
6. Christmas Song