''Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits'' is a compilation

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...

by jazz pianist

Vince Guaraldi Vincent Anthony Guaraldi (; birth name, né Dellaglio, July 17, 1928 – February 6, 1976) was an American jazz pianist best known for composing music for animated television adaptations of the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. His compositions for this s ...

(credited to the Vince Guaraldi Trio) released by

Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its inves ...

in 1998. The album was the first of several posthumous releases containing a mix of previously released material in addition to nine previously unavailable songs featured in

prime-time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to b ...

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

television specials based on the ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' (briefly subtitled ''featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown'') is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run ext ...

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

by Charles M. Schulz.Vince Guaraldi at ''concord.com''. Retrieved 5 April 2020
/ref>

Background

Vince Guaraldi died of a sudden heart attack on February 6, 1976, at age 47, having composed music scores for 16 ''Peanuts'' television specials and the feature film ''

A Boy Named Charlie Brown ''A Boy Named Charlie Brown'' is a 1969 American animated musical comedy-drama film, produced by Cinema Center Films, distributed by National General Pictures, and directed by Bill Melendez with a screenplay by Charles M. Schulz. It is the fi ...

.'' Despite the wealth of material Guaraldi recorded for these specials, only three album's worth of ''Peanuts'' songs were released during his lifetime: '' Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown'' (1964), ''

A Charlie Brown Christmas ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' is a 1965 animated television special. It is the first TV special based on the comic strip ''Peanuts'', by Charles M. Schulz, and features the voices of Peter Robbins, Christopher Shea, Kathy Steinberg, Tracy Str ...

'' (1965) and '' Oh Good Grief!'' (1968). After the 1996 tribute album '' Linus and Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi'' by New Age pianist

George Winston George Otis Winston III (February 11, 1949 – June 4, 2023) was an American pianist performing contemporary instrumental music. Best known for his solo piano recordings, Winston released his first album in 1972, and came to prominence with his ...

sparked renewed interest in Guaraldi's music, Fantasy Records assembled a compilation album in 1998, 22 years after Guaraldi's final ''Peanuts'' project (''

It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown ''It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown'' is the 15th prime-time animated television special based on Charles M. Schulz's comic strip ''Peanuts''. The subject of the special is Arbor Day, a secular holiday devoted to planting trees. ''It's Arbor Day, C ...

'' (1976)). ''Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits'' contains a mix of previously released material featured on the Fantasy releases ''Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown'' and ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' plus unreleased music cues from the latter as well as ''

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown ''It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown'' is a 1966 American animated Halloween television special based on the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. The third ''Peanuts'' special, and the second holiday-themed special, to be created, i ...

'' (1966), '' A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving'' (1973) and '' Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown'' (1975). Several music cues were sourced directly from the television audio tracks and were licensed for inclusion from Lee Mendelson Film Productions. Fantasy also inadvertently included one non-Guaraldi track ("Joe Cool"), a composite of two music cues composed by

Ed Bogas Edgar Noel "Ed" Bogas (born February 2, 1942), sometimes credited as Edward Bogas, is an American musician and composer whose work has been featured in films, animations, and video games. Career Bogas' contributions span four decades and several ...

and

Desirée Goyette Desirée Goyette-Bogas (''née'' Goyette) is an American singer, composer, lyricist and voice-over artist. She has been nominated for two Grammy Awards and has voiced such characters as Betty Boop, Barbie, Nermal, Petunia Pig, Honey Bunny a ...

for ''

The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show ''The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show'' (known as ''You're on Nickelodeon, Charlie Brown'' during reruns on Nickelodeon) is an American animated television series featuring characters and storylines from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip ''Peanu ...

'' (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, 1983–85). The title bears no relation to the multiple renditions of "Joe Cool" composed by Guaraldi during his lifetime.

Critical reception

Guaraldi historian Derrick Bang commented that the newly released material "is a joy, although some of these cuts are a bit 'muddy', and they lack the polish and studio perfection of Fantasy's earlier releases; they have an unsweetened quality, and display the uneven volume, jump starts and slow fades that betray their probable origins from television audio tracks." ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

'' critic Cub Koda said the wealth of unreleased material was a "true goldmine" for fans.

Track listing

All songs written by

except where noted. Proper titles appear with mistitled tracks in parentheses. Notes
non-Guaraldi track; song is a composite of two untitled music cues composed by

and

for ''

''
sourced from television soundtrack of '' Charlie Brown's All Stars!'' (1966)
sourced from television soundtrack of '' Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown'' (1975)
recorded July 29, 1965
re-recorded for ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' as "Christmas Is Coming"
vocal number sung by members of Glenn Mendelson's (son of

Lee Mendelson Leland Maurice Mendelson (March 24, 1933 – December 25, 2019) was an American animation producer and executive producer of many ''Peanuts'' animated specials. Biography Mendelson was born in San Francisco and grew up in San Mateo graduating ...

) sixth-grade class; song is titled "Oh, Good Grief" but melody is taken from "Schroeder"
sourced from television soundtrack of '' A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving'' (1973)
composite edit of versions 2 and 3
sourced from television soundtrack of ''

'' (1966)
''Tracks 1−3 and 9−11 are sourced directly from their respective television soundtracks and appear in mono.''

Personnel

*Vince Guaraldi – piano, electric keyboards *

Monty Budwig Monte Rex Budwig (December 26, 1929 – March 9, 1992) was a West Coast jazz double bassist, professionally known as Monty Budwig. Early life Monte Rex Budwig was born in Pender, Nebraska, on December 26, 1929.His full birthname was Monte Rex ...

–

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

("Charlie Brown Theme", "Great Pumpkin Waltz", "Linus and Lucy") *Fred Marshall – double bass ("Christmas Time Is Here") *Puzzy Firth – double bass ("Air Music") *Seward McCain –

electric bass The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an electric but with a longer neck and scale leng ...

("Heartburn Waltz", "Charlie's Blues", "Thanksgiving Theme") * Colin Bailey – drums ("Charlie Brown Theme", "Great Pumpkin Waltz", "Linus and Lucy") * Jerry Granelli – drums ("Christmas Time Is Here") * Mike Clark – drums ("Thanksgiving Theme") *

Vince Lateano Vince Lateano (born 1942) is an American jazz drummer who has toured with numerous jazz musicians over the years, including Cal Tjader, Woody Herman, Vince Guaraldi, and Stan Getz. Lateano was born in Sacramento, California in 1942, and was in ...

– drums ("Heartburn Waltz") * Eddie Duran – guitar ("Air Music") *John Gray – guitar ("Great Pumpkin Waltz") *Tom Harrell – trumpet ("Thanksgiving Theme") * Emanuel Klein – trumpet ("Great Pumpkin Waltz") *Chuck Bennett – trombone ("Thanksgiving Theme") * Ronnie Lang – woodwinds ("Great Pumpkin Waltz") *Bill Fitch – congas ("Camptown Races") *Benny Velarde – timbales ("Camptown Races")

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits 1964 soundtrack albums 1965 soundtrack albums 1966 soundtrack albums 1973 soundtrack albums 1975 soundtrack albums 1998 compilation albums Albums arranged by Vince Guaraldi Vince Guaraldi soundtracks Cool jazz soundtracks Mainstream jazz soundtracks Peanuts music Television animation soundtracks Vince Guaraldi compilation albums