Ask any guy walking down the street who he most identifies with on the PEANUTS “tip” and you’ll get the same resounding answer: Charlie Brown. Most women, too. But there’s something universally male about the Charlie Brown dilemma (okay, besides the fact that Charlie Brown IS a guy). The loveable loser, always being taunted by the Lucy’s of the world, the proverbial football pulled away at the last minute, the Little Red-Haired Girl always out of reach, losing kite after kite to the evil, smiling tree, your “best friend” being a beagle only looking out for himself. And that’s not even counting holidays filled with wilting Xmas trees and rocks in your trick or treat bag!! The sweet, embraceable sadness that is so synonymous with Charles Schulz’s everyman is even more apparent in a long-awaited VINCE GUARALDI release, “The Charlie Brown Suite and Other Favorites.”
For any of us who grew up with the various PEANUTS specials, eating every musical morsel tossed to us, crumb by crumb by this jazz pianist and composer, just about ANYTHING with Guaraldi’s name on it was snatched up quicker than we could say, “Peppermint Patty.” Most recordings up to this point have either been the studio tapes of the various specials (“A Boy Named Charlie Brown” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas”) or just bad, bad, BAD harpsichord versions of the same. He died in 1976, sadly, having just put the finishing touches on “It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown” (let’s face it, the most forgettable of the PEANUTS canon, save for the music).
Now we have his son David Guaraldi to thank, who, according to liner notes, has been hard at work picking just the right material from the “wealth of unreleased material, from live concert gigs and studio outtakes to his extensive output for the Charlie Brown television specials.” Hopefully, this is but the first of many, many posthumous releases by this cultural pillar.
Let me just say that I’m not completely sold, though. I guess the entire album is worth it simply for the first track, “Lucy and Linus With The Band.” For those of us who have been searching all these years for it, it’s basically the “Linus and Lucy” version from “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” (my personal favorite TV special). It has all of the puffy, solid production value of the time, as evidenced by the muted trumpets, trombones and, of course, the jazz combo behind the deft piano of Guaraldi. It is THE version of “Linus and Lucy” that I’ve been looking for since the special aired originally in 1973. It has shaped me in the same way that the character of Charlie Brown shaped me. A melancholy tune in a melancholy life. Unfortunately, the rest of this album doesn’t live up to the childish excitement I got over the initial track. A good 90% of the album is a live recording from 1968, which was called “The Charlie Brown Suite,” a 40+ minute composition bringing together the best of his PEANUTS compositions up to that point. A serious accomplishment for the pianist, I believe, bringing a fuller sound to his songs (instead of just the jazz quartet [the perfect combo of guitar, piano, drums and upright bass], Guaraldi adds brass, tympani, strings, even a conductor, making the whole event more legitimate among classical snobs, I suppose). Whereas it’s big on musicianship, it’s low on sound quality. At times, the hiss from the mics and the occasional chair-scraping-the-floor noise crowds center stage, taking the spotlight away from these gorgeous arrangements. Normally, I’m a HUGE fan of the lo-fi thang, but when it comes to songs like “Happiness Is” (a song I sincerely want played at my funeral right after “Goodbye, Pork Pie Hat”), I’m Little Anal Annie. I need a completely CLEAN version, fer’ Chrissakes (I mean, it’s my funeral we’re talking about here). The French Horn player on this track is a little under-rehearsed, I think, but it doesn’t take away from the tear-jerking effect it has on me when the strings drip into my ear and Guaraldi does that “trickling” piano tinkle that he’s famous for. Overall, the rest of the album is dated, somewhat sappy pablum, save the six minute “Peppermint Patty” theme and a well-handled live version of “Cast Your Fate to the Wind.” But these things you can get on other albums, so it’s not really anything you need unless you’re a completist (like me). I honestly think it’s worth the investment, but only used. And when they eventually release the soundtrack to “It’s Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown,” hold this one tight against your heart and be glad you didn’t pay full price. |