Vince Trio Guaraldi Charlie Brown Christmas Genres:Jazz, Special Interest Recognizing that the holiday season really begins at Halloween (and, in some quarters, doesn't end until the Super Bowl), Vince Guaraldi and his record company have wisely assembled the hummable themes from various Charlie... more » Brown TV specials. What we have here is the album's ability to communicate the playful irony and loopy, lovable characters that people Charles Schultz's "Peanuts" comic strip every week. Though only one actual Christmas tune is included--"Christmas Time Is Here," in both the vocal and instrumental versions--kids from ages 1 to 92 will still appreciate the "Great Pumpkin Waltz," the "Thanksgiving Theme," oddities such as "Heartburn Waltz" and "Joe Cool," and, of course, the "Charlie Brown Theme." --Martin Keller« less
Recognizing that the holiday season really begins at Halloween (and, in some quarters, doesn't end until the Super Bowl), Vince Guaraldi and his record company have wisely assembled the hummable themes from various Charlie Brown TV specials. What we have here is the album's ability to communicate the playful irony and loopy, lovable characters that people Charles Schultz's "Peanuts" comic strip every week. Though only one actual Christmas tune is included--"Christmas Time Is Here," in both the vocal and instrumental versions--kids from ages 1 to 92 will still appreciate the "Great Pumpkin Waltz," the "Thanksgiving Theme," oddities such as "Heartburn Waltz" and "Joe Cool," and, of course, the "Charlie Brown Theme." --Martin Keller
CD Reviews
Bits'n'pieces
Curmudgeon | West Australia | 06/14/2002
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I think many of the reviewers of this release have their minds clouded by nostalgia and sentiment. Although Guaraldi's music is pleasant enough, the best tracks on this compilation have already been previously released, AND they're in good quality stereo. The previously unreleased tracks are in mono and are mere fragments: "Surfin' Snoopy" is barely one minute in length, "Joe Cool" two minutes. The tracks have also been assembled from disparate sources so there's no flow to the album, either, and a playing time of barely 37 minutes doesn't represent great value for money. In short, this album is not one you'll be playing out a lot."
Good Grief!
Mark Savary | Seattle, WA | 12/26/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"For years Charlie Brown was a holiday staple for our family. Between Snoopy soundtracks and Mister Rogers' walking-through-the-neighborhood music, I grew up with a real fondness for jazz. Almost all of these cuts will be instantly recognizable, and those that aren't right off will eventually come to mind. The music will conjure up fond rememberances of childhood and holidays, which is a powerful combination. And besides, it's just plain fun to listen to.Besides the classic "Linus & Lucy", the Christmas theme "Christmas Time is Here" followed by it's intrumental counterpart, and the hard to find "Thanksgiving Theme" make this CD a bargain.For a fan of the Peanuts gang, this CD is anything but wishy-washy."
A good CD
R. Mark Melville | North Salt Lake, UT USA | 05/18/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"One thing I was worried about before I bought this was if they had entire songs or just samples. They have entire songs. I don't understand song 6. "Good Grief" doesn't fit, it is ONLY vocal. Other than that, the songs are good, even if you don't know where they're from. Individual info:
Surfin' Snoopy is on "A Charlie Brown Christmas" when Snoopy decorates his house.
Heartburn Waltz is on "Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown" as the main theme, it is played during the class party.Charlie Brown Theme is on many shows, played many ways.
Charlie's Blues is on "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" when Lucy tricks C.B. into kicking the football.
Great Pumpkin Waltz is on "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" as the main theme and is played in the pumpkin patch.
Thanksgiving Theme is on "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" as the main theme and is when Snoopy and Woodstock eat.
Linus and Lucy is the main theme for all.
Christmas Time is Here is on "A Charlie Brown Christmas" both CD and show."
Yes, Virginia, there is more Peanuts Christmas music here
M. Schnitzer | New York, NY USA | 12/22/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"(...), writing a review of this CD (...) is mistaken about one fact: "Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits" DOES contain more than just one tune from "A Charlie Brown Christmas." In fact, in addition to "Linus and Lucy" being here, much to my surprise and delight it contains two of the numbers included on the television special but never incorporated on that program's soundtrack album--to wit, "Surfin' Snoopy," the uptempo ditty that accompanied Snoopy's decoration of his dog house with a hilariously garish, razzle-dazzle lighting display; and the "Charlie Brown Theme," that played while poor Charlie the director tried to rally his players to get with the Christmas spirit in performing their parts in the annual Christmas show. The presence of these two long-lost tracks from the Christmas special (this CD's 1998 release marked their debut on any recorded music format--record, tape or CD) fills a longstanding void and means that ALL of Vince Guaraldi's sparkling jazz score from the Christmas special is now finally available: most of it on the original soundtrack of "A Charlie Brown Christmas," and the remainder here on "Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits". Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown."
The COMPLETE Charlie Brown video music collection
Anderson | Fallbrook, CA USA | 01/30/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I am writing this to sort of cancel-out an unfavorable review (listed on this page) that almost made me choose a different cd. If you want a complete collection of Guaraldi's Charlie Brown music, this is it. Otherwise, you can buy three other cd's, which will cost three times as much. The reviewer who did not like this cd all that much complained that some of these songs had been released before (5 out of 14), but, hey, that's true for all "Best of ..."-type cds. I can listen to "Linus and Lucy" for a solid hour without tiring of it!"
