Track Listing

1. Linus and Lucy With the Band
2. Charlie Brown Theme
3. Charlie Brown Suite: Intro With Linus and Lucy
4. Charlie Brown Suite: Happiness Is
5. Charlie Brown Suite: Peppermint Patty
6. Charlie Brown Suite: Charlie Brown Theme
7. Charlie Brown Suite: Rain, Rain Go Away
8. Charlie Brown Suite: Red Baron
9. Charlie Brown Suite: Closing
10. Cast Your Fate to the Wind

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30268 in Music
• Released on: 2003-08-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live

Customer Reviews

A welcome addition
In what will hopefully be the first of several never-before-available Vince Guaraldi recordings to be released by his son, "Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites" gets off to a roaring start that the rest of the disc doesn't quite live up to. But this is a very nice CD.

A sleek big band arrangement of "Linus and Lucy" that was heard in "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" (1973) is the first track (it's played during the scene when Snoopy directs the making of the popcorn and toast meal that Charlie Brown is forced to improvise because Peppermint Patty has invited herself to his house). This has always been my favorite version of the tune, and I never expected to hear it on CD.

The "Charlie Brown Suite," recorded live in San Francisco in 1968, takes up the bulk of the album. As other reviewers have noted, some of it has a certain saccharine quality. It is certainly well done, however, if you don't mind a string section on jazz material.

Let's hope for more -- perhaps Guaraldi's arrangement of "Skating" as heard in "A Boy Named Charlie Brown."

The sometimes-goopy greatness of Guaraldi
San Francisco's jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi is best known for his work on the mid-1960s Peanuts TV specials, crafting irresistible, swinging ditties like "Linus And Lucy" and the oh-so-mellow "Blue Charlie Brown." His version of West Coast jazz is, admittedly, a bit on the light side, but for decades has caught the ears and imagination of an eager listening audience. For many, he was the gateway drug of Jazz, leading a few listeners onto harder stuff, while many others were content with the happy buzz his deceptively simple songs could induce.

This is an interesting, odd album that features extended explorations of the poppy ditties that made up the Charles Schultz section of the soundtracks to our lives. The disc kicks off with a rockin' jazzed-up tune, "Linus And Lucy With The Band," which has a few unexpected sonic twist and turns; the Suite itself is an impressive, if somewhat sugary, 1968 live performance which runs the Guaraldi gamut from florid orchestral work ala his "Cast Your Fate To The Wind"-era soundtracks to the smooth bossa nova of the "Charlie Brown Theme" and the moody, atmospheric take on "Peppermint Patty..." Just when you think he's gone soft, Guaraldi sneaks in something really cool and subtle. And once you realize that the seven songs of the sSuite itself were performed live (with studio-like sleekness), the project seems all the more impressive. If you're already a fan, you'll want to pick this one up.

mmmmmmm......Vince Guaraldi with strings....
This album is certainly not for the faint of heart...If you just want to hear some Charlie Brown music, go get the original sdtk to the christmas special.

On the other hand, if you really appreciate the twisted melodic genious of Guaraldi (like I do), this album is a must. I picked up this cd on a whim to preview it at Borders, and was blown away. Once I realized that the track 'Happiness Is' is actually a slower version of the 'Great Pumpkin Waltz' with strings, my jaw dropped. Then halfway through the song, Vince comes in with this solo that sends chills down my spine! And the fact that it's at a slower tempo allowed him to really take his time in expressing himself. Man...talk about sick!!! that track was worth the price alone. Then as I listened to the rest, and I found more great gems...like the way Vince playfully bounces around over the wonderfully melancholy arrangement of 'Rain Rain Go Away', and how vince musically captures the quirkiness of 'Peppermint Patty'.

And mind you that the majority of these tracks are live...no studio retakes...every lick Vince plays is improv.

Although there are some doubtful renditions on this album - like Linus and Lucy (a little too abstract for my taste), there are great finds on this cd well worth the price for the V.G. fan!