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Available for pre-order today on 2-CD and digital platforms, the newly remastered album includes 11 previously unreleased outtakes plus classic favorites, including “Linus and Lucy,” “Baseball Theme,” and the “Charlie Brown Theme” Limited-edition Alternate Takes vinyl will be released exclusively for Record Store Day |
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Los Angeles, CA (February 25, 2025)—In 1964, one year before A Charlie Brown Christmas brought cartoonist Charles M. Schulz’s PEANUTS® to TV screens across America, the Vince Guaraldi Trio breathed life into its beloved characters through a series of now-iconic cues. Originally intended to accompany the ill-fated Schulz documentary A Boy Named Charlie Brown, the music was instead released as an album, Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown, while many of the cues (most notably “Linus and Lucy”) would appear in animated specials over the following decade, as the franchise exploded in popularity.
Now, Craft Recordings celebrates the enduring, 75-year legacy of PEANUTS, with an expanded reissue of Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown. Arriving April 11th on 2-CD and digital platforms in standard and hi-res audio, the collection features 11 never-before-heard outtakes, plus the original album, newly remastered from the original tapes by GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer, Paul Blakemore. Completing the package are insightful new liner notes by Derrick Bang, the foremost PEANUTS historian and author of Vince Guaraldi at the Piano (McFarland & Company), plus essays from producer Lee Mendelson and music journalist Ralph J. Gleason—both of which appeared in the original pressing of the album. Additionally, fans can find highlights of these outtakes on the limited-edition Sky Blue color vinyl LP, Alternative Takes, available exclusively for Record Store Day 2025, on Saturday, April 12.
“It’s fascinating to compare these alternate takes with a given song’s finished arrangement: to hear how a song is crafted, along the way,” writes Derrick Bang. Indeed, fans will gain deeper insight into Guaraldi’s creative process through selections like “Pebble Beach (Take 7),” “Baseball Theme (Take 1),” and two very different versions of “Oh, Good Grief,” in which the pianist embarks on lengthy improvs. Other highlights include two trio arrangements of “Schroeder,” a popular cue which, ultimately, was stripped down to a solo performance by Guaraldi. Perhaps the most anticipated selection, however, is “Linus and Lucy (Studio Test),” an early recording of the instantly recognizable theme, available to stream today. |
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