It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: Music from the Soundtrack

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: Music from the Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Vince Guaraldi
Released	October 12, 2018 (2018-10-12)
Recorded	October 4, 1966 (1966-10-04)
Venue	Hollywood, California, U.S.
Studio	Gower Street Studio, Desilu Productions
Genre	Jazz Soundtrack
Length	20:17
Label	Concord Craft
Producer	Bill Belmont
Vince Guaraldi chronology
The Complete Warner Bros.–Seven Arts Recordings (2018) It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: Music from the Soundtrack (2018)

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: Music from the Soundtrack is a soundtrack album by American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi. It was released on October 12, 2018 in the U.S. by Craft Recordings/Concord.^[1] It is the soundtrack to the Halloween-themed television special of the same name that originally aired on October 27, 1966.

Background[]

Concord Music reported in mid-2018 that a long-awaited soundtrack album allegedly containing original recordings from the television special were going to be released in time for the Halloween season in 2018. At the time, it was believed that studio master tapes licensed from Lee Mendelson Film Productions had been unearthed like those featured on the 2007 release Vince Guaraldi and the Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown Television Specials and its follow-up, Vince Guaraldi and the Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown Television Specials, Volume 2.^[2]

Guaraldi historian and author Derrick Bang commented that the music Guaraldi composed for It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown "emphatically established the Peanuts musical personality," adding that the version of "Linus and Lucy" featured in the cold open sequence was "arguably the best arrangement…that Guaraldi ever laid down, thanks in great part to Ronald Lang's flute counterpoint." (This version was again utilized in the 1969 feature film A Boy Named Charlie Brown.)^[3]

The score was performed by the Vince Guaraldi Sextet, featuring Guaraldi on piano, Monty Budwig on bass, Colin Bailey on drums, John Gray on guitar, Ronald Lang on woodwinds and Emmanuel Klein on trumpet. It was orchestrated by John Scott Trotter, and arranged by Guaraldi and Robert G. Hartley. All the music was recorded on October 4, 1966, at Desilu's Gower Street Studio in Hollywood.^[1]

Release and critical reception[]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Spectrum Culture	[5]
MusicTAP	[6]
Starburst	[7]
Five Cents Please	[3]

In his review, MusicTAP critic D. W. Dunphy noted former Disney parent company Buena Vista released the exact soundtrack as a children’s book and record set (pictured) in 1978 and could have utilized music-only recordings from that source.^[6]

Upon release, it was learned that Concord Music did not have access to any master studio recordings (it is unknown if any original music from the recording sessions survive). Instead, tracks consisted of music culled directly from the existing television soundtrack minus the dialogue track. This resulted in all other elements remaining intact, including sound effects.

Bang commented that the individual tracks "feature music only as it's heard in the animated special, with short edits, fades and some very abrupt stops…along with sound effects 'baked in'" which added "clutter" to the songs.^[3]

MusicTAP critic D. W. Dunphy was equally underwhelmed, saying, "there is something wrong about the It’s The Great Pumpkin soundtrack. The audio sounds struck directly from the monophonic television program soundtrack," complaining that "the music here is also presented with the sound effects, but not the dialogue. These are some of the puzzling choices. I could have easily accepted either the strictly music-only version (or as much of it as was available) and the full audio version as a sort of audioplay." Dunphy highlighted the fact that in 1978 former Disney parent company Buena Vista released the exact soundtrack as a children’s book and record set on its Charlie Brown Records label. "Craft Recordings had an opportunity to take full advantage of a 78-minute compact disc and have both the full audio version, dialogue included, and the music-only version on the same disc. Instead, we have some odd half-measure here that doesn't quite honor either the television special or Guaraldi’s contributions." Dunphy concluded calling the release "a missed opportunity," saying that children "who not only grew up with the specials but with those book and record sets are now parents (and some, grandparents) themselves...might welcome the greater permanence of either a CD, a digital file version, or a re-released vinyl LP version of the complete, unexpurgated It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."^[6]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by Vince Guaraldi except where noted^[4].

Personnel[]

Credits adapted from 2018 liner notes.

Original 1966 personnel[]

Vince Guaraldi Sextet

• Vince Guaraldi – piano, electric keyboards, arranger
• Emmanuel Klein – trumpet
• John Gray – guitar
• Ronald Lang – woodwinds
• Monty Budwig – bass
• Colin Bailey – drums

Additional

• John Scott Trotter – orchestrator
• Robert G. Hartley – arranger

2018 release personnel[]

• Derrick Bang – liner notes^[3]
• Bill Belmont – producer
• Mason Williams – project supervision
• Mark Piro – project supervision
• Chris Clough – audio supervision
• Joe Tarantino – mastering
• Carrie Smith – art direction
• Sean Winter – design
• Ryan Jebavy – editorial
• Maureen Bacon – project assistance
• Evelyn Mowbray – project assistance

References[]