What is your favorite scene from a holiday special? Is it the whole town of Bedford Falls showing up in George Bailey’s living room, or is it The Grinch’s heart growing two times too big upon hearing the Whos sing on Christmas morning? Is it Yukon Cornelius battling the Bumble, or Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas (be it in “White Christmas” or “Holiday Inn”)? Maybe its Sam running through the airport to get his first kiss, or Hans Gruber falling off the Nakatomi Plaza. All of those are favorites of mine, but if you want to know my absolute favorite of all favorite Christmas scenes it’s the part in the classic 1965 TV special “A Charlie Brown Christmas” when Charlie Brown goes to the gymnasium to direct the Christmas pageant and finds the Peanuts gang doing those now iconic awkward dances. Schroder is banging on the piano, with Snoopy on guitar and Pig Pen kicking up a cloud of dust on standup bass and the kids are doing these weird ass motions which, I guess, was what animator Bill Melendez defined as modern dancing. That scene is so memorable that even I can perform all of those dances (well, almost all of them. I’m not coordinated enough to do that weird fist and stomp thing Linus and Sally are doing). It might not be very Christmasy, but it is possibly one of my overall favorite moments in all of animation.
The music featured in the scene is not a traditional Christmas song, but a high spirited jazz number with a bossa nova beat titled “Christmas is Coming” and was written and performed by pianist Vince Guaraldi, whose music has become synanons with both “Peanuts” as well as Christmas. Equally sophisticated and playful, the music that he composed for “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is amongst the most recognizable instrumentals written in the 20th century, and some of the most important Christmas recordings of the modern era. Decade after decade the soundtrack album has been rereleased, reissued and repackaged multiple times, and has been deemed one of the best holiday records ever recorded.
The relationship between Vince Guaraldi and the world of Charlie Brown was brought together by TV producer Lee Mendelson as early as 1963. A filmmaker operating out of San Francisco, Mendelson had been working on a documentary about “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz which was to be called “A Boy Named Charlie Brown.” By the mid 1960’s, the comic strip “Peanuts,” which premiered in newspapers in 1950, had become an international phenomenon and was continuing to grow in popularity with the mass public. Having developed a good relationship with Schultz, who although known to be quiet and introspective was never one to back away from publicity or an opportunity, Mendelson had wrapped up filming but needed a perfect soundtrack. In interviews, Mendelson would often tell that he was driving across the Golden Gate Bridge on a particular beautiful day and listening to a local broadcaster playing jazz records on the radio when he heard Guaraldi’s breakout record, “Cast Your Fate to the Wind.” A light and playful bossa nova, Mendelson recognized a layer of innocence combined with a modern complexity. This was the vibe he felt matched the world of “Peanuts,” and sought Guaraldi out for his project.
A lifelong San Franciscan, Vince Guaraldi had been a mainstay on the city’s jazz scene since the beginning of the 1950’s. Learning the ropes from his uncles who were big band leaders, Guaraldi had been a regular at the infamous Hungry I jazz club, and had been part of various combos, trios, and pick up groups over the years. Instantly recognizable by his thick framed glasses and elaborate handlebar moustache, Guaraldi had recorded dozens of different sessions for other artists and had released five solo albums on Fantasy Records. Leaning towards Latin rhythms, it was 1962’s “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” that had put him on the musical map. From his album “Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus,” the track was actually a B-side for his first single, “Samba de Orpheus,” but broadcasters started playing the other track instead which became a surprise cross over hit when it rose to number #22 on the Billboard charts. Residing in the same city and having mutual associates, Mendelson easily tracked down Guaraldi and offered him a healthy commission to come up with the music for the documentary.
Weeks after their initial meeting, Mendelson received a phone call from an excited Guaraldi requesting that he listen to a little composition he had just created. Mendelson said that he’d drive over to Guaraldi’s home, wanting to hear the piece in person, but the musician excitedly exclaimed “If I don’t play this for someone right now, I’ll explode.” While Mendelson listened over the phone, Guaraldi played the now famous “Peanuts” theme song, “Linus and Lucy.” In an interview he gave in 2008, Mendelson reflected “It just blew me away. It was so right, and so perfect, for Charlie Brown and the other characters. I have no idea why, but I knew that song would affect my entire life. There was a sense, even before it was put to animation, that there was something very, very special about that music.”
But while “Peanuts” was becoming one of the most popular comic strips in American pop culture, Mendelson was unable to sell the documentary. However, Guaraldi didn’t waste his track, and he released “Linus and Lucy” on a 1964 album he titled “Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown.” Although the documentary had gone nowhere, Guaraldi was given permission by Charles Schulz to include his characters on the album cover, making the first link between Guaraldi and the “Peanuts” comic strip and a sought out collectable for both record collectors and “Peanuts” fans.
Despite the lack of interest in the documentary, big things were to come for the entire team when Coca-Cola commissioned Mendelson to create an original holiday television special for CBS-TV. Mendelson wasn’t done with Charlie Brown. Connecting again with Charles Schultz, the pair developed what would become “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” A completely unique and unorthodox presentation at that time, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” was unlike anything done before. The comedy in “Peanuts” was that while the characters are children, they talk like adults and worry about things that children wouldn’t normally think about. Schultz wanted to stay true to that concept and took a post-modern approach to the writing by exploring themes of holiday depression, commercialism, religion and the replacement of traditional Christmas of the past by the reality of change and modernism.
Of course a Christmas special needs a holiday soundtrack, and once again Guaraldi was brought in to set the mood. For the project he recruited bassist Fred Marshall and drummer Jerry Grabelli to flesh out his trio. Guaraldi took some traditional holiday standards, such as “O Tanenbaum” and “Little Drummer Boy” and put a melancholy sound behind them, capturing the mood of Charlie Brown’s holiday dysfunction. Meanwhile, he fleshed the soundtrack out with new seasonal originals as “Skating” and the previously mentioned “Christmas is Coming.” And, of course, for the first time ever, “Linus and Lucy” was introduced as the iconic theme that’d be the hallmark of the entire franchise to come.
Possibly the greatest original song in the package was “Christmas Time is Here.” Introduced in the opening moments of the special, the lyrics for the song were composed by Lee Mendelson, who after hearing Guaraldi’s music for the song, penned the words in fifteen minutes on the back of a napkin. “Christmas Time is Here” has become a modern holiday classic that has been recorded by a wide range of artists including Mel Torme, Diana Krall, Sarah McLaughlin, Richard Cheese, Jars of Clay, Norah Jones, The Four Freshmen and Mariah Carey.
But the recording sessions for the vocal version of “Christmas Time is Here” was a task all its own. Since the world of “Peanuts” never has visible adults, the producers wanted real children’s voices on the soundtrack, and Guaraldi reached out to the children’s choir from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in San Rafael under the leadership of choirmaster Barry Mineah, for the vocal tracks. Guaraldi had worked with the children’s choir before on another project, and three recording sessions were planned to do “Christmas Time is Here,” as well as “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” which is used at the emotional climax of the special. However, working with the choir did prove to be problematic. Mineah was a perfectionist, who wanted the kids to sound perfect, but the producers wanted the choir to obviously sound like kids and be slightly wobbly, which Mineah couldn’t understand. To give the kids the unpolished effect that was desired, Guaraldi rewrote a slightly offkey version of “Christmas Time is Here” and presented it to the choirmaster, who as a result had the kids perform it that way, and then Guaraldi just fixed the track upon production. But, making the sessions more difficult was that they went way over time, often going late into the night. As a result, upset parents stopped bringing their kids to the follow up sessions, and the numbers dwindled each night. But this ended up being a blessing in disguise when they recorded “Hark the Herlad Angles Sing,” as they only had only a handful of children left, which better matched the animation featuring the “Peanuts” kids performing the song around Charlie Brown’s little Christmas tree.
Despite the fact that the music from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is so iconic and beloved today, when the special was first previewed by network executives, they hated it. To be fair, they hated the entire special and wrote it off as a disaster. They felt that it was depressing, heavy handed, cynical and too mature for children’s programming. As for the music, the network wanted something more in line with the music from “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” They basically wanted music for children, because in their minds, holiday specials and cartoons were strictly for kids. To the network executives, the moody sophistication of Vince Guaraldi’s post-modern jazz score was deemed too mature and unconventional for a family holiday special.
Of course, the network did not have their thumb on the pulse of the public, and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” was a massive hit. Airing for the first time on December 9, 1965, it was universally loved by children and adults, as well as critics and industry people, and became one of the highest rated programs of the season. In fact, it was so loved by the industry that it won the 1966 Emmy Award for “Best Children’s Program.” Still airing yearly to this day, it is now the second longest running holiday special in the history of television and holds up beautifully. No matter how many times you see it, and how much society changes each year, it remains to be funny, introspective and clever. As for the music. Guaraldi was nominated for a Grammy Award for the album in the category of “Best Children’s Recording,” but somehow lost to Marvin Miller for his recording of Dr. Seuss’ “Fox in Socks” and “Green Eggs and Ham.”
The first pressing of the “A Charlie Brown Christmas” soundtrack was released in conjunction with the special and sold fairly well. However, it took a bit of time before it finally got the appreciation it deserved. Reissued dozens of times over the decades, the mass popularity of the album seemed to actually grow over time, and it finally entered the Billboard sales charts for the first time in 1987 when it peaked at the #13 spot. Since then, the soundtrack has maintained it’s popularity as one of the top ten best selling holiday albums each year. Furthermore, the album was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007, added to the Library of Congress’ National Registry in 2012 and was named the Best Holiday Album of All Time by “Billboard Magazine” in 2021.
The success of the music for “A Charlie Brown Christmas” made Vince Guaraldi an important part of the Peanuts production team, and he continued writing scores for each new Charlie Brown special they produced. Over the past few years, Fantasy Records have been doing beautiful repressings of Guaraldi’s “Peanuts” session, beginning with the 2015 collection “Peanuts Greatest Hits.” With a jacket featuring the Peanuts kids doing their now iconic dances, the disc contains five tracks from “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” including both the vocal and instrumental versions of “Christmas Time is Here” and, of course, “Linus and Lucy,”as well as music from future specials including “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and “Charlie Brown’s All-Stars.” But one of the most outstanding pieces on the album is a track called “Little Birdie,” which first made its debut in 1974’s “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.” A theme he wrote for Snoopy’s feathered friend Woodstock; “Little Birdie” is one of the rare times that Guaraldi wrote a lyrical song and provided vocals for the quirky little number. Showcasing is unique singing voice. Vince Guaraldi was a fine singer, and it’s too bad we don’t have more examples of him as a vocalist. Although it is not one of his best known compositions, it is one of his finest.
From 1963 until 1976 Vince Guaraldi worked as part of the “Peanuts” production team, composing the music for the unsold documentary, sixteen TV specials and the first Peanuts feature film, 1969’s “A Boy Named Charlie Brown.” But on the evening of February 6, 1976, Guaraldi had a heart attack between playing sets at a night club in Manlo Park, California. Rushed to the hospital, he was dead upon arrival. He was only 47. Six weeks later, the final “Peanuts” special to feature his music, “It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown,” aired on television.
When the Peanuts production team lost Vince Guaraldi, they truly lost a valuable player. Although the quality of the Peanuts special to come would ebb and flow, the musical end of their productions never recovered. As a lifelong “Peanuts” fan, I have collected many of the films and TV specials on DVD and after watching them as an adult I found the music in the later productions to be simply awful, ranging from dull and forgettable to downright embarrassing (Anybody out there remember “Flashbeagle?”). Wisely, in the current century, the excellent “Peanuts’” productions that have been made have returned to using Vince Guaraldi’s music recognizing it as the iconic soundscape for Charlie Brown’s world.
In a world filled with Christmas music, the music from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is truly the best of the best. It is instantly recognizable and pulls on the strings of holiday memories. His moody take of “What Child is This” and “O Tannenbaum,” alongside original modern holiday favorites like “Christmas Time is Here” and “Skating,” have become some of the most beloved Christmas music ever recorded , striking up both memories of a time before streaming services and instant home media where holiday specials played only once a year, and you settled down with your family in front of the Christmas tree to watch them, and if you missed them then you were out of luck for the next twelve months. His music is subtle and pretty, and mixes traditionalism and modernism in a nostalgic package. It is the perfect music for any holiday gathering, which will truly please everyone, making it the most magical Christmas album of all.
