Vince Guaraldi

A Charlie Brown Christmas

(Fantasy - remastered reissue)

Record Review by Adam McKibbin

The remastered reissue of Vince Guaraldi’s classic Charlie Brown Christmas is practically a failsafe last-minute stocking stuffer; many a Scrooge holds a soft spot in his carol-hating heart for the Guaraldi’s still-hip treatments of the holiday chestnuts—and particularly for the sweet, slightly melancholy originals that helped the animated special stamp itself into American culture.  And if your stocking stuffer recipients already have a copy…well, hey, they don’t have this copy, with its bonus tracks and collector-baiting packaging.

In addition to restrained takes on “O Tannenbaum” and “What Child Is This,” you get the Peanuts gang doing their bit on “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” and a quick, Schroeder-approved visit to “Für Elise.”  But, again, the magic is in the originals; who needs Beethoven when you’ve got “Linus and Lucy”?  Even divorced from the context of Charlie Brown, Guaraldi’s theme teaches its own master class in composition.  “Skating” is another highlight, a two-and-a-half minute slice of effervescence that is, in parts, classically pleasant for hotel lobbies, but repeatedly surrenders to its restless nature. 

“Christmas is Coming” is somewhat less iconic but has a similarly timeless bounce to its step, conveying the joy of the holiday season without going anywhere near a jingle-bell, ho-ho-ho template.  Shoot, you could listen to it in the springtime.  One of the four bonus tracks on the newly released and remastered album is an extended spin through “Christmas is Coming,” which proves even more worthy of iTunes space than its regular album-enshrined twin.

It’s worth noting, as an aside, that the network (CBS) thought that creator Charles Schultz (and Guaraldi) had created an unmitigated disaster with A Charlie Brown Christmas.  Of course they did.  The liner notes chart some of Guaraldi’s personal history, but it seems there was some lost opportunity to put together a more compelling chronology of Guaraldi’s difficult entrance into the Peanuts world.

Show and album alike are wrapped perfectly in a bow by “Christmas Time Is Here,” first in instrumental form, with its restrained piano and gently brushed percussion, then with the beautifully bittersweet vocal from the Peanuts gang.  They sing of “beauty everywhere,” but the song keeps returning to a somber note:  “Oh that we could always see such spirit through the year.”

You don’t have to believe in Linus’ show-saving story about Baby Jesus—this reviewer doesn’t come close—to share a sizable part of that sentiment.  If Charlie Brown was bothered in 1965 (when the show premiered) by the crass commercialization of Christmas, he would probably be mortified by 2006.  There’s good cause.  But for those of us fortunate enough to have “happiness and cheer” waiting on the other end of our delayed flights, there’s something magical about the holiday season—and the beginning of a new year—that can’t be soiled by rude shoppers or ruthless ad execs.  Guaraldi bottled a little bit of that knowledge on this album.  As Charlie Brown learned, it’s not the size of your Christmas tree, but how you use it that matters.