Published on Dec 16, 1997
Nine days to Christmas, and here in the Pierce Memorial Archives
(“Honey, I wrapped the toddler”), we’re really starting to get into
the holiday mood. So much so, that I dug out a favorite Christmas
tape of mine, and played it while I began wrapping gifts. (Just
because I’m a reculse doesn’t mean I’m not generous.)
As a 26-year-old male, I can not picture Christmas without the
television specials I grew up on. Oh, sure, some of them have
animation so bad that you need to be really stoned to watch them as
an adult. But without fail each year, I find myself parked in front
of the television to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” It’s as
much a part of my holiday tradition as using the fruitcake “Duke”
Williams gives me each year as a doorstop.
Pity poor Vince Guaraldi — already a noted jazz musician, his
contribution to the show’s soundtrack secured him a place in
history.
A Charlie Brown Christmas is a powerful tape that packs all
the memories I have of the show and creates an album that I could
easily listen to in the middle of July.
Guaraldi and the other two members of his trio — bassist Monty
Budwig and drummer Colin Bailey — put out more true
music amongst themselves than some larger rock bands I know
of. The performances here — much like jazz itself – are raw and
prone to the occasional mistake (normally only heard when blaring
the tape at loud volumes). It is interesting to hear kind of a
be-bop approach applied to such standards as “O Tannenbaum” and
“Greensleaves” — as well as an original number, “Christmas Is
Coming,” which is a raucous good time. Taken from the approach of a
jazz trio, this album already is a great portrait of the music’s
form in the mid-’60s.
Ah, but there is that link to Charles Schulz’s timeless cartoon
characters – and while this move might have killed Guaraldi’s link
to pure jazz, it has built him a much more emotional legacy amongst
the kids who grew up hearing him play “Linus And Lucy” on countless
“Peanuts” specials. (And as much as I think the recent Nissan ad
featuring “Linus And Lucy” is cute, it kind of cheapens the song in
my mind.) I can see Charlie Brown and his friends as the gentle
piano lines from Guaraldi build on “Skating.” I can see the whole
gang gathered around the scrawny Christmas tree on “Hark, The
Herald Angels Sing,” featuring Guaraldi on organ. I can even see
Schroeder sitting at his piano as Guaraldi plows through “Fur
Elise,” though I doubt his style of playing would have held up to
other piano works in classical music.
But
A Charlie Brown Christmas is much more than an album I use
to remember Christmas specials past. The songs embody the season to
me, and though I’ve only owned a copy of this album for a few
years, I couldn’t imagine a Christmas without it. And that, kids,
is what makes any album special – not just an album of holiday
music.
In one sense, the rawness of the performances gives the album
its edge that transcends it past just Christmas. If you didn’t see
the title “Christmas Is Coming,” you could easily play that song
for someone and they’d never guess where it came from.
Guaraldi might have never shaken the “Peanuts” tag after this
album, but if he knew how much happiness he has brought to the
season, I don’t think he’d mind too much.
A Charlie Brown Christmas is both a classic to treasure and
a legacy to pass on to our children. Give it a spin — rediscover
the magic, or discover it for the first time.