Craft Recordings has announced a definitive edition of Vince Guaraldi’s soundtrack to the 1966 animated television special, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” Remastered from newly discovered analog session reels, the album features seven previously unreleased alternate takes. The package also includes new liner notes by “Peanuts” historian Derrick Bang, with contributions by the family of Lee Mendelson, the Emmy® and Peabody Award-winning producer and co-creator of the “Peanuts” animated specials. Additionally, a note by Mendelson (taken from the 2018 edition of the album) rounds out the release.
To celebrate the discovery of these incredible archival recordings, Craft is issuing the album in several formats, including multiple vinyl options. Available across all major retailers is a 45-RPM pressing on black vinyl, housed in a standard jacket, as well as a 33 1/3-RPM pressing on pumpkin-shaped translucent orange vinyl, housed in a clear sleeve, both accompanied by a four-page insert. Available exclusively at CraftRecordings.com is a collectible edition 45-RPM pressing (limited to 500 copies) in a “Pumpkin Patch” splatter design. The album will also be available on CD and digital formats.
“It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Original Soundtrack Recording)” is available for pre-order beginning today and is set for release on August 26. The first digital single, “The Great Pumpkin Waltz (Alternate Take 2),” is available on all digital platforms today. A second pre-release track, “Linus and Lucy (Alternate Take 2),” is scheduled for release on August 5.
Check out the tracklist below:
Side A
- Linus and Lucy
- Graveyard Theme
- Snoopy and the Leaf/Frieda (With the Naturally Curly Hair)
- The Great Pumpkin Waltz
- Linus and Lucy (Reprise)
- Charlie Brown Theme/Charlie Brown Theme (Minor Theme)/Graveyard Theme (Reprise)
- The Great Pumpkin Waltz (Reprise)
- The Red Baron/Military Drum March
- The Great Pumpkin Waltz (2nd Reprise)/The Great Pumpkin Waltz (3rd Reprise)
- Graveyard Theme (Trick or Treat) (2nd Reprise)
- Fanfare/Breathless/ Graveyard Theme (Trick or Treat) (3rd Reprise)
- Charlie Brown Theme (Reprise)
Side B
- Breathless (2nd Reprise)
- It’s a Long Way to Tipperary/There’s a Long, Long Trail a-Winding/Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag/Roses of Picardy
- Graveyard Theme (Trick or Treat) (4th Reprise)
- Linus and Lucy (2nd Reprise)/Linus and Lucy (3rd Reprise)
- Charlie Brown Theme (2nd Reprise)
- Linus and Lucy (Alternate Take 1)
- Graveyard Theme (Alternate Take 1)
- Charlie Brown Theme (Alternate Reprise Take 1)
- Linus and Lucy (Alternate Take 2)
- The Great Pumpkin Waltz (Alternate Take 2)
- Linus and Lucy (Alternate Reprise Take 1)
- Charlie Brown Theme (Alternate Reprise Take 2)
In 2019, not long before he passed away, Lee Mendelson had been looking to see if he could find any of the original tapes from the recordings used to score the “Peanuts” specials. The team at Lee Mendelson Film Productions had an opportunity the following year to scour their vast archives. Among their discoveries was a treasure trove of materials from Vince Guaraldi—the GRAMMY® Award-winning jazz pianist, who composed some of the most recognizable cues in television history for PEANUTS® specials throughout the ’60s and ’70s. One of the most exciting finds were the original analog reels from the Great Pumpkin sessions—which, until this point, were considered lost to time. Accompanied by detailed session notes, the tapes also included a multitude of alternate takes.
From these reels, Jason and Sean Mendelson, along with the team at Craft Recordings, assembled the definitive version of the Great Pumpkin score. In the liner notes, the Mendelson’s write, “Not much is known about how Guaraldi wrote and arranged these classic melodies and themes, and even many of the musicians who played with him found his method to be a beautiful mystery…We hope that by listening to this music, especially the bonus material, you will get a glimpse into Guaraldi’s creative process as he and his musicians mold their sound. These [alternate] takes demonstrate the evolution and choices that became the now-famous score.”
The score for the Halloween special was recorded just weeks ahead of its airdate at Desilu’s Gower Street Studio in Hollywood. The pianist was accompanied by his trio sidemen—bassist Monty Budwig and drummer Colin Bailey—with additional instrumentation by Emmanuel “Mannie” Klein on trumpet, John Gray on guitar, and Ronald Lang on woodwinds. The musicians were also joined by seasoned composer, arranger, and conductor John Scott Trotter—best known for a three-decade run as Bing Crosby’s music director—who oversaw the entire scoring process.
In addition to bringing a bolder, orchestral sound to Guaraldi’s scores, Trotter also “brought order to chaos,” as Derrick Bang explains. “With no scoring experience, Guaraldi had laid down many of his cues for the first two “Peanuts” specials the way he would record in a studio: as extended takes that often were too long for the on-screen action they accompanied. As a result, much of the music in those first two shows tended to fade out or ‘trail off,’ as a scene concluded.”
Trotter—who also contributed two original compositions to the soundtrack, “Snoopy and the Leaf” and “Breathless”—helped Guaraldi shape his work into short cues with clearly defined endings. That process can be heard in the new album’s alternate takes, including multiple versions of the iconic “Peanuts” theme, “Linus and Lucy,” as well as the reflective “The Great Pumpkin Waltz” and the ghoulish “Graveyard Theme.” These original reels also offer fans a new opportunity to hear many of these instrumental tracks without sound effects, including “Frieda (With the Naturally Curly Hair)” and “Breathless.” Additionally, several cues are available—for the very first time—in their entirety (including “The Red Baron,” “Roses of Picardy,” and “Charlie Brown Theme,” among them.)
“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” premiered on October 27, 1966, and featured Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Sally, Schroeder, Lucy, and Linus, who is determined to seek out the mysterious “Great Pumpkin.” The half-hour special proved the popularity of the growing franchise, capturing an astounding 49 percent of the audience share (making it an even bigger success than the debut broadcast of “A Charlie Brown Christmas”). “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” earned a well-deserved Emmy® nod the following year and is now available all year round to stream on Apple TV+.
“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” Pumpkin Shaped LP, Standard LP, and CD are all available for pre-order now through Amazon.com at the links below:
