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Good grief, Charlie Brown! What took them so long?
A recently released, remastered version of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio brings the 1965 classic into modern times, lowering static from the original recording and making several instruments easier to hear.
But this comes only after a 2006 version that was considered by many to be as dire a mistake as Charlie Brown trusting Lucy to hold a football for him to kick.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” has been a staple of the season since its release, selling more than 3 million copies. But when Fantasy Records issued a remastered version in 2006, the album’s passionate fan base reacted like the Grinch had used a paring knife to scoop out their warm Christmas hearts.
“It’s NOT the same album that I’ve listened to over and over again every Christmas season,” wrote one disgruntled Amazon reviewer, who felt “cheated” by the changes.
“Such a shame that this classic has been destroyed!” wrote another. “What once sounded warm and natural now sounds cold and lifeless! Do yourself a favor and don’t buy this version!”
The problems with the 2006 release stemmed partially from certain songs being replaced by alternate versions.
The main Peanuts theme, “Linus and Lucy,” had been assembled from two different takes for the original 1965 release. The 2006 version replaced this with one complete take that contained a different bridge, and fans howled that the much beloved song had been eviscerated.
In addition, “Christmas Is Coming” was also replaced by a different take, while “O Tannenbaum,” “Skating” and the instrumental version of “Christmas Time Is Here” all contained sounds from the original recording sessions that had been inaudible on the 1965 release and the largely unchanged 1988 CD.
“You noticed the difference immediately,” says Derrick Bang, author of the biography “Vince Guaraldi at the Piano.” “The very first song, ‘O Tannenbaum,’ begins with a quick little piano filigree and a cymbal brush that weren’t present on the original album. That’s not an alternate take — they just went back to the actual beginning of the song.”
Such an uproar erupted throughout the blogosphere that Fantasy put a statement on its Web site titled “Oh, Good Grief! A Charlie Brown Christmas Conundrum!” This outlined which of the album’s differences were mistakes and which were intended, and offered to replace the new CD for one that emanated from the original master recordings.
The new remaster is intended to bring the quality of the sound up to modern standards through technological advances like higher sampling rates, but without changing any of the content from the 1965 version.
This remaster utilized the original stereo analog mixes as their source, and high-resolution digital transfers to improve the sound.
The result is an enrichment of detail that both die-hards and casual fans can appreciate, but without sounding like a series of cover tunes.
“Listening to this remastered version, the piano is warmer and fuller, and you hear more of the nuances of the instruments than you heard on the 1988 CD,” says reissue producer Nick Phillips.
“Guaraldi’s piano has been dialed back a little, which makes the bass and drum work more noticeable,” says Bang. “I’m hearing bass riffs on this new release that I never heard before, and that’s marvelous.”
All involved are thrilled that the new version modernizes the sound of this cherished piece of music without enraging dedicated Peanuts fans in the process.
“My philosophy was to keep the integrity of the original recording. I don’t think I changed anything drastically,” says the project’s engineer, Joe Tarantino. “I went back to the original tapes and made the sound clearer, and if there were noises we couldn’t get out before, I got them out. And I’m sure people won’t miss that.”
The only person who wouldn’t have liked this soundtrack is Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz. He thought jazz was “awful.”