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<p><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnwinhBE_YSNRj97hBzenSJgGLQ1LIEfhGlqz7XPboIsX6OvyQwDGs0ki6Si6N9Cr9tWWUOSWOs31TamKoA3EVeJ07PK3rqfFFM0nJ-XsMA5a3a0eziXtsgTHX854f4PzqsX29TBOgTsUl/s1600/1clouds.jpg" alt="Animation Recaps (and Other Stuff): A Boy Named Charlie Brown - Part One"></p><p><br></p><p>For the 1964 soundtrack to the unaired television special of the same name, see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_Impressions_of_A_Boy_Named_Charlie_Brown" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown</a>.</p><p>The 1969 animated film <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Boy_Named_Charlie_Brown" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>A Boy Named Charlie Brown</em></a>, based on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_M._Schulz" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charles M. Schulz</a>'s comic strip <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanuts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Peanuts</em></a>, had two different soundtrack albums. These albums were released individually in 1970 and 2017.</p><h2>Background</h2><p><em>A Boy Named Charlie Brown</em> is the debut theatrical film based on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanuts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Peanuts</em></a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_strip" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">comic strip</a> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_M._Schulz" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charles M. Schulz</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Boy_Named_Charlie_Brown_(soundtrack)#cite_note-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[1]</a> For the music score, producer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Mendelson" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lee Mendelson</a> recruited jazz pianist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Guaraldi" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Vince Guaraldi</a>, who had previously composed uptempo jazz melodies for the first six <em>Peanuts</em> television specials as well as the unaired documentary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Boy_Named_Charlie_Brown_(1963_film)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">of the same name</a>. Guaraldi did not compose new songs for the film, but instead fitted established compositions with a more theatrical treatment featuring lusher horn-filled arrangements. Instrumental tracks used in the film included new versions of the songs "Skating", "Baseball Theme", "Charlie Brown and His All-Stars", "Oh, Good Grief", "Air Music", "Blue Charlie Brown", and several variations of the <em>Peanuts</em> franchise theme song, "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_and_Lucy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Linus and Lucy</a>". Guaraldi also resurrected the non-<em>Peanuts</em> song "Lucifer's Lady" from his album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eclectic_Vince_Guaraldi" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Eclectic Vince Guaraldi</em></a> (1969), retitled "Kite Music (Lucifer's Lady)".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Boy_Named_Charlie_Brown_(soundtrack)#cite_note-Bang-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[2]</a></p><p>To fill out the sound, Mendelson also hired composer/arranger <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scott_Trotter" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">John Scott Trotter</a> (who also worked in concert with Guaraldi since 1966's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_the_Great_Pumpkin,_Charlie_Brown" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown</em></a>) and composer/singer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_McKuen" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rod McKuen</a>. When discussing the augmentation of Guaraldi's established jazz scores with additional musicians, Mendelson commented, "It wasn’t that we thought Vince's jazz couldn't carry the movie, but we wanted to supplement it with some 'big screen music.' We focused on Vince for the smaller, more intimate Charlie Brown scenes; for the larger moments, we turned to Trotter's richer, full-score sound."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Boy_Named_Charlie_Brown_(soundtrack)#cite_note-kritz-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[3]</a> Guaraldi's services were passed over entirely for the second <em>Peanuts</em> feature film, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoopy_Come_Home" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Snoopy Come Home</em></a>, with Mendelson turning to longtime <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walt_Disney_Company" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Disney</a> composers the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Brothers" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sherman Brothers</a> to compose the music score.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Boy_Named_Charlie_Brown_(soundtrack)#cite_note-Bang-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[2]</a></p><p>The film included several original songs, some of which boasted vocals: "Failure Face", "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_before_E_except_after_C" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">I Before E</a>" and "Champion Charlie Brown". McKuen wrote and sang the title song, as well as writing "Failure Face" and "Champion Charlie Brown".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Boy_Named_Charlie_Brown_(soundtrack)#cite_note-Bang-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[2]</a> Trotter composed additional songs, like "Cloud Dreams", "Catatonic Blues" and "Bus Wheel Blues".</p><p>Several recording sessions occurred between April and October 1969, all under the supervision of Trotter. He and Guaraldi booked several jazz combos for one date; Guaraldi worked solely with trio sidemen Peter Marshall and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Granelli" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jerry Granelli</a> on another.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Boy_Named_Charlie_Brown_(soundtrack)#cite_note-Bang-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[2]</a></p><p>A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundtrack_album" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">soundtrack album</a> with dialogue from the film was released on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Masterworks_Records" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Columbia Masterworks</a> label in 1970 titled <em>A Boy Named Charlie Brown: Selections from the Film Soundtrack</em>. The first all-music version of the soundtrack was released on CD by Kritzerland Records as a limited issue of 1,000 copies in 2017, titled <em>A Boy Named Charlie Brown: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack</em>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Boy_Named_Charlie_Brown_(soundtrack)#cite_note-kritz-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[3]</a></p>