Vince Guaraldi’s complete soundtrack to the classic TV special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is being released for the first time since it originally aired 50 years ago.
Created by Charles Schulz, the special has been broadcast every year since it first aired on CBS on Nov. 20, 1973.
Now a half century later, the soundtrack is finally being released in full — though unfortunately, its late-October release date is too late for Thanksgiving in Canada.
The soundtrack album includes the original 13 recordings, plus another nine bonus tracks that have never been heard before. It includes “Little Birdie,” one of the few songs in which composer Guaraldi also sang the lyrics.
The recording features Guaraldi on piano, keyboards, guitar and vocals, along with bassist Seward McCain, drummer Mike Clark, trumpeter Tom Harrell, and trombonist Chuck Bennett.
The soundtrack was produced by Sean and Jason Mendelson, re-mixed by Terry Carleton at Bones and Knives, and restored and re-mastered by Vinson Hudson.
The album will available on CD, vinyl and digital. Both the LP and CD will have liner notes that give a track-by-track analysis by Sean Mendelson, the musician, record producer and son of Peanuts producer Lee Mendelson. Both versions have stills from the special and some images of the original track assignments for each instrument.
Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is out Oct. 20, 2023, via Lee Mendelson Film Productions.
