Happiness is many things to many people: good friends, childlike wonder, catchy tunes...and, perhaps, a warm puppy. From Craft Recordings comes a new reissue that includes all four: a newly expanded edition of 1964's Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, the first in a series of fateful collaborations between jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi and Charles M. Schulz's lovable Peanuts characters.

The 2CD set, available April 4, offers a fresh remaster of Guaraldi's initial nine compositions devoted to Charlie Brown and friends - including the immortal "Linus and Lucy" - and adds a bonus disc of 16 rare and unreleased outtakes. It's the latest in an incredible bounty of discoveries from Guaraldi's discography of late, including sonically upgraded reissues and premiere releases of many of the Peanuts soundtracks that would come after. Grammy-winning engineer Paul Blakemore has overseen the upgraded audio, with Guaraldi historian Derrick Bang supplying liner notes. (The original LP's liner notes by producer Lee Mendelson and Ralph J. Gleason will also be retained.) In addition to this set, the first 14 tracks on the bonus disc will be released by Craft on sky-blue vinyl as a Record Store Day exclusive.

Six decades ago, the match of Guaraldi and Peanuts was an unexpected one. Schulz's beloved strip had been syndicated in countless newspapers since 1950, and Mendelson - a television producer who in 1963 had overseen A Man Called Mays, a baseball documentary for television - wanted to follow up his chronicle of one of the sport's best with one of its worst: poor, hapless Charlie Brown, who can't catch a break on the pitcher's mound, in school or anywhere else. In addition to behind-the-scenes commentary from the cartoonist, Mendelson utilized two crucial collaborators for the documentary: animator Bill Melendez, whose work featured the first occurrence of Charlie Brown and friends talking on screen (voiced by actual children), and the compositions of Vince Guaraldi, whose appealing instrumental "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" (a Top 30 hit on the Billboard Hot 100) was heard by Mendelson on the radio while mulling over who to hire to score the project.

Guaraldi was thrilled to write the music for the special, and blew everyone away with his first composition: "Linus and Lucy," a feel-good jazz-trio number. There was just one problem: A Boy Named Charlie Brown could never find a sponsor for broadcast, and was ultimately never released. But Guaraldi's music was deemed exciting enough to release as an album - one with a lavish gatefold package that contained a dozen pieces of Schulz art on framable 8" x 10" cards - and Schulz, Mendelson, Melendez and Guaraldi could not resist working together again. The next year, using the unreleased documentary as proof of concept, they sold CBS on the idea of an original animated special; A Charlie Brown Christmas reused the original "Linus and Lucy" recording alongside a host of newly-composed classics and favorite carols, and aired annually on network television for more than half a century. (Since 2020, broadcast rights have been held by streaming service AppleTV+, who are required to make the special free for all to watch for three days of the holiday season.)

Guaraldi would score another 15 Peanuts TV specials; the last one, 1976's It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown, aired six weeks after he died of a sudden heart attack at only 47 years old. His musical journey with good ol' Charlie Brown - which starts here on Jazz Impressions - will ensure his artistic immortality. The expanded album is available to pre-order below; as an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Vince Guaraldi Trio, Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown (Expanded Edition) (Fantasy CR00875, 2025) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1: Original album (released as Fantasy 85017, 1964)

1. Oh, Good Grief
2. Pebble Beach
3. Happiness Theme (Happiness Is)
4. Schroeder
5. Charlie Brown Theme
6. Linus and Lucy
7. Blue Charlie Brown
8. Baseball Theme
9. Frieda (with the Naturally Curly Hair)

Disc 2: Alternate Takes (previously unreleased except where noted)

1. Linus and Lucy (Studio Test)
2. Linus and Lucy (Take 3)
3. Happiness Theme (Happiness Is) (Take 4)
4. Pebble Beach (Take 7)
5. Baseball Theme (Take 1) (CD bonus track - Fantasy FAN-35318-02, 2014)
6. Oh, Good Grief (Take 1)
7. Schroeder (Take 3)
8. Baseball Theme (Take 2)
9. Oh, Good Grief (Take 1/Later Session)
10. Schroeder (Take 2)
11. Blues for Peanuts (from The Definitive Vince Guaraldi - Fantasy FAN-31462-02, 2009)
12. Charlie Brown Theme (Take 4)
13. Blue Charlie Brown (Take 1)
14. Frieda (with the Naturally Curly Hair) (Take 1) (from Peanuts Portraits: The Classic Character Themes - Fantasy FAN-32033-02, 2010)
15. Fly Me to the Moon (CD bonus track - Fantasy FCD84202, 1989)
16. Autumn Leaves (from The Definitive Vince Guaraldi - Fantasy FAN-31462-02, 2009)