For many listeners, Vince Guaraldi's legacy will forever be tied to the merry Yuletide melodies that he recorded on the landmark soundtrack album, A Charlie Brown Christmas. Though it arrived a decade into his recording career, the album solidified in the public consciousness Guaraldi's unique and playful piano style, the impact of which has endured for generations. Now, Omnivore Recordings puts the spotlight on another chapter of the pianist's career in a new 2-CD set called The Complete
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! David Bowie, Loving the Alien (1983-1988) (Parlophone) 11CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 15LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The fourth annual volume of Parlophone's ongoing series of box sets dedicated to the late David Bowie, Loving the Alien (1983-1988), arrives on 11 CDs or 15 vinyl LPs. This lavish set is filled with more exclusive material than any of its predecessors, as only three studio albums are
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! The Emmy-nominated 1966 television special was the third overall for Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts series and the second to be holiday-themed, after A Charlie Brown Christmas. It earned a whopping 49 share in the ratings and was so successful that CBS re-aired it every year through 2000, with ABC picking up the tradition after that. Yet despite a beloved score by Vince Guaraldi (who else?), a soundtrack album to Great Pumpkin has never been released in any
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Beatles, Yellow Submarine [7-Inch Single] (Capitol/Apple/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" b/w "Eleanor Rigby" returns to 7-inch vinyl as a picture disc single to mark the 50th anniversary of the animated film classic. It will be housed in a die-cut card sleeve. Read more here. Judy Garland, I Can't Give You Anything But Love 1938-1961 (Jasmine) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon
Omnivore Recordings has been living up to its name with a little bit of everything - and the next few months promise to continue in that tradition with high-profile titles from artists including Vince Guaraldi, Gene Clark, The Rose Garden, Dennis Coffey, and Malo! Good grief! Jazz great Vince Guaraldi is best known for his immortal scores for Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts animated television specials and first feature film, but the multi-faceted pianist and composer was a man of many talents.
For nearly 50 years, getting the complete score to 1969's animated feature A Boy Named Charlie Brown was as fruitless as kicking a football held by Lucy Van Pelt. Kritzerland's newest album changes all that, offering Vince Guaraldi and John Scott Trotter's score and Rod McKuen's songs as they appeared in the film for the very first time. A Boy Named Charlie Brown found producer Lee Mendelsohn and director Bill Melendez teaming up again to bring Charles M. Schulz's beloved Peanuts comic strip
How many children over the years had their first introduction to jazz via Vince Guaraldi? The late composer/piano man established the definitive sound of Charlie Brown via his scores to some seventeen of Charles Schulz's Peanuts television specials (plus a feature film and other projects. When The Peanuts Movie arrived on the big screen in 2015 with songs from contemporary artists like Meghan Trainor and Flo Rida, Vince Guaraldi's compositions were still front and center. Last year,
The Culture Factory label, which reissues classic albums in limited edition mini-LP replica sleeves, has a trio of Christmas titles due this Friday likely to make spirits bright. The label has already released Vince Guaraldi's oft-reissued soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas as an exclusive release for retailer FYE. It's joined this week by straight reissues (no bonus material) of The Beach Boys' Christmas Album and James Brown's Soulful Christmas at general retail, as well as an
Led Zeppelin, Presence / In Through the Out Door / Coda [Various Editions] (Swan Song/Atlantic) Presence: Super Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Deluxe Edition CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Original Album CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Original Album Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Deluxe Edition Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. In Through the Out Door: Super Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Deluxe Edition CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Original Album
Michael Jackson, Xscape (Epic) Where was this three years ago? This collection of eight outtakes, augmented with tasteful future-retro production by Timbaland, Stargate, L.A. Reid and others, is possibly the best project to escape the MJ vaults yet. For the discerning fan, Epic's done you a solid, offering a deluxe package with the same songs in their untouched demo form. It's really something. Standard CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Deluxe CD/DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. LP: Amazon U.S. /
UPDATE (9/27/2013): If you missed this remaster of A Charlie Brown Christmas (which we later reviewed) last year, fear not: it's being released again - same disc, same master - with special "Snoopy Doghouse" packaging on October 22, 2013. That version can be bought by clicking the image above. ORIGINAL POST (8/23/2012): Around Second Disc HQ, it's hardly a Christmas season without good friends and family, beautiful decorations, and classic holiday music. For this holiday, a new CD edition of
Who buys a reissue? It's a question many of us catalogue enthusiasts probably struggle with at one point or another. When I was a younger, more naive music fan in the New Jersey suburbs, my logic was unique but relatively sound: I could pay $13 or so for a classic album I wanted on CD, or I could save up what I earned mowing the family lawn and spend $30 on a version with more material, nicer packaging, all of that. More was always better, in my mind. Of course, it's that mindset that's
The Beach Boys, 2012 Remasters / Greatest Hits / Greatest Hits: Fifty Big Ones (Capitol/EMI) The summer gets a little more endless with a new compilation (in two formats) and remasters of nearly all of the band's '60s albums. (A full breakdown of those albums is here, and a full review is coming up from Joe today!) The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour (Apple/EMI) The Fab Four's kooky film is making its Blu-Ray debut in standard and deluxe box formats. Deep Purple, Machine Head: 40th
What makes a legend most? When it comes to the legends of jazz, Concord Music Group has that answer for you. Earlier this year, Concord launched The Very Best Of, a new series of "Jazz 101" collections designed at an affordable price point. These compact sets might introduce new fans to daunting catalogues, or offer longtime fans a compact sampler of a favorite artist. The first wave of titles arrived for Miles Davis (trumpet), John Coltrane (tenor saxophone), Sonny Rollins (tenor