November 28, 2006

That time of year. Finally!!!

With Thanksgiving almost a week behind us, I think it's safe to start busting out the holiday music around here. Which is exciting because I'm a big fan of holiday music, though isn't it funny how offensive it sounds in, say, June? And that's a shame because one of my all-time favorite albums is a holiday album and I'd love to be able to listen to it year round. But I just can't. It doesn't feel right. The album I'm talking about is (of course!) "A Charlie Brown Christmas" by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.
If you haven't heard it...Ha! what am I saying, of course you've heard it. Well, if you don't OWN it, please stop reading and get on over to iTunes and buy it. Every single song on it is fantastically good: O Tannenbaum, Christmas Time Is Here (both instrumental AND vocal!), My Little Drum, and of course everyone's favorite classic Linus & Lucy, oh, and Skating!! Can't forget Skating. Unbelievable!! If I was more tech savvy, or less lazy I would have clickable streaming mp3 jobbies here for all these songs. Sorry. Maybe L's mom can hook me up. She has mad blog skills.
Anyway, the good news/actual point of this post is that Vince Guaraldi was more than just the guy who most perfectly scored the television specials of one of the greatest comics in our nations history. He also put out a bunch of other really great albums that AREN'T icons of any particular holiday (that I'm aware of) and thus may be listened to any day of the year (except December 25th). So while you're out there picking up "A Charlie Brown Christmas" also check out some of his other albums which are also very excellent and deserving of our attention. Including "Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus" inspired by the 1959 French/Poruguese film Black Orpheus.

Also check out the official Vince Guaraldi website.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was thinking of you today when I heard on the radio that 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' was to show on TV for the first time this season.

I would LOVE to hear the whole of that CD someday - soon.
When next I see you, please to play it for me.

In the meantime, I'm working on how to plug those MP3s on my blog (sometimes it requires $payment$. It's more of a challenge (for someone as tech-challenged as me) than linking to a wav file, but I'll keep try try trying till I meet with success!

John said...

derek. dude. i know of what you speak. i think one of the songs creeped up on shuffle mode in the middle of hot hot nyc summer and it just made me stop in my tracks! It is a sacred sound that should only be played at this time of year. I always think of their little mouths making "o" shapes when they sing in the cartoon. so freaking cute. And hey, how about that site? should i just use Vince's icon when i get older and wear glasses?

Scott said...

Derek-
Yes. To me this is the gold standard christmas album. Sure, I'll throw in some other standards (Rat Pack-era crooners and some tracks from the Marsalis brothers) but they exist as filler to lengthen the playlist. It just isn't Christmas without Vince Guaraldi.

-Scott

Anonymous said...

hey derek. just thought i'd also point out that eMusic also has a great selection of mr. guaraldi... including a recently released version of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" with bonus tracks (a few alternate takes).

by the way, great new additions to the shoppe! i may be knocking on your door. :)