Vince Guaraldi’s Be My Valentine Charlie Brown First Time Soundtrack Review

Growing up in pre-Internet times, I often wondered what had happened to pianist composer Vince Guaraldi beyond the smash hit success of his now-iconic A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack and the several albums which were released in the late 1960s on Warner Brothers Records. While I eventually learned of his untimely passing in 1976, Guaraldi’s music officially released in his lifetime seemed to pretty much end in 1970 after the soundtrack to A Boy Named Charlie Brown.

Fortunately, there have been numerous posthumous releases including a slew of childrens read-along comic book-styled story records — featuring Guaraldi’s music — issued in the late 1970s on Charlie Brown Records. Vince’s son also published numerous archival CD releases in the early 00s including previously unreleased live performances and studio sessions (I need to track some of these down!). Many compilations and rarities collections have emerged on other labels as well including Fantasy and Omnivore Records.

Most recently, the good folks at Lee Mendelson Film Productions (creators of the Peanuts TV series) have been filling in those gaps with previously unreleased official soundtracks Guaraldi crafted to numerous animated television programs in the series. 

The latest features music Guaraldi created for 1975’s Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, just in time for Valentine’s Day on February 14th! A logical extension beyond his evergreen Christmas soundtrack, this fine sounding new archival release offers a taste of next generation Peanuts music, available for the first time officially celebrating the show’s 50th anniversary. Much of it revolves around a lovely swinging theme and variations called “Heartburn Waltz.”

Here we get not only the full TV program soundtrack but also a wealth of bonus alternate takes and mixes. Guaraldi plays numerous instruments here beyond his traditional acoustic piano including electric piano, clavinette, harpsichord, electric guitar and most significantly an ARP (synthesizer) string ensemble.  The musical palettes here are lush and even fascinating. 

“Freddie’s Mood” — a version of Chopin’s Nocturne in E Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2, which is marked parenthetically in the liner notes as the “show version”— sounds almost like an outtake from Tom Waits incredible album Frank’s Wild Years some 13 years later. Seriously. Produced to sound like an wonky old wind-up Victrola playing a scratchy shellac 78 RPM record — which Snoopy does in the film at one point — the song oddly reminded me of Waits’ similarly produced tune “Innocent When You Dream (78)”

The pressing on Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown is outstanding, made in Germany using the new BioVinyl process. This record is remarkably quiet, which again as with previous BioVinyl releases I have reviewed surprises given how they were made. 

From the official press materials we learned that “the records and CDs are all eco-minded: the records are made with BioVinyl, a new and unique product that replaces petroleum in S-PVC by recycling used cooking oil or industrial waste. There will be a 100% CO2 savings compared to traditional PVC vinyl, without sacrificing any acoustic or optical quality. Each record comes in a reusable, compostable PLA bag that is made from 99% renewable material, and the jacket, label, and liner notes are all made from sustainably forested trees for minimum ecological harm. The CD’s packaging will also be made of recycled material, and their paper inserts are from sustainably forested trees as well.”

Complete with copious track-by-track analysis by Sean Mendelson (son of Peanuts producer Lee Mendelson and a producer of the record) plus additional essays by Jason Mendelson and Derrick Bang (author of Vince Guaraldi at the Piano), the packaging is exemplary with rare photos of the recording sessions and original tape box images. Perhaps most importantly, they include actual artwork from the show including super fun Snoopy-as-Cupid artwork on the record labels! 

Restored and remastered from 192 kHz, 24-bit transfers made from recently rediscovered original 16-channel multi-track recording reels, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown is a fine sounding gem worth getting for the Vince Guaraldi fan on your Valentines list or just for yourself if you enjoy his music. I’m very happy to add this new album to my collection. 

You can get the soundtrack to Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown at Amazon for $28.99 (just click on the title anywhere in this review to jump to it). The pink color vinyl option is available at Barnes & Noble for $32.99 and of course can find it at your favorite independent music retailers.

Where to buy:

Mark Smotroff is a deep music enthusiast / collector who has also worked in entertainment oriented marketing communications for decades supporting the likes of DTS, Sega and many others. He reviews vinyl for Analog Planet and has written for Audiophile Review, Sound+Vision, Mix, EQ, etc.  You can learn more about him at LinkedIn.

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