Vince Guaraldi: Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown

Available for the first time, Vince Guaraldi’s soundtrack to the 1975 TV special Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, is available for consumption. By this time in his career, Guaraldi’s style changed with the times, as the pianist now included electric piano, clavinet, ARP Strings, electric harpsichord and even guitar to mix with his team of Seward McCain/b-fl and  Vince Lateano/dr.  Unlike the early days, there’s a lot of synthy sp lashing going around, as on “Valentine Interlude” and “Paw Pet Overture”. Even the classical piano moments have  a  more modern feel, from the tinny “Piano Sonata” to the plugged in “Freddie’s Mood” based on Chopin. The keyboards get into a bar mitzvah mood on pieces like “Jennie L” and Woodstock’s Mambo”, with the music a bit more kitschy than swinging. Plugged in Peanuts.

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