Vince Guaraldi - Oh, Good Grief!

Oh, Good Grief! isn't Vince Guaraldi's classic piano-trio recordings of his "Peanuts" favorites--for those, try the soundtrack to A Boy Named Charlie Brown. But it is a 1968 "re-imagining" of several of those favorites with Guaraldi on both piano and electric harpsichord, and Eddie Duran's electric guitar joining Carl Burnett's drums and Stanley Gilbert's bass. The sound is unfamiliar but the groove is unmistakably Guaraldi's, and it'll grow on you after your ear adjusts. For purists, the "Great Pumpkin Waltz" and "Rain, Rain Go Away" are a return to Guaraldi's trademark acoustic lyricism. It's only 28 minutes, unfortunately. --David Horiuchi Amazon.com

If you don't mind the different versions, you'll like it

I originally wrote this review on March 25, 2005. I thought I'd edit it and get it on my newer profile.

As the last reviewer pointed out, these are different versions of Vince Guaraldi's selections for 5 different Charlie Brown specials (CB Christmas, CB's All Stars, Great Pumpkin, You're In Love CB and He's Your Dog CB). As for the harpsichord, I have mixed feelings about it (keeping in mind that as this album originally came out in 1968, that instrument was popularly used in the 1960's, like in the Yardbirds' "For Your Love" and the Doors' "Love Me 2 Times"). It sounds pretty on "You're In Love, Charlie Brown" (btw, there is a version in the actual special of the same name that does feature the harpsichord) and "Peppermint Patty," but sounds annoying on this version of "Linus and Lucy" and "Red Baron." It sounds cool, though, on "Oh Good Grief" and sounds ok on It's Your Dog, CB." 2 of the songs (my personal favorites in this CD) "Rain Rain Go Away" and "The Great Pumpkin Waltz" don't feature it at all. "GP Watlz" and "Red Baron" 1st appeared in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (another rendition of GP Waltz can be heard in You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown). The guitarist Eddie Duran proves to be a talented guitarist here, adding more of a bluesy feel to some of the songs. "Rain Rain Go Away" was featured in CB's All Stars (later featured in It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown). "In Love..." and "Peppermint Patty" were introduced in You're In Love, Charlie Brown. "It's Your Dog" was featured in He's Your Dog, CB (and sounds like a Linus and Lucy rewrite). Of course, "Linus and Lucy" is featued in most of the early specials (if you don't recognize the title, you'll recognize the music). "Oh Good Grief" was originally written for a documentary entitled A Boy Named CB (no relation to the movie of the same name). My main complaint is that the album clocks in at less than 30 minutes. You'd think there would be some bonus tracks on this. Oh well, this is the only place to get most of these tracks. If you don't mind different versions from some of the famous CB specials we enjoyed, by all means, get it. Other Vince Guaraldi albums recommended include A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits and A Charlie Brown Christmas. July 7, 2008

Oh, Good Grief! is kind of a gentle signal or warning

Oh, Good Grief! may have been chosen as a title to gentlely with humor signal that these are not the famous TV soundtrack of these well know pieces of music and how some people will respond to them.

Vince was a working jazz musician and The Peanuts soundtracks were just one aspect of his music output. Jazz artist are famous for revisiting and revising material as inspiration leads them. He, like The Grateful Dead who he occasionally sat in with, try to bring something new to each performance.
Others have already described the performanes better than I could.

You shouldn't try to pidgeon hole him to the style that he brought to the original soundtracks like people did to The Royal Guardsmen after their three Peasnut themed novelty hits starting with "Snoopy vs The Red Baron".

The grand irony to all this that CBS, when they received "A Charlie Brown Christmas", was extremely distressed that a jazz artist scored the soundtrack because they thought that many people would be put off a genre of music that they didn't considered mainstream enough and would turn it off. Now these pieces of music are regarded as standards that even the creator cannot re-interpret without criticism.

An article that appearred a couple of years ago in the Newark Star Ledger basically said that CBS only aired the show because they already paid for it and believed that no one would ever want to see it again. They, of course, re-evaluated the situation after it won an Emmy.

This, for me, is an interesting and refreshing album, with a few missteps, that is a welcomed change from the famous soundtrack recordings. That shouldn't mean that I don't still enjoy the soundtrack recordings as well.

If you are inflexible to hearing this music performed in a matter other than how they appear in the TV specials, avoid this disc, it holds nothing for you but disappointment. April 12, 2008

Not Great. . . .

Unlike Guaraldi's "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "A Boy Named Charlie Brown," most of the music on "Oh, Good Grief" sounds a bit dated and that could be due to the 60's-inspired orchestral charting. In fact, the orchestra often seems to get in the way of Guaraldi's playing. To these ears, there are three numbers included here that rise to the level of excellence of the first two aforementioned CDS: the title track, which is refashioned as a light, carefree samba, and two mesmerizing ballads, "The Great Pumpkin Waltz" and "Rain, Rain Go Away." In fact, these three songs are brilliant examples of what makes Guaraldi's music so special. His most moving interpretations are often surprisingly introspective, even melancholic, but there is always that underlying sense of playfulness. November 14, 2007

Not bad, for a plagiarist

First of all, this is great stuff; these arrangements aren't as far from the versions heard in the cartoons as some reviewers would have you think. The electric harpsichord does give a couple of the pieces a somewhat dated sound, but it works oddly well in the beautiful and underrated "You're in Love, Charlie Brown." I highly recommend this album to anyone who likes emotive, catchy instrumental music, especially if you lean toward jazz piano. Vince's ivories are mixed loudest throughout, thankfully, and the whole collection's a delight.

Granted, the mixing's not very good (I'm thinking primarily of the high level of hiss), but it's pretty old, after all; I made myself a noise-reduced version of the disc using Nero Wave Editor 2. But this is certainly better than the noisy, chair-scraping, musician-coughing mix on the Charlie Brown Suite, another CD that doesn't have the original arrangements.

It's not Coltrane or Satie, but it's terrific piano music and it leaves you in a great mood. I admit I don't understand why nobody ever busted Guaraldi on "Rain, Rain, Go Away," which is of course a gorgeous piece of music, but for a good reason: It's a direct rip-off of the Debussy piece "Clair De Lune." The CD insert explains that all of the songs were written by Vince Guaraldi. This is not the case. I'm not sure why he got away with this, especially considering that the Debussy melody is so relatively popular. In fact, it casts a suspicious light on the rest of Vince's so-called originals.

Recommended but not entirely original -- which of course doesn't ruin the pleasure of listening, in the abstract. December 21, 2006

Good Grief is right!

Vince Guaraldi does perform on this, but it does NOT sound like his Trio... At all!

After enjoying the Charlie Brown Christmas for many years, and Boy Named Charlie Brown more recently, I found the Good Grief CD to be so unpleasant, that I could not even listen to the whole CD, and will not be keeping it. June 21, 2006

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