Vince Guaraldi Trio - Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits

Recognizing that the holiday season really begins at Halloween (and, in some quarters, doesn't end until the Super Bowl), Vince Guaraldi and his record company have wisely assembled the hummable themes from various Charlie Brown TV specials. What we have here is the album's ability to communicate the playful irony and loopy, lovable characters that people Charles Schultz's "Peanuts" comic strip every week. Though only one actual Christmas tune is included--"Christmas Time Is Here," in both the vocal and instrumental versions--kids from ages 1 to 92 will still appreciate the "Great Pumpkin Waltz," the "Thanksgiving Theme," oddities such as "Heartburn Waltz" and "Joe Cool," and, of course, the "Charlie Brown Theme." --Martin Keller Amazon.com

Save your cash - just get five tracks

Please consider the following before buying all of the tracks or the CD.

If you already own the Vince Guaraldi CDs 'A Boy Named Charlie Brown' and 'A Charlie Brown Christmas', you should be warned of the overlap between those two CDs and this one: Charlie Brown Theme, Linus and Lucy, Schroeder (from the first) -- and Christmastime is Here (vocal), Christmastime is Here (instrumental) from the second. 'Track Meet' is essentially an alternate take of 'Christmas is Coming' from the second.

As much as I like Vince Guaraldi's music, most of the other tracks - Joe Cool (Not the song you know [vocal or instrumental], and not that memorable), Track Meet, Camptown Races, Oh Good Grief (which has nothing to do with that song, but is an odd 'a cappella' vocal set to the tune of 'Schroeder') - are for completists only.

I would recommend you just get both above CDs and consider just these tracks:

Surfin' Snoopy (which you may recall from the special 'A Charlie Brown Christmas', but is not on the CD)
Heartburn Waltz (from the special 'Be My Valentine Charlie Brown')
Charlie's Blues (from the special 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving')
Great Pumpkin Waltz (from the special 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown')
Thanksgiving Theme (from the special 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving')

If you're a completists, by all means get this CD, but I think your money would be FAR better spent on:

Vince Guaraldi and the Lost Cues From the Charlie Brown TV Specials - Volume 1
Vince Guaraldi and the Lost Cues From the Charlie Brown TV Specials - Volume 2

These two CDs are what this CD should have been. It's far more memorable and focuses more on the later funkier and electric piano songs Vince Guaraldi did for the specials. I just wish there was a volume that focused on the earlier cues Vince did (like for 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown'). October 27, 2008

Vince Guaraldi hits

I bought this for my Dad (89) and he just loved it. He plays it in the background while he does most everything. Guaraldi's style on the piano is upbeat without being overbearing. August 20, 2008

Useful for collectors but not the best

If you love Vince Guaraldi's music for the Peanuts shows as much as I do, you'll probably enjoy listening to "Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits." But as some reviewers here point out, this is certainly not the CD to start with if you're new to this music. I'm making my own compilation of Guaraldi's Peanuts music, so this CD is valuable to me for providing some tracks I didn't have, especially since there is not a lot more of this music on the market other than "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas." However, start with those two soundtracks if you don't already have them. Also, the 1989 CD "Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown" on the GRP label, which is music mostly by Guaraldi re-recorded by other artists, is also worth considering. "Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits" is good for completing your collection, but 5 of the tracks on it are from those earlier soundtrack CDs, and of the 9 new tracks here, 7 are in mono, some are quite distorted too, and overall the music is not as good. Still, I'd say this is an enjoyable CD, and helps to complete your collection if you've already got "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas." April 7, 2007

Excellent Purchase!

Excellent disc, something you can listen to not only during the holidays. I would recommend this purchase to anyone. We like this disc more than the Charlie Brown Christmas one. January 10, 2007

Yuk!

Don't waste your money. I would send it back but my dad threw it away. December 20, 2006

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