Easter is right around the corner once again, and just in time to get everyone in the spirit of the season, Lee Mendelson Film Productions has released the soundtrack to none other than the classic Peanuts television special, It’s The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown. Released March 21, the 20-track recording is another wonderful presentation from LMFP that every Peanuts fan will welcome into their home music libraries. That is due in no small part to the featured musical arrangements presented throughout the recording. The liner notes that accompany the recording once again prove just as pivotal to the whole as the music. The production of the whole rounds out the positives and together with the musical and background content, the whole therein makes It’s The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown yet another fully successful offering from LMFP and welcome addition to this year’s field of new compilation records.
It’s The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, the brand-new Peanuts soundtrack release from Lee Mendelson Film Productions, is an absolute must for every Peanuts fan. The compilation’s appeal comes in no small part through its featured musical arrangements. As with each prior Peanuts soundtrack the LMFP has released, the songs are presented in the exact same chronological order in which they appeared in the classic TV special. In the case of this special, it first aired on CBS on Apr. 9, 1974. That means the special and its soundtrack are now just over half a century old yet still stand the test of time. Getting back on the subject at hand, the songs are, as with the prior soundtracks, mostly vignettes, which is exactly how they were recorded for the special. This is explained further in the expansive liner notes, which will be addressed a little later. Right from the record’s outset, composer Vince Guaraldi’s electric piano performance on ‘Peppermint Patty’ conjures thoughts of an even more well-known Peanuts theme, that of Snoopy’s “alter ego,” Joe Cool. Given, the two songs are their own compositions, but stylistically speaking a close listen to each really brings out that similarity in approach. That in itself makes for plenty of interest here in regard to the recording’s musical content.
On a somewhat related note, ‘Snoopy and Woodstock’ is a fun, somewhat funky composition that bears its own identity. Being that the special and its soundtrack debuted in 1974, that approach would make sense considering the popularity of funk in general at the time. Yes, funk really broke genre walls in the 1960s, but it was really during the 1970s that it reached a peak in popularity.
On yet another note, a composition, such as ‘Easter Egg Soup’ continues to exhibit the diversity in the styling of each of the soundtrack’s compositions. In the case of this song what listeners get is something of a jazz fusion style composition carried collectively by Guaraldi’s lead on keyboards. Seward McCain’s bass line and drummer Eliot Zigmund keeps such an infectious back beat throughout the song, which clocks in at only one minute, 35 seconds. Even in that short run time, the group does so much with the result of the work standing out positively and so strongly. It is just one more example of how much the musical content featured in this record does to make the presentation so successful.
The musical arrangements that fill the record are just part of what make it so appealing. The liner notes that accompany the recording build on the strong foundation formed by the recording’s musical content. Once again, Lee Mendelson’s sons Sean and Jason Melendez provide much of the background that fill out the liner notes. Derrick Bang, who has provided background in more than one of the Peanuts soundtracks, returns once more to add even more insight, too. Listeners will be interested to learn that the soundtrack to It’s The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown was just one of three Peanuts soundtracks on which Lee Mendelson was working at the time of this special’s creation. According to Bang’s notes, Vince Guaraldi was also working on the soundtracks for A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and It’s A Mystery, Charlie Brown in 1973 while he was also working on the soundtrack for It’s The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown. This is important to note because one can only be impressed at the result of all of Guaraldi’s work on all three soundtracks, considering how much he clearly had on his plate. It makes for all the more respect for Guaraldi and his fellow musicians.
Another notable bit of information provided in the liner notes comes later in Bang’s commentary. Bang notes later in his writing that while those three soundtracks clearly kept Guaraldi busy, apparently that was surprisingly all that kept him busy. As Bang writes, most of his work outside of those soundtracks had dried up. “Lengthy bookings had vanished and almost all of the jazz clubs that had welcomed him – following his 1962 hit, “cast Your Fate To The Wind” – were long gone by early 1974,” Bang writes. There is seemingly more to the story that Bang adds in. That additional background will be left for audiences to read for themselves. It definitely is collectively quite enlightening.
One more interesting note added to the liner information comes from Sean Mendelson. Mendelson writes of Guaraldi’s apparent affinity for “reimagining his cues from previous Peanuts specials. That is made clear, as Sean Mendelson notes, through the varied takes of the timeless Peanuts “Linus and Lucy” theme. Everyone knows the most timeless version of the song, but in this soundtrack, it gets no less than three entirely different takes, each being unique from its counterparts. Additionally, as Mendelson also notes, Guaraldi also “repurposed” the “Mystery Theme” from It’s A Mystery, Charlie Brown for It’s The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown in the form of Snoopy and Woodstock.” Between these items, the others noted, and the rest of the information provided in the recording’s expansive liner notes, the whole therein makes the whole of the recording’s liner notes just as important as the soundtrack’s musical content.
Putting the final touch to the recording’s presentation is its production. Knowing that, again, the soundtrack is more than half a century old, it has clearly stood the test of time. What’s more, the painstaking efforts to maintain it for its presentation here is just as worthy of applause. The subtle touches, from Guaraldi’s own cues to open certain tracks to the very performances from each musician, are just as clear. Listeners can even hear just the slightest touch of the static from the original recordings, proving once more than CDs are still just as viable as vinyl discs in preserving the warmth and depth of so much classic music. Keeping that in mind and just the overall positive aesthetic ensured through the expert production, the whole therein works with the recording’s musical content and its background provided in the liner notes to make the whole an absolute must for every Peanuts fan and a definitely welcome addition to this year’s field of new compilation records.
Lee Mendelson Film Productions’ brand-new presentation of the soundtrack to It’s The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown is another fully welcome presentation that every Peanuts fan will welcome. Already the second Peanuts television special soundtrack released this year – behind that of Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, which released Jan. 17 – it is one more in a long line of successful Peanuts TV special soundtracks already released. As with those other soundtracks that is due in no small part to the recording’s musical content. The content is every single cue from the original special and in the exact chronological order in which they appeared in the special. The liner notes featured alongside that musical content builds on the foundation formed by that musical material. That happens thanks to all of the background provided throughout. The production puts the finishing touch to the recording. The production gives the full warmth and depth of the original music thanks to the work that went into restoring this musical presentation. Each item examined is important in its own way to the whole of the soundtrack to It’s The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown. All things considered they make the recording another must have for every Peanuts fan because it is another fully successful Peanuts musical presentation from Lee Mendelson Film Productions.
The soundtrack to It’s The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown is available now. More information on this and all of the Peanuts soundtracks released so far is available at https://mendelsonproductions.com.
