Title - 'A Charlie Brown Christmas: Remastered' (Fantasy)
Artist - Vince Guaraldi
OK, telling it like it is ... allow me to clarify that there are actually four (4) tracks from the original LP that have been replaced; not including the brief intro to "O Tannenbaum": "Linus and Lucy," "Skating," "Christmas is Coming," and "The Christmas Song" are all different takes from what appeared on previous versions of the soundtrack. And no, that doesn't count the extra four (4) alternate takes that are tacked on at the end of the CD! None of the replacement tracks quite lives up to the original versions, but perhaps that's just because we're more familiar with the originals. However, these additions and subtractions notwithstanding, this is not a bad album in and of itself. It would go quite nicely as part of a 2-disc "special edition" set with the actual original soundtrack as the first disc. People would probably be a lot happier with this CD if only Fantasy/Concord had thought to release it that way, instead of foisting this replacement (why the need for this changed entity in the first place?!) CD upon us. And yes, that all said, I would recommend that you not simply ignore this new CD because, although it is different, that doesn't mean it stinks. It's still Vince Guaraldi after all, and his interpretations of these songs are still great. Just realize what you're getting into when you purchase this: It is, in essence, an alternate soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas - which (again) I still recommend buying.
www.FantasyRecords.com
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