Vince Guaraldi Soundtrack: Interview With Sean and Jason Mendelson

Following the tremendous success of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” — a 5x Platinum-certified album hailed by Billboard as the “Greatest Holiday Album of All Time” — several other Peanuts soundtracks have also made notable impacts. The soundtrack for “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” debuted on the charts in 2022, marking its release with great fanfare. In 2023, to celebrate its 50th anniversary, the beloved soundtrack for “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” was released, delighting fans old and new.

Most recently, in 2024, the soundtrack for “It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown” was released in honor of its 55th anniversary, continuing the legacy of these timeless classics and their unforgettable music. – for the first time – of the complete Vince Guaraldi soundtrack for “You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown“, the timeless 8th animated Peanuts special, from writer and creator Charles Schulz, director Bill Melendez and producers Melendez and Lee Mendelson.

Television producer Lee Mendelson’s visionary idea to blend jazz with the “Peanuts” comic strip led to his successful collaboration with Vince Guaraldi on the 1963 documentary “A Boy Named Charlie Brown.” Though the documentary was never aired, it resulted in the highly successful album “Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown,” famous for the iconic Peanuts tune “Linus and Lucy.”

This album not only highlighted Guaraldi’s extraordinary talent but also established the musical blueprint that would come to define the Peanuts franchise for decades. Guaraldi’s jazz compositions became a crucial element of the Peanuts experience, infusing Schulz’s characters and stories with a unique and unforgettable musical dimension. This successful fusion of jazz and animation set a new standard and created an enduring legacy that continues to resonate with audiences today.

I recently had the unique opportunity to interview Sean and Jason Mendelson, sons of the late Lee Mendelson, regarding some of the latest releases of Vince Guaraldi’s soundtrack music. This exclusive conversation provided a captivating insight into the hard work and passion that go into introducing Guaraldi’s timeless jazz to new audiences. The soundtracks celebrates Guaraldi’s enduring influence and ensure his musical genius remains vibrant.

Sean and his brother Jason are carrying on the legacy of their father, who founded Lee Mendelson Film Productions, Inc. in 1963. Together, they continue to honor and expand upon the remarkable foundation laid by Lee Mendelson, keeping the spirit of Guaraldi’s music and the Peanuts tradition alive. Lee Mendelson Film Productions (LMFP) serves as the publisher for Vince Guaraldi’s musical catalog linked with the beloved Peanuts series. Beyond their musical contributions, LMFP is renowned for producing iconic Peanuts television specials in collaboration with Bill Melendez Productions, a prominent Hollywood animation studio.

Sean and Jason are the producers behind the albums starting from “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” onward. Sean has been contributing liner notes since the Thanksgiving special, adding valuable context and insight to each release. Additionally, Derrick Bang provided liner notes for both “It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown” and “You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown,” enhancing the listener’s experience with his expertise. Jason also wrote liner notes for “It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown” and will continue to contribute to future releases, ensuring a rich and detailed accompaniment to the music.

Interview

Sean and Jason, I want to welcome you both to Sandbox World. I am glad to have you here and share your involvement in the latest Vince Guaraldi soundtrack for “You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown.”

Sandbox World- During the last 11 years of Guaraldi’s life, he composed soundtracks for 15 unique Peanuts specials. Musically, he continued to evolve in the 70s, incorporating contemporary sounds into his work. While some might view composing for children’s specials as detrimental to a career, Guaraldi’s involvement with the Peanuts seemed to keep the spirit of jazz alive, especially as the genre’s popularity waned. Was creating music for these specials still a passion for him, even when the quality of the animated specials began to decline and they perhaps lost some of the magic that characterized the Christmas and Halloween specials?

Sean- Guaraldi’s sidemen musicians (who toured and recorded with him) say that he only ever had a positive feeling about the Peanuts music that he composed. While performing in jazz clubs and at festivals during the second half of the 60s and the first half of the 70s he regularly played his Peanuts material, much to his and the audience’s delight. Sometimes he would do extended jams of Linus and Lucy with different feels and sometimes he would play it a couple of times over the course of a gig. He enjoyed doing these Peanuts scoring sessions because it was a steady gig once or twice a year with 5 to 10 days in a recording studio. When Jason and I discovered the soundtrack tapes we consistently heard how great a time he is having when he is talking to his band between takes. Plus, the melodies are loose and fun. How could he not enjoy sussing them out with his band in the studio?

Guaraldi had the latitude to write whatever he wanted and bring the guys he liked playing with like Mike Clark and Tom Harrell to fulfill his musical vision. Our dad, Peanuts special Producer, Lee Mendelson, hardly ever interfered and so it was like playtime. Ultimately, he loved experimenting with layering keyboard and acoustic piano sounds as he entered the 70s. He also loved experimenting with new music technology, especially in the 70s with the Moog keyboard, Fender Rhodes keyboard and the ARP String Ensemble synthesizer. These Peanuts specials gave him the opportunity to explore the new sounds/trends and he was open to the popular music of the time, which might be why his melodies were so accessible. Still, the core of the compositions was focused on his jazz sensibilities.

Jason- The specials really did not decline during the 70s, the themes just became more idiosyncratic. The favorite piece of animation for Sparky Schulz, and Bill Melendez was the “wrist wrestling” at the end of 1969’s “It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown where Lucy and Snoopy battle for the pride of their respective camps. That same year, they had a top musical show on Broadway in “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” and their first feature film, “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” (where they got an Oscar nomination for sound score, losing to the Beatles “Let It Be”), came out. They continued to have specials every year. They began introducing latch-key Peppermint Patty and Marcie, and Franklin, and new themes to the shows – as the strip we evolved, so did the specials. Woodstock also entered the strip and television programs. And Guaraldi got to score for all these introductions and evolutions too. His “Joe Cool,” which premiered in “You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown” in 1972 was his first time singing on the Peanuts TV specials – for one of Snoopy’s main alter-egos. So as the specials evolved, so did the music, and his choice of instruments and experimentations also expanded. But what is so neat is how he repurposed his old themes and introduced the new ones, you get a cultural evolution of the strip, specials and music to exemplify some of what was happening throughout that period.

Sandbox World- There isn’t much information available about Vince Guaraldi’s personal life. However, I’ve come across rumors that he once jammed with the Grateful Dead. Is there any truth to this? It would be fascinating to learn more about this intriguing crossover. Additionally, in his later soundtracks from the 70s, Vince incorporated various other musical influences, further enriching his compositions. 

Sean- Yes, I’ve heard what I believe is the Vince Guaraldi Trio playing music with Jerry Garcia live. It’s fascinating and bizarre. There are some very interesting versions of “Twist and Shout”, “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” for example. This was quite possibly at The Matrix in San Francisco. Some of the tunes are more effective than others but it definitely jives with Guaraldi’s interests in jazz fusion from around 1973. While many jazz artists stayed in their music lane as rock came into fashion in the 60s, Guaraldi enjoyed covering The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and others. He didn’t shy away from what was in fashion.

Sandbox World-Creedence Clearwater Revival is well-known for its battles with Fantasy Records over the rights to their songs. Vince Guaraldi was one of the label’s early signings. Did he face the same level of scrutiny and control from the label as John Fogerty did? Additionally, considering that Fantasy Records owns the rights to certain songs, does Lee Mendelson Film Productions have the freedom to access early sessions for its most famous tracks? It would be interesting to understand how these dynamics have influenced the availability and use of Guaraldi’s music today.

Sean- I can’t speak too much about Fantasy Records, but we know Guaraldi did have struggles with them. LMFP owns the masters to all the Peanuts-related music and some other Guaraldi masters too, but Fantasy, now Concord, is our partner on much of that early music, including “A Charlie Brown Christmas album” and the earlier music he did for them. LMFP is the music publisher for much of the Guaraldi catalogue too.

Sandbox World- Which Peanuts character did Vince Guaraldi relate the most to?

Sean- Not sure but you would have to assume he had a kinship with Schroeder. In the 1971 Peanuts Special “Play It Again, Charlie Brown” Schroeder has an internal conflict between his classical enthusiasm and the rock band. Guaraldi has a jazz trio with Herb Ellis on guitar attempting to use a wah-wah and Chuck Berghoffer, a member of the Wrecking Crew, playing electric bass. When we played Berghoffer the music he kept saying “wow” because he said that was probably the last time he played electric bass. It is clear to me that impressionist classical composers influenced Guaraldi. Likewise, Guaraldi doubled as Schroeder playing Beethoven, and in incidental scoring, Guaraldi takes Beethoven and Mozart and jazzifies them during a few of the Peanuts specials.

Jason- I can’t speak for what Vince thought on this, but I think many people would probably guess Schroeder, but Schroeder was obsessed with classical music, and Vince (although he could play it great) was a jazz guy. My interpretation (and this is only my opinion) would be that he (as many of us do) would relate to Snoopy, as he could go off and improvise wildly, and has all the talent in the world. So my interpretation would be to put him squarely with Snoopy. In fact, in “Play It Again, Charlie Brown” (1970) the main fight of the episode is that Schroeder wants to play Beethoven and classical music and the rest of the gang wants him to play in the rock combo, and play jazz and rock. Guaraldi scores the rock part, but they brought in another accomplished piano player for this episode to cover the classical. So probably not Schroeder, beyond the obvious.

Sandbox World- The CBS executives failed to recognize the serendipitous magic that emerged from the collaboration between Charles Schulz, Lee Mendelson, and Vince Guaraldi in 1965. This unique partnership created a distinctive and memorable formula for success. Perhaps the executives were too focused on Hoyt Curtin’s formalistic background music typical of Hanna-Barbera productions at the time. What convinced them otherwise or was it just a gamble? 

Jason- I would include animator/director Bill Melendez in your list there. The four of them collaborated on Lee’s documentary “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” (1964) which never aired, but laid the foundation for “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Lee heard “Cast Your Fate to Wind” while driving across the Golden Gate Bridge to meet Charles Schulz for the first time to pitch the documentary to him. It was Lee’s favorite song, and when he found out that Guaraldi was also local to the San Francisco Bay Area, Lee asked him if he would score the show, and Guaraldi agreed. The irony is that the only thing that came out commercially from that documentary was the album “Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown.”

But then Lee went back to the same team when the network asked for a Christmas special after still refusing to air the documentary. When Lee called Charles Schulz to tell him that “he had sold ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’” instead of the doc, Charles Schulz said: “What’s that?” and Lee said: “Something you and Bill and I have to come up with this weekend.” And they did!

Charles Schulz was not a huge jazz fan, but Lee loved Guaraldi and they got to work together again on the music for the holiday special. Lee even wrote the lyrics to “Christmas Time Is Here” which opens the special after he couldn’t find a lyricist who may be interested. He knew they needed some words for the song that was to open the show. They also used children’s voices, which no one did. They also had the reading from Luke in the special at Sparky’s insistence, which no one did. So the show had lots of elements that no one else ever did, and that is part of why it endures. The network execs, when they first saw it, hated it, they thought it was too slow, the animation too clunky, the voices too unprofessional, and the music totally out of character for things like this… but it was too late to pull it off the broadcast (they barely got it in on time), so CBS ran it that December 1965. The rest is history. They made scores and scores of specials, as they all collaborated for the rest of their respective lives.

Sandbox World- What musical influences did Vince Guaraldi initially blend to craft his distinctive Bossa Nova sound and make it uniquely his own? Additionally, as discussed earlier, his ’70s music exhibited more experimentation. Given that jazz musicians often form a close-knit community, did he gravitate toward collaborating with musicians outside his genre, or did others from different musical backgrounds seek him out?

Sean- Just before his chart success with “Cast Your Fate to the Wind,” in 1962, Guaraldi became engrossed in Brazilian music. Those Latin rhythms started getting infused with his boogie-woogie jazz sensibilities. Bola Sete, the great Brazilian guitarist, would perform and record with him too during this period. Even Linus and Lucy have this Latin groove left hand, this off-beat pattern, that he marries with a traditional jazz swing section at the bridge. There is a track on our new release “You’re Not Elected Charlie Brown” (1972/Soundtrack 2024) called “Woodstock’s Mambo” that he throws in with what are mostly love-tinged waltzes. He played for a while with jazz vibraphonist Cal Tjader in the late 50s. So it was no surprise when Victor Feldman showed up on Vibraphone for “It Was a Short Summer Charlie Brown” (1969/Soundtrack 2024) for the fullest band studio recordings of the Peanuts themes.

With the exception of the aforementioned Jerry Garcia, Guaraldi pretty exclusively played with like-minded jazz players. We spoke with drummers Jim Zimmerman, Mark Rosengarden and Mike Clark, all touring and session drummers with Guaraldi. They talked about the camaraderie between the musicians. Zimmerman played on “It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown” (1976). He said Guaraldi would regularly sit around with the group and play jazz fusion records or just jam away. In particular, he mentioned playing 70s records from Tony Williams, Miles Davis’s drummer. Seward McCain, his longest touring bassist and the most utilized sideman on the Peanuts soundtracks (8 specials in total), brought his jazz fusion sensibilities from his former band, 4th Wave. Guaraldi insisted that all of the 70s Peanuts specials used electric bass, a forward-thinking choice for the time. Mike Clark, a legendary jazz drummer who helped pioneer the East Bay Sound, brought this funk style of drumming from the early 70s. According to Clark, for the “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” session, Guaraldi specifically asked for more of that sound, which is why that album is so funky. One thread through all the studio and touring musicians is that they were in their 20s when Guaraldi was in his 40s, That youthful energy shines through in the music. Guaraldi frequently would tap into their young and progressive energy not unlike how he tapped into the new instruments of the time.

Sandbox World- One of the most memorable features of the Peanuts animation is the distinctive way the grown-ups are portrayed, with their iconic trombone with the rubber end of a toilet plunger sound. What is the origin of this unique audio effect? Additionally, did Vince Guaraldi contribute any other distinctive ideas or elements to the series that might not be widely known?

Jason- This started with the 4 th special: “You’re In Love Charlie Brown” (1967) where the trombonist supplied the “lines” after the director read the written lines for the teacher, the trombonist just interpreted those into what became one of the most interesting pieces of Peanuts animation thereafter. Guaraldi created and performed or arranged all the music, and he and Lee and Bill helped devise all these things, and also John Scott Trotter was brought in to help supervise the music during many of these early specials. They all came up with the trombone idea to replace the adult-speaking voice. Obviously, Vince’s singing that we mentioned before, for “Joe Cool” and “Little Birdie” is also extremely special. Guaraldi figured out the perfect melodies to accompany the characters and their adventures.

Sandbox World- A few years ago, Breaking Bad featured Vince Guaraldi’s “Ginza Samba” in one of its episodes, and it was used very effectively in that context. Did Vince’s music appear in other shows or movies beyond the Peanuts series?

Jason- Many – his music is part of many TV shows and movies, from “Arrested Development,” to Scorsese’s “The Departed” where it ended the movie. “Christmas Time is Here” has been in everything from “Boston Legal” to Will Ferrel, Ryan Reynold’s “Spirited,” and from the “Hawkeye” TV series to “The Office” and Alan Toussaint’s New Orlean-tinged cover of “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” was just used in “The Hitman” this year. And everyone covers the Christmas music.

Sandbox World- What are the future goals of Lee Mendelson Film Productions? With this being the third Peanuts soundtrack release, can we expect to see more soundtracks becoming available in the future? Is there still a significant amount of unreleased material that will satisfy the appetite of Vince Guaraldi fans? 

Jason- We found many of the original session tapes during the pandemic in our vaults and of what we found (including the “Great Pumpkin” soundtrack that Craft released in 2022) the tapes were in great shape. So, we hope to get as many of the soundtracks out into the world for the first time as we can. But we want it to be as special as Guaraldi’s music and so we are taking our time producing and curating these albums to ensure that we let the world hear what we have known all our lives – the music of Vince Guaraldi, his compositions and his performances – are not just great as backdrops and themes for the characters of Peanuts, but they are a time capsule for an era where jazz was in decline, but Guaraldi’s work kept the art form fresh and current for children and adults. And we are so excited to highlight that for the world 50 years later.

Sandbox World- Many agree that the San Francisco sound dominated the music industry from 1965 to the early seventies, but I would add that Vince Guaraldi sneaked in during that period with his distinctive sound, capturing the hearts of listeners across generations and continuing to resonate today. Guaraldi’s compositions convey emotion and create a warm, uplifting feeling, even without lyrics. What impact has Guaraldi left musically in all these years?

Sean- Guaraldi’s music is synonymous with Peanuts. Although he passed away almost 50 years ago his legacy is only getting bigger. The music themes of innocence, longing, fun, and Joe Coolness all resonate with the pathos of the individual characters. When people hear “Linus and Lucy” over the past 60 years they often times call it “The Peanuts Theme.” Even members of the Vince Guaraldi Trio call it that. We tried examining how he made these lasting melodies with his band mates but often it would come back to that magical thing. McCain said it best when he spoke to us in 2021 about Christmas Time is Here. He said, “Simple melodies with lush harmonies. They were all like that. It was elegant.”

Jason- It is an escape to innocence and joy, and also the pain and insecurity of childhood that Sparky Schulz exhibited in this strip and show. The brilliance of Charles Schulz was that he wrote in these children’s voices about the insecurities we all feel, but never get to talk about. And Vince Guaraldi’s music perfectly captured that same anxiety along with the joys of childhood.

Sean and Jason, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to both of you for sharing your insights into Vince Guaraldi’s extraordinary musical talent. It’s truly exhilarating to explore how his music, which has captivated for six generations, continues to enchant and inspire. Your reflections on Guaraldi’s enduring influence underscore the timeless nature of his work, ensuring that his legacy remains vibrant and cherished by both longtime fans and new listeners. This conversation has been a thrilling journey into the magic of Guaraldi’s music and its lasting impact on the world.