A Charlie Brown Christmas uses a cast of amateur child voice actors, deals with the theme of seasonal depression, and culminates in the recitation of a Bible verse, all to a jazz score. It was not, safe to say, the special that CBS had expected, to say nothing of its sponsor, the Coca-Cola Company. In all likelihood, it would have been canceled, but seeing as it had already been announced and promoted (and in any case, was completed only a few days before it was scheduled to air), the show went on. In the event, not only did it please the viewers of America, it went on to become one of the most beloved pieces of Christmas animation — and that jazz score went on to become one of the most beloved Christmas albums.
In the new Digging the Greats video above, bassist Brandon Shaw breaks down some of the distinguishing characteristics of Vince Guaraldi’s score, with help from drummer Ryan Shaw (not just Brandon’s brother, but also a musician with his own direct connection to Peanuts productions) and pianist Jonté Moore.
“There’s beauty, because of the major 9 sounding, but there’s, like, this tension,” Moore explains while playing the immediately recognizable chords of “Christmastime Is Here.” “Something’s maybe missing: it could be people who have lost a loved one, or are maybe just tired of the holiday season, so they have this weight that they carry.” We’re a long way indeed from the insipid cheer of many a holiday production.
“Christmastime Is Here” may be the single most influential piece of A Charlie Brown Christmas’ musical legacy. But it’s best heard in the context of the whole soundtrack, where it sounds of a piece with the “jazz arrangements of Christmas classics,” as Shaw puts it, as well as with “Linus and Lucy,” the Peanuts theme song Guaraldi had previously composed. This coherent aesthetic and sensibility — the composer’s, of course, but also that of the world Charles Schulz created — goes a long way toward making the project not just a collection of Christmas songs, but an enduring Christmas album: one that, over the next couple of days, even those of us without enthusiasm for Christmas music in general will be spinning as many times as we can get away with.
Related Content:
How Innovative Jazz Pianist Vince Guaraldi Became the Composer of Beloved Charlie Brown Music
Charles Schulz Draws Charlie Brown in 45 Seconds and Exorcises His Demons
The Enduring Appeal of Schulz’s Peanuts — Pretty Much Pop: A Culture Podcast #116
Based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. His projects include the Substack newsletter Books on Cities and the book The Stateless City: a Walk through 21st-Century Los Angeles. Follow him on the social network formerly known as Twitter at @colinmarshall.
