A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving soundtrack album now available!

The complete original soundtrack for the 1973 special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, with music composed by Vince Guaraldi, is now available to buy on CD, vinyl, and digital download, or to stream on your favorite streaming service.

While a few cues from the special have been released on previous Vince Guaraldi compilations (for example, "Thanksgiving Theme" on Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits), most of the tracks have never been available before.

Released on October 20, 2023, this new album features the entire soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving in terrific stereo sound that showcases the music and instrumentation far better than in the broadcast show. And rest assured, the tracks - transferred in high resolution from the original studio session tapes - are all sound-effects free.

The 13 tracks of show score - including the song "Little Birdie," sung by Guaraldi himself - are accompanied by 9 bonus and alternative tracks. The liner notes for the physical releases have a track-by-track analysis by Sean Mendelson, musician, record producer, and son of Peanuts producer Lee Mendelson.

The CD and regular black vinyl LP can be bought from the MVD Entertainment shop (the album's publisher), Amazon, or numerous other online retailers.

Two color variants of the LP were also announced - "Jelly Bean Green" for Record Store Day and "Cranberry Sauce Red" from Target - but may be difficult to get at this point.

You can purchase a digital download from Apple Music or Amazon (click on "Purchase Options"), as well as other places that offer lossless and high resolution downloads such as Qobuz or Presto Music .

Finally, you can stream the album on Apple Music, Spotify, or other streaming services; and you can preview the whole album on the Lee Mendelson Productions YouTube channel.

Note that purchasing the album instead of - or in addition to - streaming it will help ensure that there will be releases of other Vince Guaraldi Peanuts soundtracks in the future!

For more information about the Thanksgiving soundtrack release, see the official press release and additional details on the Mendelson Productions website.

If you're interested in learning more about the album's background, including how the music masters were found, what work was done to create the album, and thoughts on how the music for A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving compares to Guaraldi's other Peanuts soundtracks, be sure to check out these entertaining and informative podcasts:

Cereal at Midnight - A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Rediscovered, with album producers Jason and Sean Mendelson

WCB Jazz Vinyl Collector - A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Soundtrack: Interview with Sean Mendelson + Vinyl Discussion

The track list of the album is as follows:

Show score
1.Charlie Brown Blues
2. Thanksgiving Theme
3. Thanksgiving Theme (Reprise)
4. Peppermint Patty
5. Little Birdie
6. Thanksgiving Interlude
7. Is It James or Charlie?
8. Linus and Lucy
9. Fife & Drums Theme
10. Charlie Brown Blues (Reprise)
11. Thanksgiving Interlude (Reprise)
12. Thanksgiving Theme (2nd Reprise)
13. Thanksgiving Theme (3rd Reprise)

Bonus/Alternate tracks
14. Thanksgiving Theme (Alternate)
15. Peppermint Patty (Bonus Mix)
16. Linus and Lucy (Bonus Mix)
17. Thanksgiving Interlude (Alternate take 2, 4, and 6)
18. Thanksgiving Interlude (Alternate take 10)
19. Thanksgiving Interlude (Alternate take 14)
20. Is It James or Charlie? (Bonus mix with Whistling)
21. Clark and Guaraldi

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown streams free on Apple TV+ this weekend (Oct 21-22, 2023)

Just a reminder that the free streaming window for It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on streaming service Apple TV+ is this weekend only, Saturday, October 21 and Sunday, October 22, 2023.

The classic Peanuts special will not be on over-the-air television this year.

So if watching the "broadcast" of It's the Great Pumpkin is a yearly event in your house, be sure to get ready to fire the stream up.

To stream the special for free, you don't need an Apple device. The Apple TV+ app is available for a variety of streaming devices such as Roku and Amazon Fire TV, and on several different smart TV brands. You can also watch using a web browser on any computer by going to tv.apple.com . See this Apple support page for a more detailed list of supported devices and how to watch.

You won't need to subscribe to Apple TV+, but you will need to either have or create an Apple ID to sign in and watch. After you sign in, search for the name of the special if you don't see it right away.

(Of course, if you are an Apple TV+ subscriber, you can watch the show at any time, on any day.  It's already #8 on Apple's Top Chart as of October 19!)

It's the Great Pumpkin will stream free on Apple TV+ on Oct 21 & 22, 2023; no TV broadcast for Peanuts holiday specials again this year

First, the bad news: once again this year, the three classic Peanuts holiday specials - It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown; A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and A Charlie Brown Christmas - will not be shown on over-the-air broadcast television.

Instead they remain available only through the Apple TV+ subscription streaming service (or via DVD and Blu-ray).

However, the good news is that Apple has announced that also like last year, the three specials will be available for everyone to stream for free, without a subscription, for a short period before each holiday.

The less good news is that while last year Apple offered the free streams for 4 days each, this year, the free streaming window is down to just 2 days for each special.

But, it's better than no free streaming window at all...

The free streaming dates are:

• It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown - Saturday, October 21 & Sunday, October 22, 2023
• A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving - Saturday, November 18 & Sunday November 19, 2023
• A Charlie Brown Christmas - Saturday, December 16 & Sunday, December 17 2023

To stream the specials for free, you don't need an Apple device. The Apple TV+ app is also available for a variety of streaming devices such as Roku and Amazon Fire, and on several different smart TV brands. You can also watch using a web browser on any computer by going to tv.apple.com . See this Apple support page for a more detailed list of supported devices and how to watch.

You won't need to subscribe to Apple TV+, but you will need to either have or create an Apple ID to sign in and watch.  After you sign in, search for the name of the special if you don't see it right away.

(Of course, if you are an Apple TV+ subscriber, you can watch the specials at any time, on any day.)

---

In addition, Apple announced another new Christmas episode of The Snoopy Show for 2023. Titled "Happiness is Holiday Traditions," the special episode will premiere on Apple TV+ on Friday, December 1. In this year's outing, according to Apple, Snoopy searches for the perfect tree topper, Woodstock gets trapped in a window display, and Snoopy and Woodstock visit Spike for Christmas.

For more information about Apple TV+, including how to watch and subscribe, visit tv.apple.com and this Apple support page.