Expanded edition of Guaraldi's Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown coming April 11, 2025 on CD and digital

Following the Record Store Day LP announcement from a few weeks ago, Craft Recordings has announced a new, expanded edition of Vince Guaraldi's first album of Peanuts music, Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, will be coming to CD and digital as well.

The new release is set to arrive on April 11, 2025.  (While the press release says April 4, April 11 is the date listed for pre-orders at all major vendors.)

Celebrating the 75th anniversary of Peanuts, the 2-CD edition will have the original 9-track album program on disc 1, and 11 never-heard-before alternate takes plus 5 previously released alternates and bonus tracks on disc 2.

Vince Guaraldi wrote the music on Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown  for a documentary by producer Lee Mendelson about Charles Schulz and Peanuts. But Mendelson was unable to sell the documentary (titled A Boy Named Charlie Brown) to a network and it was never seen on television... although it did lead to Mendelson getting the job to produce the holiday classic A Charlie Brown Christmas and many more Peanuts specials. (The original, unbroadcast documentary can be ordered on DVD from the Charles Schulz Museum's online store.)

Even though the documentary never aired, Fantasy Records and Vince Guaraldi released an album of the music 1964, introducing the world to "Linus and Lucy," now instantly recognized as "the Peanuts theme." Several other themes on the album, such as "Charlie Brown Theme" and "Baseball Theme," also appeared regularly in the early Peanuts animated specials.

The album has been available on CD and digital for years, and in 2014 there was a 50th anniversary release that included a single alternate take of "Baseball Theme."

But now this new, expanded 2025 edition of Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown features many more alternate versions of the tracks, all taken from the original recording sessions. According to the press release, they include two alternate versions of "Linus and Lucy," including an early studio test; outtakes of "Oh, Good Grief" and the ode to fellow (albeit animated) pianist "Schroeder;" the sweepingly carefree "Baseball Theme," and more.

The tracks are accompanied by new liner notes by Derrick Bang, author of Vince Guaraldi at the Piano (McFarland & Company), plus the original album's essays from producer Lee Mendelson and music journalist Ralph J. Gleason. The music has received a fresh remastering by Grammy Award-winning engineer, Paul Blakemore.

You can read the full Craft press release here, and place pre-orders using the links here.

And if you prefer vinyl, look for the Record Store Day release containing just the alternate tracks on April 12, 2025. (There will not be a CD with just the alternate tracks; only the 2-CD version with both the original album and the new alternate takes be available.)

The full track listing for the 2-CD and digital release:

Disc 1
1. Oh, Good Grief
2. Pebble Beach
3. Happiness Theme (Happiness Is)
4. Schroeder
5. Charlie Brown Theme
6. Linus and Lucy
7. Blue Charlie Brown
8. Baseball Theme
9. Frieda (with the Naturally Curly Hair)

Disc 2
1. Linus and Lucy (Studio Test)
2. Linus and Lucy (Take 3)
3. Happiness Theme (Happiness Is) (Take 4)
4. Pebble Beach (Take 7)
5. Baseball Theme (Take 1)
6. Oh, Good Grief (Take 1)
7. Schroeder (Take 3)
8. Baseball Theme (Take 2)
9. Oh, Good Grief (Take 1/Later Session)
10. Schroeder (Take 2)
11. Blues for Peanuts
12. Charlie Brown Theme (Take 4)
13. Blue Charlie Brown (Take 1)
14. Frieda (with the Naturally Curly Hair) (Take 1)
15. Fly Me to the Moon
16. Autumn Leaves