Oh, Good Grief!

The thing that I remember best about all those "Peanuts" cartoon specials on TV was the wonderful music. That, boys and girls, was a kind of music called "jazz!" Specifically, jazz as she is spoke by Vince Guaraldi, the composer, arranger and keyboardist on all those wonderful tunes. The sound track from the first special was available as a 33-1/3 record shortly after the first one aired in 1964, but I was still in junior high, in deepest, darkest Texas at the time and in those days, we were so unhip it was a wonder we could keep our pistol pockets up. Later on, after I had fledged and flown the coop, I did manage to score a cassette tape from one of the later specials that also had Dave Brubeck (and scions) involved and, as everyone knows, two hips are much better than one.

I was eventually able to score a couple of re-re-issue CDs from Ralph, who has made a long and illustrious career out of slipping "the Devil's music" du jour past the bastions of organized Protestant religion that pimple the plains hereabouts. If parents hate it, Ralph's got it. But what Ralph's is best known for is his encyclopedic knowledge of artists and repertoire. Even if nobody else in town has heard of it, Ralph will know album and artist, and if he doesn't already have it, he'll know where to get it. I do not exaggerate when I say, "If you can hum it, he can find it." I couldn't tell you Ralph's last name. Like Cher, he doesn't need one. The standard answer to "Do you know where I might be able to find x music?" is "Try Ralph's." His original first store was called "Ralph's Records," which should tell you how long he's been at it. (He relocated that store to a larger location in a defunct pizza restaurant about 4 blocks away, but still across the street from the Tech Campus.), With the advent of tape, he added "and Tapes" but after that he gave up trying to keep his signage in step with the evolution of the media, and by now it's pretty much a moot point anyway. His second store is located on 82nd and Indiana. The building is painted Pepto Bismol pink and black. You can't miss it.

While he does sell current stuff, Ralph's middle age has slowly but surely spread into "vintage." You can still buy records in his store, as well as cassettes and CDs. It's probably just as well that he's shifted his focus. Earlier this evening, I signed on to the Rhapsody music service I subscribe to and searched their "artist" data base for "Vince Guaraldi." Within about 20 seconds, it had coughed up over 18 titles (including his "Peanuts" soundtracks), plus about 10 more compilations that had at least one cut by him. Inside of about 20 minutes, I had assembled myself a playlist (8-1/2 hours' worth, no less) from his catalog, arranged in chronological order oldest to most recent -- I like to hear how a musician's style evolves over time. If I should decide that any of his albums fall into the "must be able to put my little hot hand on the CD at a moment's notice" category, I will be suprised if I cannot acquire a used copy on line through Amazon.com without even leaving the house, and at a price, including shipping, that is lower than a new CD would cost -- if new copies are still available. Guaraldi's oldest album was initially released in 1956, back when they were called "record albums" and cost more if they were in Stereo. It antedated the first "Peanuts" animated cartoon by a good 8 years and was also, judging from the cover photo, pre handlebar.

I have been enjoying his music for about 6 hours now, and what prompted this blog post was the realization of how inadvertently true his "Peanuts" music is to the essence of "Peanuts." The track that appears on every one of his "Peanuts" albums -- in fact, the song that has come to be most identified with "Peanuts" -- is not, as one would think, the "Charlie Brown theme, " but the one that goes: da-da-DUMP da-da-DUMP DAAAH-duuumm da-da-dump-DAAAH -- "Linus and Lucy."

Poor Charlie Brown. Upstaged again. Oh, Good Grief!