Sixty years after It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown first brought Halloween to the PEANUTS gang, Vince Guaraldi’s beloved score returns in a collection of new vinyl editions. Arriving August 7via Craft Recordings, the anniversary release features the complete soundtrack alongside a selection of rare alternate takes.
Leading the lineup is a new 45 RPM zoetrope LP, featuring memorable scenes from the animated special on each side and a new essay from Sean Mendelson. The Halloween treats continue with pumpkin-shaped vinyl in Electric Pumpkin Patch at Barnes & Noble, Pumpkin Spice at Walmart, Ghost White at Target, and Candy Corn at Craft Recordings, alongside the returning Orange Pumpkin pressing.
There’s even a bite-sized edition: Target’s Orange 4-inch Tiny Vinyl, featuring “The Great Pumpkin Waltz” backed with “Graveyard Theme.”
→ PRE-ORDER IT’S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN
FROM CHRISTMAS TO THE PUMPKIN PATCH
By 1966, Vince Guaraldi was already helping define the sound of PEANUTS. Producer Lee Mendelson had originally approached the Bay Area pianist to score A Boy Named Charlie Brown, a documentary about Charles M. Schulz that ultimately never aired.
The music, however, stuck. Guaraldi returned for 1965’s A Charlie Brown Christmas, and when the special became a hit, Mendelson brought him back for two more PEANUTS adventures the following year: Charlie Brown’s All-Stars! and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
The Halloween special was recorded only weeks before its October 27, 1966 debut, but this time Guaraldi had some extra help shaping the music for television.
A NEW SOUND FOR PEANUTS
Great Pumpkin marked the arrival of veteran composer, arranger, and conductor John Scott Trotter, best known for his decades as Bing Crosby’s music director.
Trotter helped organize Guaraldi’s ideas into the compact cues required for an animated television special, while an expanded group gave the music a richer palette. Guaraldi was joined by bassist Monty Budwig and drummer Colin Bailey, plus trumpeter Emmanuel “Mannie” Klein, guitarist John Gray and woodwind player Ronald Lang.
At the center of it all is “The Great Pumpkin Waltz.” Written to accompany Linus’ unwavering faith in the Great Pumpkin, its dreamy melody gives this particular PEANUTS special a sound immediately distinct from its Christmas predecessor.
There’s plenty of mischief around it too. “Graveyard Theme” and “Breathless” lean into Halloween’s spookier side, “The Red Baron” follows Snoopy into one of his most famous fantasies, and familiar Guaraldi signatures like “Charlie Brown Theme” and “Linus and Lucy” keep everything firmly rooted in the PEANUTS world.
THE SOUNDTRACK THAT HAD TO WAIT
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown premiered to an extraordinary 49 percent audience share and went on to earn an Emmy® nomination. But unlike A Charlie Brown Christmas, there was no corresponding soundtrack album waiting in record stores.
Individual selections surfaced on compilations over the years, but the music didn’t receive a comprehensive release until 2018.
Then came another surprise. The original session masters were discovered, leading to an expanded 2022 release with more music from the recordings. The 60th anniversary edition draws on that archive once again, pairing the familiar soundtrack with alternate takes that offer another peek inside Guaraldi’s sessions.
LISTENING NOTES
“The Great Pumpkin Waltz”
If Christmas has “Christmas Time Is Here,” Halloween has this. Dreamy, slightly mysterious and unmistakably Guaraldi, it turns Linus waiting in a pumpkin patch into something genuinely magical.
“Graveyard Theme”
Guaraldi goes spooky without abandoning the swing. Its many appearances throughout the score make it part of the musical glue holding Halloween in the PEANUTS world together.
“Linus and Lucy”
You know those opening piano notes. Hearing the PEANUTS signature surrounded by ghosts, pumpkins and trick-or-treating proves just how easily Guaraldi’s most famous theme could follow the gang into a different season.
“The Red Baron / Military Drum March”
Snoopy’s imagination takes over. Guaraldi shifts gears for the World War I Flying Ace fantasy, giving the score one of its most playful detours.
“The Great Pumpkin Waltz (Alternate Take 2)”
Once you know the familiar version, head here. The alternate take offers a chance to hear Guaraldi and the musicians exploring the theme before the version that became part of Halloween tradition.
GOOD GRIEF, IT’S BEEN 60 YEARS
Guaraldi ultimately scored 15 PEANUTS specials before his death in 1976, but It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown arrived at an important moment, when the musical personality of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and the rest of the gang was still taking shape.
Six decades later, the score has become part of the sound of Halloween itself. The zoetrope, pumpkin-shaped pressings and Tiny Vinyl may give collectors some new ways to enjoy it, but the real treat remains Guaraldi’s music.
No Great Pumpkin required.
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