Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Grief, What a cd!, September 29, 2000
What a beautiful musical tribute to the late Vince Guaraldi by George Winston! You're sure to love this cd if you are a fan of Guaraldi or Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanut's gang. The songs range in mood from light & lively to soft & serene. You'll find music from many of the different Charles Schulz cartoons...."It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown," "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," "A Charlie Brown Christmas," "You're In Love, Charlie Brown, "He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown," and more. Probably the most infamous Peanuts song on this cd is "Linus and Lucy." You know.....Da,da,dat, da,da,dat, daaaaa, daaaaa.....Also on the cd are such Guaraldi hits as, "Cast Your Fate to The Wind," "Monterey," "Remembrance," and "Theme to Grace/Lament." Most of which are from the 1960's. Most people are very familiar with the Charlie Brown tunes, but may not be aware of who wrote and played them. Winston does Vince Guaraldi good in his musical tribute to him. It's a great cd if you enjoy Winston, Guaraldi, The Peanuts Gang, or all three. I love this cd for all three of those reasons! Would be a great addition to your cd collection. Also of interest are the liner notes in the cd cover. There's a brief bio on George Winston and Vince Guaraldi, as well as how Winston came to admire and play the music of Guaraldi. He also writes a brief overview of each song. Very interesting.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Grief, Listen to This!, February 8, 2000
If you are a fan of the late Vince Guaraldi, the classic Peanuts cartoon strip and Charlie Brown specials, or a fan of George Winston, I recommend this CD to you.It's obvious that George Winston has the greatest respect for Vince Guaraldi as seen in the liner notes. Ok, so Winston improvises a little bit (like on "Peppermint Patty" and the closing track) but isn't that found on all tribute albums? When I 1st heard "Cast Your Fate to the Wind", I thought it had a Charlie Brown special feel to it. Now I know why! Other pieces that I like are the brief and simple "Eight Five Five" (you know Winston was a fan if he picked this piece up!), the classic "Linus and Lucy", "Skating", "Great Pumpkin Waltz", the Latino-flavored "The Masked Marvel", "You're In Love, Charlie Brown" and "Bon Voyage". But this isn't all Charlie Brown music. There's also "Treat Street" which sounds a little like George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" and the lovely melancholy "Theme to Grace" in which Winston throws in a piece of his own "Lament" into this poignant final track. I believe Vince would be honored and I understand George Winston has another CD of Vince Guaraldi music.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Remembrance of childhood's soundtrack, February 13, 2004
George Winston delivers a technically well wrought reworking of the songs on "Linus & Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi." I understand that this session is a tribute and not an attempt to copy or co-opt the original, and on that level, Mr. Winston succeeds.Two issues can work against the material here if one is not prepared for them. First, most of the originals have worn grooves into my brain, and in some way, these songs are in part like a soundtrack to wonderful, fleeting years of childhood before adolescence. When I was a kid, I used to tape the Peanuts? shows on my small reel to reel tape machine (this was in the '60 so way before VCRs) in order capture the music. And since then, I have no idea how many times I've watched those shows, now with my own children. Hence, it's hard to follow Mr. Winston when he veers in another direction, adds a new twist, or tweaks the material---even though he does so masterfully.But the lightness and sweetness of these songs is mostly preserved, at least around the edges, and by reinterpreting the music, Mr. Winston provides a fresh take, though not exactly the same sentiment of the originals. Second, the contrast in styles between Mr. Winston and Mr. Guaraldi sometimes creates a bit of tension in my deep-rooted expectations of what this music "should" sound like. When Mr. Winston applies some of the stride piano playing or alters the beats a bit (see his liner notes for more better explanations), the songs no longer have the same lilting quality I expect from my prior conditioning and sometimes a note sounds more brittle than fluid. Some of this tension abates after a few listens, but there are a couple of spots where it proves more distracting than enjoyable. Listen to the middle of the title track, for instance, where some of the cords sound harsh. All this commentary aside, Mr. Winston treats the songs and heritage of Mr. Guaraldi respectfully. His revisions actually make me appreciate the original songs more.
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