Yes, there is a possibility that you have never seen the TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas, but even if you haven't -- you have absolutely heard the soundtrack. It's one of those signposts that, along with parades and window displays tells us that the holiday season is here.
A Charlie Brown Christmas turns 50-years-old this year. It was the first Peanuts animated special and it literally launched an empire. The animation is considered classic but many critics suggest that, without its Vince Guaraldi jazzed-up soundtrack, the special would never have had the same impact.
In fact, were it not for a weird and wonderful confluence of events and talents -- it might not even have happened at all!
The story behind the music is told on Inside The Music this week by drummer Jerry Granelli, the last surviving member of the Vince Guaraldi Trio -- the group responsible for the soundtrack recording to A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Though Granelli grew up in San Francisco, he has been a mainstay of the Halifax music scene for close to 30 years. In 2010, together with producer Colin Mackenzie, Granelli headed back to San Francisco to put together the pieces of the story of A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Drummer Jerry Granelli, the last surviving member of the Vince Guaraldi Trio, takes us behind-the-music of their most famous work, A Charlie Brown Christmas.