It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown [Original TV Soundtrack]

Vince Guaraldi’s third Peanuts animated special soundtrack efforts reached a new level, with an expanded studio band, a sextet, working with arranger John Scott Trotter to create a series of lovely performances. The 2022 reissue of the soundtrack, the first to work with the original master tapes as opposed to overdubbed selections from the special itself, is a sweet marvel. The sprightly “Linus and Lucy” takes on a fuller form as a key theme, while the easy “Great Pumpkin Waltz” and the just spooky enough “Graveyard Theme” are utterly delightful.