Title: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Artiste: The Vince Guaraldi Trio
Genre: Christmas music, Jazz
Familiarity: Not with him, but who doesn't know Charlie Brown? And most of it looks like it's standard Christmas songs so ....
1. O Tannenbaum: Gets you into the Christmas spirit right away. Mind you, I can't hear this without hearing “O Whacking Day” from The Simpsons! Course it jazzes right up, but it's okay, still nice. Mind you, this is one of the things that annoys me about jazz. Never seem to know when to shut up and it goes on way too long with what is, basically in all fairness, the same bloody tune just extended into five minutes it needn't have run for. Still, let's not spoil the soon-to-be Christmas spirit...
2. What child is this: Another Christmas standard on piano and bass. Sounds just like “Greensleeves”...
3. My little drum: Not so sure about this one. Bit boring really. Is this “Little drummer boy”? Kind of sounds like it.
4. Linus and Lucy: Okay, now this is very Charlie Brown/Snoopy. It's like the theme or something, isn't it? Brings back some memories for sure.
5. Christmas time is here (instrumental): It's okay, a little boring. Wonder if the sung version will be any better?
6. Christmas time is here (vocal): No it isn't. A children's choir? Give me a break!
7. Skating: God this is so boring!
8. Hark, the herald angels sing: Thinking of becoming Scrooge at this point!
9. Christmas is coming: And back to the Snoopy theme... yawn
10. Fur Elise: Well of course I love this. Who wouldn't? Beethoven at his finest.
11. The Christmas Song: Yeah I like this too. Who doesn't? Chestnuts roasting on an open fire ... should have paid that bet! Poor old Chestnut!
12. Greensleeves: And you can't not like this.
End result: An album that mostly achieved a few Likes despite, not because of itself. I honestly question the sense in listening to a Christmas album in November, even if it is now being posted in the correct month I listened to it a lot earlier. This should have been recced much later. That said, most of it bored me and it was only the few standards that stopped it getting all Whites or even Reds. My innate dislike of jazz did not get me off to a good start here, and we kind of went downhill pretty much freewheelin' all the way after that.
So, Love or Hate? As it is, as a whole, all I can give it is a
Meh.