Some Charlie Brown Jazz

~ Bitchy After 60

On December 9th, 1965, the animated holiday classic A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted on CBS. In a time when there were only three TV networks, over half the country’s TV viewers watched the show. A staggering number, which was unheard of at that time. Especially for a show that almost didn’t happen.

Believe it or not there is a Halifax connection to this show and that is the musician Jerry Granelli. Jerry was born in San Francisco in 1940 and became a musical protégé at an early age. By the age of 25, he was playing drums with the very popular and famous Vince Guaraldi Trio. Granelli showed up to perform a three-hour studio set, which they referred to as, “just another gig” where they played the Vince Guaraldi soundtrack that ended up being the music for the timeless Christmas classic. They never saw the animation beforehand and Granelli received the sum total of $68.00 for the job. For years he wasn’t even credited on the album and had a love-hate relationship with the whole thing. Eventually he got the credit and began to realize that he had been part of something big. Something that meant so much to a whole lot of people. 

From the 1990s until his death, Granelli lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, becoming a Canadian citizen in 1999. Granelli had an exceptional music reputation. He released his first solo album in 2010 and became involved with the Halifax Jazz Festival by putting on workshops during the summer event. He also toured jazz festivals and theaters with his show Tales of a Charlie Brown Christmas, which retells how the Charlie Brown Christmas TV special almost never came to be. The first performance was in Halifax in 2013.

The idea for the show started out as a documentary about Charles M. Schultz, produced by Lee Mendelson, but the network hated it. Then they produced it as a Christmas special, which included the jazz music recorded by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Again, CBS hated it. They hated the story line, and they really hated the music. Fortunately, Coca Cola was the sponsor who was paying for it and they LOVED IT. Music and all. Thank you Coca Cola!

Jerry Granelli passed away in July of 2021 at the age of 80, two days after holding a workshop at the Halifax Jazz Festival. Now his son J. Anthony Granelli, a musician who lives in New York, holds the Halifax Jazz workshops each summer and performs his version of Tales of a Charlie Brown Christmas every year in honour of his dad. This year, we decided to attend. We were not disappointed, so I thought I would share a little bit with you.

Linus and Lucy by Vince Guaraldi

Cast Your Fate to the Wind by Vince Guaraldi. The inspiration for A Charlie Brown Christmas
Skating by Vince Guaraldi

Thank you for reading.

Sources: J. Anthony Granelli, Tales of a Charlie Brown Christmas, and Wikipedia

Videos: Jenn Stone

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17 thoughts on “Some Charlie Brown Jazz”

    1. The event was really great. And actually Jerry Granelli received the standard recording session rates for a musician at the time. The amount is just very ironic based on how much that music has been played over the years. Vince, the composer would have received royalties. Granelli only played with him for a couple of years then moved on. It is the life of a musician. I know because my son is a musician.

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  7. I loved learning about Jerry Granelli’s Halifax connection and the legacy his family continues through the Jazz Festival. A wonderful reminder that the things we create can outlive us in the most unexpected ways.

    Thank you for sharing this. Truly heartwarming.💛🙏🏻

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  8. This was a fun “behind-the-scenes’ look at one man’s contribution to what I consider one of the greatest television events and soundtracks ever created. I can only imagine how much fun it would be to see and hear this music brought to life in person.

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