Editing A Charlie Brown Christmas (section)

== Soundtrack ==
{{Main|A Charlie Brown Christmas (soundtrack)}}
The soundtrack to ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' is an unorthodox mix of traditional Christmas music and jazz. The jazz portions were created by the [[Vince Guaraldi Trio]]. Producer Lee Mendelson, a fan of jazz, heard Guaraldi's [[crossover hit]] "[[Cast Your Fate to the Wind]]" on the radio not long after completion of his documentary ''Charlie Brown & Charles Schulz'', and contacted the musician to produce music for the special.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=12}} Guaraldi composed the music for the project, creating an entire piece, "Linus and Lucy," to serve as the theme.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=14}} When Coca-Cola commissioned ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' in spring 1965, Guaraldi returned to write the music.<ref name="makingof" /> The first instrumentals for the special were recorded by Guaraldi at [[Glendale, California]]'s Whitney Studio with bassist [[Monty Budwig]] and drummer [[Colin Bailey (drummer)|Colin Bailey]].{{sfn|Bang|2012|p=176}} Recycling "Linus and Lucy" from the earlier special, Guaraldi completed two new originals for the special, "Skating", and "Christmas Time Is Here".{{sfn|Bang|2012|p=176}} In the weeks preceding the premiere, Mendelson encountered trouble finding a lyricist for Guaraldi's instrumental intro, and penned "Christmas Time is Here" in "about 15 minutes" on the back of an envelope.<ref name="enq" />

The special opens and closes with a choir of children, culled from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in [[San Rafael, California]], performing "Christmas Time Is Here" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing".{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=23}} One of the singers, Candace Hackett Shively, went on to become an elementary school teacher, and sent a letter of gratitude to Schulz after he announced his retirement in 2000.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=23}} In the letter, she recalls recording the choir at <!-- WP article is about the facility which opened in 1971. -->Fantasy Studios and going out for ice cream afterwards, while also saying she tells the story to her grade-schoolers each holiday season.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=24}} The recording sessions were conducted in late autumn 1965 and were cut in three separate sessions over two weeks. They often ran late into the night, resulting in angry parents, some who forbade their children from returning; consequently, numerous new children were present at each session.{{sfn|Bang|2012|p=187}} The children were directed by Barry Mineah, who demanded perfection from the choir. Mendelson and Guaraldi disagreed, desiring the "kids to sound like kids"; they used a slightly off-key version of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" in the final cut.{{sfn|Bang|2012|p=187}} Children were paid five dollars for their participation. In addition, the children recorded dialogue for the special's final scene, in which the crowd of kids shout "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!"{{sfn|Bang|2012|p=187}}

The soundtrack for the special was recorded during these sessions, with decisions regarding timing and phrasing determined quickly. Guaraldi brought in bassist Fred Marshall and drummer [[Jerry Granelli]] to record the music, and spent time later re-recording earlier tracks, including covers of "The Christmas Song" and "Greensleeves." The eventual LP release credited Guaraldi solely, neglecting to mention the other musicians; Guaraldi was notorious for never keeping records of his session players.{{sfn|Bang|2012|p=188}} Nearly three decades later, in an effort to resolve the matter, [[Fantasy Records|Fantasy]] surmised that the recordings with Budwig and Bailey were employed in the special, while Marshall and Granelli recorded the album.{{sfn|Bang|2012|p=188}} Despite this, other individuals have come forward claiming to have recorded the special's music: bassists Eugene Firth and Al Obidinski, and drummers Paul Distel and Benny Barth. Firth and Distil are listed as performers on a studio-session report Guaraldi filed for the American Federation of Musicians.{{sfn|Bang|2012|p=188}}

''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' was voted into the [[Grammy Hall of Fame Award|Grammy Hall of Fame]] in 2007,<ref name="ChartWatch">{{cite web|url=http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/week-ending-jan-1-2012-albums-she-back-153256993.html|title=Week Ending Jan. 1, 2012. Albums: She's Back|last=Grein|first=Paul|work=[[Yahoo! Music]]|publisher=[[Nielsen Company|Nielsen Business Media]]|date=January 4, 2012|access-date=January 5, 2012|archive-date=April 3, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403023410/http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/week-ending-jan-1-2012-albums-she-back-153256993.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and added to the [[Library of Congress]]'s [[National Recording Registry]] list of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" American sound recordings in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|title=The National Recording Registry 2011|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/nrpb-2011reg.html|work=National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress|publisher=[[Library of Congress]]|date=May 24, 2012|access-date=December 29, 2017|archive-date=October 31, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031231054/http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/nrpb-2011reg.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

"I have always felt that one of the key elements that made that show was the music," said Mendelson in 2010. "It gave it a contemporary sound that appealed to all ages. Although Vince had never scored anything else and although I was basically a documentary film maker at the time, we started to work together on the cues because we both loved jazz and we both played the piano. So he would bring in the material for each scene and we would go over it scene by scene. Most of the time, the music worked perfectly. But there were times we would either not use something or use it somewhere else. We went through this same process on all sixteen shows. Although there was always some left over music, most of the time what he wrote and performed is what went on the air."<ref name=liner>{{cite web|title=George Winston: ''Love Will Come'' Liner Notes|url=http://www.georgewinston.com/us/liner-notes-love-will-come-music-vince-guaraldi-volume-2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312200446/http://www.georgewinston.com/us/liner-notes-love-will-come-music-vince-guaraldi-volume-2|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 12, 2014}}</ref>