Carstairs Considers....: Music Review: You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Music Review: You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown - Original Cast Recording

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Familiar and rare tracks with warm humor

Cons: Constant background hissing

The Bottom Line:

Warm Peanuts humor

With familiar and rare songs

Soundtrack all will like

Charlie Brown's Original Cast Sings to Make You Laugh

I have been a life long Peanuts fan, probably because I have always felt Charlie Brown was a kindred spirit. So naturally, I enjoy the musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. I confess, I tend to pull out the 1999 Revival Cast Soundtrack the most, but I bought the Original Cast Recording when it was released on CD in 2000. Once I got used to the slight differences between the two, I realized just how good it is.

The instrumentation on this recording is very simple. This isn't the big production with the full orchestra you normally think of when you hear musical. Instead, the only instruments are piano and percussion. At least those are the only two listed. The percussion seems to encompass a wide range of instruments including bells, xylophone, the triangle, symbols, and drums. It works for this simple musical and really allows the lyrics to shine.

The biggest change I noticed was for poor Patty. The character of Sally Brown wasn't even in the comic strip yet, so those used to seeing her in later versions will be surprised she isn't here. And no, this isn't Peppermint Patty, either, who came along later in the strips life as well. Patty doesn't get any solos, her only songs are part of the big company numbers. Heck, Schroeder only gets to sing in one additional song (and no, it's not the song named after him). I do miss the three songs that were added to the musical later, but what is here is fun.

For those not familiar with the play, it follows a day in the life of Charlie Brown. There is no overall plot. In fact, the "scenes" play out more like a bunch of interconnected skits. The songs work that way as well. They aren't connected to anything that came before, but work quite nicely on their own.

The disc opens with the title anthem. "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown finds all the characters signing the praises of the title character. After they've torn him down in the opening dialogue snippets, that is. What amazes me is that they opening bits actually sound like they are being played on a kids' toy piano.

"Schroeder" is a bit of a daring song. The idea is that Lucy is singing to Schroeder as he is playing Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" on the piano. The melody provides a nice counterpoint to the famous piece and it works, once you get used to it. I especially love how much disgust that Reva Rose, this cast's Lucy, manages to get into her voice on some of these lines.

I've got several favorites in this soundtrack, one of them being "Kite." This is a solo for Charlie Brown as he tries once again to fly a kite. The fast paced piano in the background work so well for this song.

Then there's "Book Report." This track finds Lucy, Charlie Brown, Linus, and Schroeder working on separate book reports on Peter Rabbit. The results are downright hilarious, especially Schroeder's who manages to find the comparisons between Peter Rabbit and Robin Hood.

Lucy applies pop psychology on poor Charlie Brown in "Dr. Lucy" as the two of them list all of his faults in order to make him feel better about himself.

And Lucy takes center stage again in the peppy "Little Known Facts" as she attempts to teach Linus little known facts about nature. Much to Charlie Brown's dismay, she is making them up as she goes along.

Probably the biggest surprise to me here was "T-E-A-M." This group song is set around the championship baseball game. Charlie Brown is describing it to his pen pal, but the chorus is sung by everyone as the cheer for their team. Those bits are very fast paced, while Charlie's writing is much slower. The switches work quite nicely.

Both of Snoopy's songs are quite fun as well. "Snoopy" talks about how much he loves his life while the jazzy "Suppertime" turns into a big production number. I can just picture the tap dancing as I am listening.

About the only song I don't like from the musical is "My Blanket and Me." It's mostly Linus dancing with his blanket. The piano playing is fine, but instrumentals aren't my favorite type of music.

There were three tracks on here that are exclusive to this soundtrack. Frankly, I'm not sure they would belong on any soundtrack because they are mostly dialogue. But I am glad they are here because they are very funny. The first of these is "The Red Baron," a monologue with Snoopy as a World War I flying ace. The piano in the background is strong and dramatic and the percussion does a good job of imitating machine gun fire.

Next comes "Queen Lucy." In this segment, the royal piano music accompanies Lucy as she dreams of her life as a queen, when she can wear her crown in swimming and everything. Her reaction when Linus tells her she can't be queen as a riot.

Finally comes "Peanuts Potpourri," a series of quick bits with just a few seconds of music between them. Charlie Brown and Linus get one, but the rest belong to Snoopy who is in a philosophical mood. Best line? "To me, cats are the crabgrass on the lawn of life."

And I can't leave out closer "Happiness." The cast come back together one last time to sing about the simple joys of life that can bring happiness. It's a quiet song to close on.

But wait, there's more. We get four tracks that as they were first recorded by composer Chuck Gesner and actress Barbara Minkus. The only song that differs significantly from the version we already have is "Kite," which includes a zinger from Lucy (who is no where in the final piece). These are even simpler versions with just the two vocalists and Chuck playing piano. They are worth a listen once or twice, but for the most part I skip them.

I do have one serious complaint about the disc. All the tracks have a hissing sound in the background, like of like a cassette tape used to make while it was being played back. Most of the time, the piano, percussion, and singing overpower it, but in the quieter songs or dialogue moments, it becomes very noticeable. It's not quite distracting, but it is close.

I am glad I had some reason to pull this disc out again and give it a second spin. Most of the tracks aren't that different, but the differences make the Original Cast version of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown well worth owning.

CD Length: 54:19

Tracks:

1. You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

2. Schroeder

3. Snoopy

4. My Blanket & Me

5. Kite

6. Dr. Lucy

7. Book Report

8. The Red Baron

9. T-E-A-M (The Baseball Game)

10. Queen Lucy