A Charlie Brown Christmas (album) - Controversy Over 2006 Remaster

Controversy Over 2006 Remaster

Concord Music Group, the parent company of both Concord Records and Fantasy Records, acknowledged negative criticism in a post on its website entitled "Oh, Good Grief! A Charlie Brown Christmas Conundrum". The article explains what listeners were hearing, and notes that mistakes had indeed been made in the remastered version.

MISTAKES (the master was corrected for subsequent pressings)

• Track 4: "Linus and Lucy" – the original LP version was an edit of two different takes. In the remix for the new CD, one of the takes was used in its entirety; a 25 second section of the previously unreleased part of the take (beginning at 1 minute 54 seconds) is heard in the TV animation at 17 minutes 11 seconds into the show.
• Track 9: "Christmas Is Coming" -- the original LP version and the version on the new CD are entirely different takes.

EXPLANATIONS

• Track 1: "O Tannenbaum" – the original LP version had the introduction to the song cut off; the new CD has the intro reinstated.
• Track 5: "Christmas Time Is Here (instrumental)" – the original LP version fades out at the end of the song almost losing the last chord; the new CD intentionally retains the last chord.
• Track 7: "Skating" – the original LP version fades during the bass solo at the very end; the new CD intentionally allows the song run to its conclusion adding about ten seconds to the track.
• Regarding the perceived use of noise reduction: The new CD is remixed from the original three-track so the reason the old familiar hiss is not heard is not due to the use of noise reduction, but rather that the new mix is much quieter than the two-track stereo master. The only place noise reduction was utilized was on Track 10, "Für Elise", as there is no three-track for that master—it was originally recorded direct to two-track.

• Track 8: "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing"- In the movie, the part where the children are humming the song to the accompaniment of a Hammond organ is cut off by Charlie Brown saying, "What's going on here?", and after they all say "MERRY CHRISTMAS, CHARLIE BROWN!", they all commence singing the song. Also, the final six seconds were missing because of the original voice-over that used to say, "Brought to you by the people in your town who bottle Coca Cola." In the new Soundtrack, both the humming and the singing tracks are complete.

A free replacement disc (correcting the 2 errors) was offered to those who desired one, with a stated offer expiration of March 1, 2007. Also, the post promises that all new copies produced from that point forward would be of the correct version of the remastered CD.