"Dave Willat was just 11 years old, wearing cutoffs and a T-shirt on a warm September evening in 1965, when he showed up for what he thought would be a routine choir practice at his church in San Rafael, Calif., a small city about 20 miles north of San Francisco. His voice was on the cusp of changing, and he expected to rehearse the usual Sunday hymns. Instead, he and his fellow choristers were unexpectedly driven across the Golden Gate Bridge"
"The children didn't nail the downbeat song on the first try. Rehearsal outtakes reveal multiple flubs and false starts, with the producer calling out "Never mind!" and "Take six!" A 2022 edition of the album includes material from seven takes. But Willat says there could have been more. The young singers can be heard collapsing into giggles between attempts. Willat said he and the other choristers felt comfortable around the musicians especially Guaraldi."
In 1965, 11-year-old Dave Willat and his church choir were unexpectedly taken across the Golden Gate Bridge to a San Francisco studio to record lyrics for "Christmas Time Is Here." Vince Guaraldi originally composed the piece as an instrumental, and producer Lee Mendelson later scribbled last-minute lyrics on an envelope. The children struggled through multiple takes, producing outtakes with flubs, false starts and giggles; a 2022 edition includes material from seven takes. The impromptu session yielded a song that became part of Guaraldi's bestselling A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack, and the young singers felt comfortable with the musicians.
Read at www.npr.org
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