Peanuts without Vince Guaraldi just ain’t Peanuts.
Interesting how Guaraldi got the job...both Bill Melendez and Charles Schulz were jazz fans, but its was Melendez’s partner, Lee Mendelson, who heard a Guaraldi record on the radio and thought his style would work well with the Peanuts special. He asked a jazz columnist to put him in touch with Guaraldi and the rest, as they say, is history.
Mr. Guaraldi died in 1976, after completing the score for a Peanuts special. He was only 47 years old.