History Trivia / VinceGuaraldi

* FatalMethodActing: Vince died (reports vary on whether it was from a heart attack or an aortic aneurysm) during an intermission at a gig.

* CreatorsFavoriteEpisode: Among his ''Peanuts'' compositions, he was clearly fond of "Peppermint Patty", which was the most frequently heard non-"Linus & Lucy" cue in the specials, appearing in 8 of the 12 specials he scored after it was written (it didn't debut until Peppermint Patty herself made her animated debut in ''WesternAnimation/YoureInLoveCharlieBrown'', the fourth ''Peanuts'' special), as well as on ''Oh, Good Grief!'' and in the orchestrated ''Charlie Brown Suite'' he performed live in 1968.

* DoingItForTheArt: The jazz mass he performed and recorded at UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco's Grace Cathedral in 1965.

** [[https://impressionsofvince.blogspot.com/2021/06/archival-gold.html A series of performances]] Guaraldi taped at KQED-TV in San Francisco in 1964[[note]]intended as filler at the end of episodes of an imported British TV series of anthologized Creator/GuyDeMaupassant stories that KQED was distributing to NET, the forerunner of Creator/{{PBS}}.[[/note]], highlighted by two originals he never recorded anywhere else ("Twilight of Youth", "Water Street") and the first known version of "Linus and Lucy", is available for viewing at the Library of Congress, but haven't been released to the public as of yet.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: After hiring Music/TheShermanBrothers to compose the music for ''WesternAnimation/SnoopyComeHome'', Charles Schulz hoped to bring Guaraldi back to work on the music for ''WesternAnimation/RaceForYourLifeCharlieBrown''. Unfortunately, Guaraldi died shortly before the movie went into production.

** [[https://impressionsofvince.blogspot.com/2021/06/archival-gold.html A series of performances]] Guaraldi taped at KQED-TV in San Francisco in 1964[[note]]intended as filler at the end of episodes of an imported British TV series of anthologized Creator/GuyDeMaupassant stories that KQED was distributing to NET, the forerunner of Creator/{{PBS}}.[[/note]] is available for viewing at the Library of Congress, but haven't been released to the public as of yet.

* DiedDuringProduction: He died hours after he finished recording the score to ''It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown''. The special aired six weeks after his death.

* ThrowItIn: The released vocal take of "Christmas Time is Here" has the singers a bit off-key. The choir director was annoyed by this, but Guaraldi liked it because he thought it sounded more like innocent and childlike.

* ThrowItIn: The released vocal take of "Christmas Time is Here" has the singers a bit out of tune. The choir director was annoyed by this, but Guaraldi liked it because he thought it sounded more like innocent and childlike.

** The vocal version of ''Christmas Time is Here'' that ended up on the album was the first complete take and second one overall (the first take broke down when the kids messed up the start of the first bridge).

* OneTakeWonder: While Vince and his trio did several takes of "O Tannenbaum" for ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'', the first take ended up on the album. All the more impressive when you listen to the complete take on the 2022 deluxe edition and hear them nail the first try based only on some quick, rather vague instructions from Guaraldi on how he wants to structure the performance.

* OneTakeWonder: While Vince and his trio did several takes of "O Tannenbaum" for ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'', the first take ended up on the album.

** It sure seems like the two sides of ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' might've been inadvertently flipped from their logical sequence before release; it makes a lot more sense to open the album with the vocal version of "Christmas Time is Here", the same way it starts off the [[WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas special]], then end it with the instrumental version, which would give the album {{Bookends}} and a LongestSongGoesLast finish. Also, opening the second side with "O Tannenbaum" reflects its position as the underscore for the Christmas tree shopping scene midway through the special. A look at the album's [[https://www.discogs.com/master/116449-Vince-Guaraldi-A-Charlie-Brown-Christmas Discogs page]] reveals that the first several issues of the vinyl version lacked a track listing on the back cover. The original 1965 release had pictures and bios of the show's creative team on the back, then a 1972 reissue switched it to a short essay by critic Ralph Gleason, which stayed on through further reissues in 1978 and 1982, but still without a track listing. The 1986 CD version and the 1988 vinyl reissue finally put the familiar listing with "O Tannenbaum" starting the album on the back. The 1965 version, however, doesn't specify "side 1" or "side 2" on the album label, just alphanumerical notations--"F-2531" (mono) and "F-2533" (stereo) for the "O Tannenbaum" side and "F-2532"[=/=]"F-2534" for the "Christmas Time is Here (Vocal)" side. The 1972 issue ''does'' label them as "side 1" and "side 2".

** It sure seems like the two sides of ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' might've been inadvertently flipped from their logical sequence before release; it makes a lot more sense to open the album with the vocal version of "Christmas Time is Here", the same way it starts off the [[WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas special]], then end it with the instrumental version, which would give the album {{Bookends}} and a LongestSongGoesLast finish. Also, opening the second side with "O Tannenbaum" reflects its position as the underscore for the Christmas tree shopping scene midway through the special. A look at the album's [[https://www.discogs.com/master/116449-Vince-Guaraldi-A-Charlie-Brown-Christmas Discogs page]] reveals that the first several issues of the vinyl version lacked a track listing on the back cover. The original 1965 release had pictures and bios of the show's creative team on the back, then a 1972 reissue switched it to a short essay by critic Ralph Gleason, which stayed on through further reissues in 1978 and 1982, but still without a track listing. The 1986 CD version and the 1988 vinyl reissue finally put the familiar listing with "O Tannenbaum" starting the album on the back. The 1965 version, however, doesn't specify "side 1" or "side 2" on the album label, just an "(F-2531)" notation for the "O Tannenbaum" side and an "(F-2532)" for the "Christmas Time is Here (Vocal)" side. The 1972 issue ''does'' label them as "side 1" and "side 2".

* OutOfOrder: It sure seems like the two sides of ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' might've been inadvertently flipped from their logical sequence before release; it makes a lot more sense to open the album with the vocal version of "Christmas Time is Here", the same way it starts off the [[WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas special]], then end it with the instrumental version, which would give the album {{Bookends}} and a LongestSongGoesLast finish. Also, opening the second side with "O Tannenbaum" reflects its position as the underscore for the Christmas tree shopping scene midway through the special. A look at the album's [[https://www.discogs.com/master/116449-Vince-Guaraldi-A-Charlie-Brown-Christmas Discogs page]] reveals that the first several issues of the vinyl version lacked a track listing on the back cover. The original 1965 release had pictures and bios of the show's creative team on the back, then a 1972 reissue switched it to a short essay by critic Ralph Gleason, which stayed on through further reissues in 1978 and 1982, but still without a track listing. The 1986 CD version and the 1988 vinyl reissue finally put the familiar listing with "O Tannenbaum" starting the album on the back. The 1965 version, however, doesn't specify "side 1" or "side 2" on the album label, just an "(F-2531)" notation for the "O Tannenbaum" side and an "(F-2532)" for the "Christmas Time is Here (Vocal)" side. The 1972 issue ''does'' label them as "side 1" and "side 2".

* PostReleaseRetitle: Vince Guaraldi's third album was ''Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus'', featuring the song "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" which became Guaraldi's breakthrough hit single. Sometime after the song caught on, the label [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jazz_Impressions_of_Black_Orpheus.jpeg redesigned the album cover]] to add the blurb, "Featuring: Cast Your Fate to the Wind". Even later, they [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:OrpheusCastyourfate.jpg outright swapped the position of the blurb and the actual album title,]] leading a lot of people to refer to the album as ''Cast Your Fate to the Wind'' even though it wasn't ever officially retitled.

** Guaraldi did the music for ''Bicycles Are Beautiful'', an educational short film hosted and narrated by Creator/BillCosby about bicycle[[note]]Or "BI-[=CY-cle=]" as he constantly pronounces it in the film.[[/note]] safety.

** An ultimate collectors edition of the album was released in 2022 featuring the original mix, a 2022 mix, and 2 CDs worth of numerous takes, many of which are the versions used in the actual TV special. The “wrong” takes from the 2006 release are included amongst the many others which include gems like “Jingle Bells” and the slow melancholy version of “O Tannenbaum”. Of note however is the fact that the original tapes for the recording sessions of “My Little Drum”, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, and the TV version of “Christmas Time is Here” have not been found yet.

** The 2006 remix of ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' featured alternate takes of "Greensleeves", "Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal)", "Christmas Is Coming" and "The Christmas Song" as bonus tracks, and "O Tannenbaum", "Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental)" and "Skating" were presented in full, unedited takes for the first time. Initial pressings also had an alternate take of "Linus and Lucy" and a second alternate take of "Christmas Is Coming" instead of the correct master takes. All of them went out of circulation when the 2006 remix was superceded by the 2012 remaster (whose bonus tracks were already available on ''Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits'' since 1998), so getting them now means hunting for a used 2006 CD (and telling whether it's the "defective" version or the corrected version is impossible without checking the matrix on the CD itself or listening to it -- the "wrong" take of "Linus and Lucy" starts with piano only, the correct take starts with piano and drums).

** Guaraldi did the music for ''Bicycles Are Beautiful'', an educational short film hosted and narrated by Creator/BillCosby about bicycle[[note]]Or [[ItIsPronouncedTroPay "BI-[=CY-cle=]"]] as he constantly pronounces it in the film.[[/note]] safety.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: After hiring Music/TheShermanBrothers to compose the music for ''WesternAnimation/SnoopyComeHome'', Charles Schulz hoped to bring Guaraldi back to work on the music for ''WesternAnimation/RaceForYourLifeCharlieBrown''. Unfortunately, Guaraldi died shortly before the movie went into production.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: A constant theme in his career with record labels. An audit showed that Fantasy was only giving him around 5% of his royalties, so he sued them, eventually winning a higher percentage and a release from his contract. Then he moved to Creator/WarnerBrosRecords, but after ''Oh, Good Grief!'' got some sales, they did absolutely nothing to promote his next two albums and unceremoniously dropped him after that.