Vince Guaraldi

In 1956 he was the pianist on the Columbia Records demonstration recordings of singer Johnny Mathis.

In 1963, Lee Mendelson had just agreed to produce the first Peanuts special when he was driving through San Francisco. Guaraldi's tune "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" came on the radio, and Mendelson knew he'd found the composer for the special. He found out that Guaraldi was a San Francisco native, tracked him down, and tapped him to composed the music.

Although It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown (1976) (TV) was the last Peanuts special he scored before his death, all of the Peanuts specials, movies, and TV series that followed also have scores based on his Peanuts themes, particularly the famous composition "Linus and Lucy."