Linus and Lucy

The genesis of "Linus and Lucy" began when Peanuts producer Lee Mendelson heard Guaraldi's recent hit, "Cast Your Fate to the Wind", on the radio while driving home from a meeting with Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz. Mendelson then contacted San Francisco Chronicle jazz critic Ralph J. Gleason, who put him in touch with Guaraldi. Mendelson believed Guaraldi would be a good fit for a documentary he was working on entitled A Boy Named Charlie Brown. Guaraldi gladly accepted the offer to compose several jazz tunes for the documentary.[2]

Within several weeks, Mendelson received a call from an excited Guaraldi who wanted to play a piece of music he had just written. Mendelson, not wanting his first experience to the new music to be marred by the poor audio qualities of a telephone, suggested coming over to Guaraldi’s studio. Guaraldi enthusiastically refused, saying "I’ve got to play this for someone right now or I’ll explode!" He then begun playing the yet-untitled "Linus and Lucy" for Mendelson, who agreed the song was perfect for Schulz’s Peanuts characters.[2]

"Linus and Lucy" was originally featured on Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1964) and was also released as the B-side for the single "Oh, Good Grief". However, it gained its greatest exposure as part of the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack the following year. Since then, it has been reissued multiple times over the last 55 years. To date, it has been included on the following soundtracks and compilations:[3]

• A Charlie Brown Christmas (soundtrack) (1965)
• Greatest Hits (1980)
• Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits (1998)
• The Definitive Vince Guaraldi (2009)
• Peanuts Portraits (2010)
• The Very Best of Vince Guaraldi (2012)
• Peanuts Greatest Hits (2015)

Guaraldi included variations of his signature tune in most subsequent Peanuts television specials he worked on after A Charlie Brown Christmas through You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown in 1975. Some of these alternate renditions have been made available on the following releases:[3]

• Oh Good Grief! (1968) – harpsicord-driven version
• A Boy Named Charlie Brown: Selections from the Film Soundtrack (1970) – minor key, flute-driven versions
• The Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites (2003) – band version from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and live version recorded at Mr. D's in San Francisco, California on May 18, 1969[4]
• Vince Guaraldi and the Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown Television Specials, Volume 2 (2008) – chimes-driven version from You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown (1972)
• Live on the Air (2008) – live version recorded in 1974[5]
• An Afternoon with the Vince Guaraldi Quartet (2011) – live version recorded in 1967[3]
• A Boy Named Charlie Brown: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2017) – minor key, flute-driven versions[6]
• It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: Music from the Soundtrack (2018) – flute-driven version

"Linus and Lucy" receives considerable airplay on radio stations in the United States and Canada that flip to Christmas music for the holiday season due to its inclusion on the soundtrack album of A Charlie Brown Christmas. Although many protest that it is not officially a Christmas song, it has become too much a staple of the holidays to not be included. Furthermore, another song on the album, called "Christmas is Coming", has a similar sound and feel to "Linus and Lucy", yet has a Christmas name.

The song has been used as background music for The Weather Channel's local forecasts since 1999.[7]

On May 10, 2019, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the single gold for sales.[8]

• Game Theory covered it for their album The Big Shot Chronicles (1986)
• Stuart Hamm covered it on bass only as part of "Quahogs Anyone? (119, 120 Whatever It Takes)" on his album The Urge (1991)
• Wynton Marsalis Septet covered it for their album Joe Cool's Blues (1995)
• George Winston covered it for his album Linus and Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi (1996)
• David Benoit covered it for the album Here's to You, Charlie Brown: 50 Great Years! (2000)
• moe. covered it for their album Season's Greetings from Moe (2002)
• Béla Fleck and the Flecktones covered it for their album Jingle All the Way (2008)
• Christophe Beck performed a more contemporary version as part of "Carnival Panic/Linus and Lucy" and a slower version titled "Linus and Lucy" on The Peanuts Movie soundtrack (2015). The soundtrack also features Guaraldi's original version.
• Anderson.Paak covered it as a Spotify exclusive single recorded at Spotify Studios NYC (2018)
• Former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama is seen playing the song on her parents' piano when reminiscing about her childhood in the Netflix documentary film Becoming (2020).