Cast Your Fate to the Wind

"Cast Your Fate to the Wind"
US 7" single
Single by Vince Guaraldi
from the album Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus
A-side	"Samba de Orpheus"
Released	July 1962
Genre	Jazz
Length	2:58
Label	Fantasy 563X Vocalion EPV-F.1280
Songwriter(s)	Vince Guaraldi
Vince Guaraldi singles chronology
"Cast Your Fate to the Wind" (1962) "Zelao" (1963)
Alternate cover
UK 7" single cover art

"Cast Your Fate to the Wind" is an American jazz instrumental selection by Vince Guaraldi; later, a lyric was written by Carel Werber. It won a Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition in 1963.^[1]

It was included on the album Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus, (credited to the Vince Guaraldi Trio) released by Fantasy Records on April 18, 1962.^[2]

Fantasy actually released "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" as the B-side of the bossa nova-flavored "Samba de Orpheus" single. However, U.S. radio disc jockeys preferred the more accessible, catchy "Cast Your Fate to the Wind", propelling it to No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart^[3] and No. 9 on the Easy Listening chart.^[4] In an effort to exploit the unexpected popularity of the song, Fantasy retitled Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus as Cast Your Fate to the Wind for future album pressings.

On some copies of the album, the label title contained a printing error; it read "Cast Your Faith to the Wind", an unintentionally comic twist to the sentiment of the song.

Peanuts[]

Peanuts producer Lee Mendelson cited "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" as the song he heard on the radio that prompted him to commission Guaraldi to compose music cues for the 1963 documentary A Boy Named Charlie Brown, which was ultimately not broadcast due to a lack of sponsorship. The resulting album, Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, proved to be popular enough to retain Guaraldi's services for A Charlie Brown Christmas. The collaboration between Guaraldi and the Peanuts franchise lasted until Guaraldi's untimely death in February 1976 at age 47.^[5]

Cover versions[]

"Cast Your Fate to the Wind" has been covered by many artists in a wide range of genres, including both male and female solo vocalists, pop, folk, and rock groups, as well as many instrumental performers.

• In Australia, a vocal version by Mel Tormé was a hit in 1963.
• In 1965, the British easy listening group Sounds Orchestral redirected the song away from the jazz influenced midsection to more of a nightclub sound and concluded the tune with a short piano section. That version attained No. 5 in the UK, No. 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and No. 1 on the US Easy Listening chart.^[6]
• In 1966, North Hollywood singer Shelby Flint released a version of the song which peaked at No. 61 on the Hot 100 and No. 11 on the Easy Listening chart.
• The West Coast folk-rock bands We Five and The Sandpipers, along with pop singer Johnny Rivers, recorded vocal versions of the song
• Further instrumental recordings from Earl Klugh, George Benson, David Benoit, Chet Atkins, George Winston, Allen Toussaint, and Nelson Rangell.^[7][8]
• In 1970, the rock group James Gang covered the song as part of a three-song medley ("The Bomber Medley") on their album James Gang Rides Again.
• Quincy Jones rendered an orchestral arrangement of the song on his 1971 album Smackwater Jack.
• In 1976, an easy listening version was recorded by guitarist Harald Winkler and the Norman Candler Orchestra.
• In 2007, alternative rock band They Might Be Giants spoofed the song's title by issuing "Cast Your Pod to the Wind", a bonus disc to their album The Else.^[9] It consisted of songs which, before then, had only been heard on their podcasts.
• The song has been rendered, with French lyrics, as both "Ne tremble pas mon pauvre coeur" (1965) recorded by (fr) and also as "Le nez dans le vent" (1967) recorded by (fr).

In film[]

• The song was featured in the 1980s films Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) and The In Crowd (1988).
• Allen Toussaint's version is the first ending theme for the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street.

See also[]

• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1965 (U.S.)
• List of jazz standards

References[]