Artist:Sounds Orchestral
Song:Cast Your Fate to the Wind
Album:Instrumental Nuggets Vol. 2
This 1965 cover of the 1962 Vince Guaraldi hit Cast Your Fate to the Wind was a top ten hit. It was a bigger hit than the original. Sounds Orchestral was a British studio group. When John Schroeder joined Pye Records as label manager of Piccadilly Records, he wanted to create an instrumental band similar to EMI's Sounds Incorporated. When staff bassist Tony Reeves suggested covering Cast Your Fate to the Wind, Schroeder looked for a pianist to lead the band. He remembered hearing Johnny Pearson and brought him in for the session. When Cast Your Fate to the Wind reached #5 on the British Singles chart, Cameo Parkway picked it up in the US, it reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100. So it charted higher than Vince Guaraldi's original probably because Cameo Parkway was very good at promoting to radio stations. Sounds Orchestral's recording was more knockoff than cover. Pearson plays piano with Peter McGurk on bass and jazz drummer Kenny Clare. Reeves left Pye for John Mayall's band and he was in the 70s band Curved Air. This was Sounds Orchestral's only big hit and you can get it on this various artists budget comp from the British label Repertoire. Pearson led Sounds Orchestral until they stopped recording in the mid 70s. He was also leader of the band for BBC's Top of the Pops TV show from 1966-80. The Johnny Pearson Orchestra scored a British top ten hit with the 1972 single Sleepy Shores. He also composed music libraries and TV themes. His theme for the BBC sports show Superstars was the original theme for ABC's Monday Night Football. Many of his compositions turned up in unlikely places. Pearson continued to record in the 80s and 90s. He died on Mar. 20, 2011 at age 85. Here's a video of Cast Your Fate to the Wind by Sounds Orchestral.
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