PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM 137 THE MUSIC GOES ON Although Vince’s funeral was a somber affair at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Daly City, they played Charlie Brown music at the request of his mother, Carmella. “It was not an easy day; he was so young,” recalls Lee Mendelson. The Peanuts producer had been the one to originally hire Vince for the specials after hearing him on the radio. “It was one of the saddest days of my life.” The following month, Vince’s musician friends hosted a memorial concert in his honor at the Bach Dynamite and Dancing Society, an intimate Half Moon Bay venue overlooking the ocean where Vince had occasionally played. The event was such a success that it became an annual tradition in the years that followed. But then life needed to go on. Jim soon hit the road with other traveling musicians and kept right on rolling for 30 years. Repayenclosed in the privacy of their room did Vince finally collapse. Alarmed, Jim ran to retrieve Seward, but it was too late. “We did what we thought we could do, but I later was worried that I didn't know enough to save him,” Seward says. “But I talked to the coroner and he said, ‘Oh, no, it was an aneurysm that burst in his stomach. Even a team of surgeons couldn't have saved him.’ … It was all surreal.” Downstairs, the stunned Butterfield’s staff watched the ambulance speed to the hotel, then wail away. “I think we all stayed there till three or four in the morning, just talking about it,” Suzanne says. After the incident, “It was never quite the same there.” reach it. Vince and Jim slipped out into the night. The cold hit hard after the heat of the crowded dining room and the momentum of their performance. The weather had been unusual of late. Just the day before, a fluke winter storm had brought snow from San Francisco to San Jose. And not just a few flakes either. Enough for snowball fights and sledding. Despite the intense chill, Vince was greeted by a stunning night sky, stars shining crisp and clear like ice shards. The pianist and his drummer wove through the cars to the inn painted a welcoming firehouse red. Climbing the stairs hurt, but Vince managed to reach the top and soon Jim was unlocking the door. Only after they were ing his friend’s kind introduction to Vince, Jim referred Seward to Dame Cleo Laine. The drummer and bassist toured with the singer for well over a decade. They still keep in touch. As for Suzanne? She pursued music too, moving to Nashville in 1978. Fascinated by the process of bringing albums to vinyl, she became a recording engineer (quite the uncommon profession for a woman at the time). Several years back, her son Forrest O’Connor won a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album. Vince never returned for that second set. But every time Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang shuffle across the screen, his music plays on. You can also thank Lee Mendelson Film Productions for continuing to release recordings that showcase Vince's artistry. Fifty years after his final performance on the Peninsula, Vince still has us tapping our feet, smiling and dancing along. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF: JIM ZIMMERMAN / SEWARD MCCAIN / LEE MENDELSON FILM PRODUCTIONS
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