A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS Certified 6x Platinum by RIAA

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, the 1965 soundtrack recorded by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, has been certified 6x Platinum by the RIAA, marking six million album sales and streaming equivalents in the United States and making it the best-selling jazz album of all time. The certification follows last year's 75th anniversary of PEANUTS and the 60th anniversary of the album itself. To mark the achievement, Craft Recordings plans to release a series of limited-edition vinyl pressings of the album this fall.

For over 60 years, the 1965 soundtrack has been an essential part of the PEANUTS holiday tradition, thanks to the Vince Guaraldi Trio's enduring cues—from classic originals like 'Linus and Lucy' and 'Christmas Time Is Here,' to sophisticated jazz arrangements of traditional holiday fare, including 'O Tannenbaum,' 'What Child Is This,' and 'Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.'

The rollout begins on August 28th with a Silver Emerald pressing available exclusively at Walmart. On September 25th, two more exclusives arrive: a picture disc from Barnes & Noble, replicating the iconic album artwork, and an Iridescent Snow-colored LP from Target including an exclusive poster. Urban Outfitters follows on October 2nd with an exclusive Sapphire colored pressing. Then, on November 6th, Craft caps off the collection with its most limited edition: a liquid-filled 'Snow Globe' LP, complete with floating snowflakes and limited to just 300 copies.

All formats are available for pre-order. For those seeking an audiophile experience, Craft's Original Jazz Classic series will reissue the album on 180-gram vinyl, with lacquers cut from the original master tapes (AAA) by Matthew Lutthans, pressed at QRP and housed in a Stoughton tip-on jacket, available October 9th. Additionally, the collectible zoetrope LP, originally released for the 2025 holiday season, has been repressed after selling out multiple times and is once again available via CraftRecordings.com.

When A Charlie Brown Christmas first aired on December 9, 1965, few could have guessed that the animated half-hour special would go on to leave such a lasting mark. Based on Charles M. Schulz's beloved PEANUTS comic strip, the special—later honored with Emmy and Peabody Awards—drew in nearly half of the television-watching public that night, a feat that helped turn it into a perennial holiday tradition and set the stage for one of the 20th century's most enduring franchises.

Yet the roots of both the special and its now-iconic score trace back a full year earlier. It was 1964 when seasoned producer Lee Mendelson began shooting A Boy Named Charlie Brown, a TV documentary about Schulz and his enormously popular strip. Looking for a composer, he brought on Vince Guaraldi, a Bay Area jazz pianist celebrating the GRAMMY-winning success of his recent hit, 'Cast Your Fate to the Wind.' While the documentary never aired, Guaraldi's sophisticated score left an impression on Mendelson. When A Charlie Brown Christmas got the green light a year later, he brought Guaraldi back on board—kicking off a collaboration that would prove both long-lasting and incredibly productive.

With trio members Fred Marshall (bass) and Jerry Granelli (drums) rounding out the sessions, Guaraldi gave PEANUTS its musical identity through a set of original compositions, including the instantly recognizable theme 'Linus and Lucy,' the wintry 'Skating,' the bossa nova-tinged 'Christmas Is Coming,' and both vocal and instrumental takes on 'Christmas Time Is Here,' which quickly became a holiday standard in its own right. The trio also put its West Coast jazz stamp on a handful of traditional carols, reworking the likes of 'O Tannenbaum,' 'Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,' and 'What Child Is This.'

Just as the animated special found lasting success year after year, its soundtrack struck a chord right away with the American public, and Guaraldi continued to score PEANUTS specials until his passing in 1976. Decades later, his melodies have become touchstones of American culture, while A Charlie Brown Christmas has earned recognition as one of the most enduring holiday albums ever recorded. Among other honors, the album was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame and added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry. Now, with its 6X Platinum RIAA certification, it stands as the best-selling jazz album of all time.

Track Listing

Side 1

1. O Tannenbaum

2. What Child Is This

3. My Little Drum

4. Linus & Lucy

5. Christmas Time Is Here (instrumental)

Side 2

1. Christmas Time Is Here (vocal)

2. Skating

3. Hark, The Herald Angels Sing

4. Christmas Is Coming

5. Für Elise

6. The Christmas Song

7. Greensleeves*

*The OJC reissue omits 'Greensleeves'

The rollout is set to include a Silver Emerald pressing exclusive to Walmart, a Barnes & Noble picture disc replicating the original album artwork, an Iridescent Snow-colored LP from Target with an exclusive poster, a Sapphire pressing from Urban Outfitters, and a liquid-filled Snow Globe LP limited to 300 copies. The Walmart, Target, and Urban Outfitters editions will come housed in a blue foil jacket.

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