A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS
A Charlie Brown Christmas is the eighth studio album by the American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi (later credited to the Vince Guaraldi Trio). It was released in December 1965 by Fantasy Records to coincide with the debut of the television special A Charlie Brown Christmas featuring the Peanuts comic characters.[1][a]
Guaraldi was contacted by the television producer Lee Mendelson to compose music for a documentary on Peanuts and its creator, Charles M. Schulz. Although the documentary went unaired, selections of the music were released in 1964 as Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown. The Coca-Cola Company commissioned a Peanuts Christmas special in 1965 and Guaraldi returned to score the special.
Guaraldi composed most of the music, though he included versions of traditional carols such as “O Tannenbaum“.[6] He recorded at Whitney Studio in Glendale, California, then re-recorded parts at Fantasy Records Studios in San Francisco with a children’s choir from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in San Rafael, California. The sessions ran late into the night, with the children rewarded with ice cream afterward. Bassist Fred Marshall and drummer Jerry Granelli were credited as performing on the album.[6]
A Charlie Brown Christmas was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. In November 2014, it was the 10th best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the United States during the SoundScan era.[8] In 2022, it was certified five times platinum for sales of 5 million copies.[9]
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A VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS
A Very Special Christmas is the first in the A Very Special Christmas series of Christmas-themed compilation albums produced to benefit the Special Olympics. The album was released on October 12, 1987, and production was overseen by Jimmy Iovine for A&M Records. A Very Special Christmas has raised millions of dollars for the Special Olympics.[4] The cover artwork was designed by Keith Haring.
On January 16, 1998, the album was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipment of four million copies in the United States.[5]
As of November 2014, A Very Special Christmas is the 19th best-selling Christmas/holiday album in the United States during the SoundScan era of music sales tracking (March 1991 – present), having sold 2,520,000 copies according to SoundScan.[6]