With the holiday season approaching, many people have begun to take out their Christmas trees, lights, and decorations. But with the decorating of the houses, comes the Christmas music, the countless albums filled with cheery holiday songs. One of the most popular, since December of 1965, is the album titled A Charlie Brown Christmas. People all over the country listen to this album every year, especially as it plays in one of the most popular Christmas TV movies “A Charlie Brown Christmas”on CBS.
This album was recorded at Fantasy Recording Studios, in San Francisco, California in 1964-65. It was created by American composer/conductor Vince Guaraldi who has composed many music pieces for Peanuts. It first appeared on a Billboard magazine music sales chart on the week of December 19th in 1987 and became famous, quickly. A Charlie Brown Christmas has been certified Quadruple Platinum after shipping at least four million copies. Also, it is the tenth best-selling Christmas album in the US. Other achievements include being on the Grammy Hall of Fame and on the US Billboard 200. The album sure has proved itself, and deserves the achievements it has been awarded. It is one of my favorite Christmas albums.
So what even is on the album? The album consists of 12 songs or more, after the definite 12 songs it depends on which album you purchase. There are not many differences between albums, just the fact that one version may not contain bonus tracks that another does. The length of the preliminary album in 1965, is 40 minutes and 25 seconds long and consists of 11 main songs. There are 5 songs on side one, including a cover of “O Tannenbaum” which is five minutes long and by far one of my favorites. “What Child Is This” is second, and “My Little Drum” is third. “Linus and Lucy” is fourth and “Christmas Time Is Here (instrumental)” is fifth, both being original songs and the last two on Side One.
Side Two contains six more songs, “Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal), “Skating”, “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing”, “Christmas Is Coming”, “Fur Elise”, and “The Christmas Song”. There are also many bonus tracks including “Greensleeves” which is a traditional song. Depending on which version of the album you buy, you receive multiple bonus tracks. But the main 11 songs have made the album what it is today and what people enjoy.
My favorite song from the album is “Christmas Time Is Here”, both the Instrumental and Vocal versions. The song really sets a soft but cheery sort of tone for the time before Christmas. Each song on the album has been beautifully wrote and is very calming. If you have ever watched the movie, “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, you can see how the music from the album goes with the calm mood of the story. I also enjoyed “O Tannenbaum” and “My Little Drum”, which are Christmas classics.
You can listen to this album, not only in the Charlie Brown movie, but any time during the holiday season. It contains songs you can relax to while putting up your tree or just spending time with your relatives. You can buy it on Amazon, or just any store containing music cds. I enjoy it personally because it is very calming. I also love not only the Christmas movie, but the other Charlie Brown movies as well. They are cute short movies to enjoy during holiday seasons, and are classics. I recommend this album and give it five light bulbs. I hope you can enjoy this album and movie this coming holiday season!
