4 Million: Not Exactly Peanuts

Is there anyone in your circle of family and friends who is NOT intimately familiar with the beloved holiday classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas? How cool is this: Concord Bicycle Music and Fantasy Records announced the 4X Platinum certification of the soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas. The RIAA certification signifies four million units in album sales of the 1965 soundtrack by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, making it the second highest certification of a jazz album behind Miles Davis‘ Kind of Blue.

Guaraldi’s engaging score to this beloved holiday television special — which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year — has introduced generations of children to the joys of jazz music, with tracks like the instantly recognizable “Linus and Lucy,” and yuletide favorite “Christmas Time is Here.” The album was inducted into the Grammy® Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry five years later, and continues to be a perennial favorite, thanks to annual airings of the Christmas special.

Pictured here during the presentation are Jeannie Schulz, the widow of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz; Guaraldi’s children David and Dia and Lee Mendelson, the original Producer of A Charlie Brown Christmas.