The Greatest Of All Time!

I knew it was coming.

I knew we were close.

By the end of last year, the rumblings were getting louder.

And now ... it has happened.

Break out the champagne!

As of today — August 13, 2026 — the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has officially certified Vince Guaraldi's 1965 soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas as sextuple platinum, meaning six million units of sales...

...making it the best-selling jazz album of all time: finally, officially, surpassing Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. (Sorry, Miles.)

Let me emphasize that again.

Not merely the best-selling Christmas album of all time, or the best-selling soundtrack album of all time.

The best-selling jazz album of all time.

Like, wow.

A quick primer: Back in the day, such a count would have been tabulated solely by physical album sales: LPs and CDs. The RIAA included streams beginning in February 2016, so this Charlie Brown Christmas milestone is based on more than 6 million "equivalent album units" purchased over various formats, and more than 1.1 billion streams. The formula for "equivalent album units" is 1,500 on-demand audio and/or video song streams = 10 track sales = 1 album sale.

As a further indication of this album's enduring popularity, with the exception of the two weeks between this past April 18 and May 9, A Charlie Brown Christmas appeared on one or more of the four key Billboard charts — Traditional Jazz, Jazz Albums, Top Album Sales and the Billboard 200 — every week since last September 13. That's an astonishing feat by any album, let alone a jazz album, let alone a holiday jazz album!

Needless to say, the album's label isn't letting this milestone go unheralded.

To celebrate this feat, Craft Recordings will offer an array of limited-edition pressings, full details of which can be read via their official press release. 

The rollout begins on August 28, with a Silver Emerald pressing available exclusively at Walmart. Two more exclusives will arrive on September 25: 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 2, with an exclusive Sapphire-colored pressing. On November 6, Craft will cap off the collection with its most limited edition: a liquid-filled “Snow Globe” LP, complete with floating snowflakes, and limited to just 300 copies (pictured above). 

"Liquid filled?" I hear you query, wondering precisely what I wondered: Would such a thing actually play? Answer: yes. It's two LPs glued together, with the liquid inside. It doth indeed play.

The Walmart, Target and Urban Outfitters pressings will be housed in a special blue foil jacket. All formats are available for pre-order today.

 

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 on October 9. Additionally, the collectible zoetrope LP, originally released for the 2025 holiday season, has been re-pressed after selling out multiple times (no surprise there!), and once again is available via Craft Recordings. 

Next stop: septuple platinum!

Additional "Mystery" Details

Lee Mendelson Film Productions just issued its official press release concerning the debut release of Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack for the 11th animated Peanuts TV special, It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown.

It can be viewed here.

It includes quite a few more details than I had in my initial post, back on May 19, and in the June 11 follow-up. Most importantly, some of the release dates have changed, so take note.

To recap and update:

• The Record Store Day Indie Exclusive Magnifying Glass Clear Vinyl, available September 11, can be pre-ordered at this Record Store Day page, but bear in mind that not all stores get listed; if you don't see your local favorite, give 'em a call.

• The Mystifying Teal Vinyl, exclusive to Barnes & Noble, also will be available September 11. It can be pre-ordered here.

• The Mysterious Magenta Vinyl, exclusive to Urban Outfitters, also will be available September 11. It can be pre-ordered here.

• Finally, standard black vinyl, CDs and digital downloads will be available September 18, and can be pre-ordered here.

The biggest surprise?

This unique release invites customers to solve several mysteries! Can you find all the tiny Peppermint Patty robbers, with the aid of the included Snoopy Holmes magnifying glass sheet? (All vinyl and CD releases include this special treat.) The packaging includes several other secrets, where the listener/reader is challenged to search for clues, and solve puzzles, that will lead to even more surprises!

(Having just received an advance copy — one of the privileges of writing liner notes — I can attest to the originality and deviousness that went into this release. You thought the Zoetrope and Easter Eggs were ground-breaking? Wait until you get your hands on this one!)

Plenty of Respect: 2026 Update

Two years and change have passed since I last addressed the topic of other jazz artists doing covers of Guaraldi compositions, back in this original post.

To recap, the goal is to compile an ever-expanding list of jazz artists who've recorded a) original tribute compositions honoring Guaraldi; and b) covers of Guaraldi compositions other than "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" and the Charlie Brown Christmas quartet — "Linus and Lucy," "My Little Drum," "Christmas Is Coming" and "Christmas Time Is Here" — because they've long been popular targets.

Once again, the Mechanical Licensing Collective's Musical Works Database, which can be accessed here, has been the most help. The advantage is the ability to search by composition and composer: quite useful with respect to some of Guaraldi's more generic titles. (As the most obvious examples, several people have written songs called "Joe Cool," "Peppermint Patty" and "Pebble Beach.")

The following list represents new entries since the previous February 2024 update, which also have been added to the master list in the aforementioned March 2021 post. I've also turned this ongoing post into a section of my permanent Guaraldi informational web pages, for easier access.

And I'm pleased to note that "Great Pumpkin Waltz" continues to gain in popularity!

*******

• Air Music (Surfin’ Snoopy)

The Mich Shirey Trio, Guitar for Guaraldi

• Blue Charlie Brown

The Liberty Junior School 8th Grade Jazz Band, Lakota Schools 2019 Winter Jazz Festival

• Charlie Brown Theme

Fred Cantu and his Big Band, M.F.G.

• Great Pumpkin Waltz

Jonathan Danis, A Jonathan Danis Christmas

The Hit Crew, Kids Halloween Movie Themes

Lee Shapiro, Somewhere (mistitled as "Rain, Rain, Go Away" ... oopsie!)

Trisha Wolf, Pop and Classical Ballet Class: Songs of Autumn

Lior Yekutieli, Recent Memories

• Happiness Theme

Amanda Whiting, A Christmas Cwtch

• Oh, Good Grief

Vint, Versace & Black, A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live at the Century Room

• Star Song

Tim Dueñas Latin Jazz Trio, Originals: 9 + 3

• Thanksgiving Theme

Jonathan Danis, A Jonathan Danis Christmas