The 1965 television special A Charlie Brown Christmas gave us two classics. One is Charles M. Schulz’s beloved holiday story, based on his Peanuts comic strip. The second is the soundtrack, the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas. It’s a nostalgic must-listen during the festive season for many—and country music’s Trisha Yearwood, who just released a new holiday album of her own, Christmastime, is no exception.
“The album I have to play every Christmas is A Charlie Brown Christmas. I love every single song, and I’ve always wanted to record ‘Christmas Time Is Here.’ I knew it had to be on this record,” Trisha said in a press release. “I walked down the aisle to that song when I married Garth. We had a Christmas wedding, so it’s always been extra special to me.”
“Christmas Time Is Here” is one of the original songs from A Charlie Brown Christmas, which also features jazz arrangements of traditional carols. Vince Guaraldi, a jazz pianist, composed it and recorded it with bassist Fred Marshall and drummer Jerry Granelli.
Originally an instrumental piece, it gained lyrics when the TV special’s creators felt it needed them. Lee Mendelson, the special’s executive producer, stepped in to write the words, according to All Arts: “Because we were running out of time, I wrote some lyrics in about 15 minutes on the back of an envelope,” he said. “The song became ‘Christmas Time Is Here,’ which has become a holiday standard covered by dozens of recording artists. Who knew?”
During a Q&A session with fans in a TalkShopLive video, Trisha ellaborated on what the song, written 60 years ago now, means to her: “What I love about that song is it really does talk about all the things that make Christmas Christmas, and especially the spirit of Christmas. … We seem to be kinder to each other during the holidays—we’re nicer in traffic. We’re just nicer to people in general, and the sentiment of this song is, ‘I wish we could carry this spirit through the year.’ That’s needed.”
On the set of Trisha’s music video for “Christmas Time Is Here” Courtesy of Trisha Yearwood
Trisha’s version of “Christmas Time Is Here,” like the other tracks on Christmastime, was arranged by David Campbell and recorded with a 40-plus-piece orchestra. The album features other nostalgic childhood favorites, too, including “Pure Imagination,” from the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, based on Roald Dahl’s book, and “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” from the 1966 animated TV special Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. She also covers the Elvis classic “Blue Christmas,” and gives us an original—“Merry Christmas, Valentine,” co-written and performed with Garth Brooks.
You can check out Trisha’s orchestral take on “Christmas Time Is Here” in her music video that was filmed in a real-life log cabin, complete with a cute and cozy kitchen that “actually looks so much like my grandma’s kitchen—she had almost these exact cabinets,” the singer revealed in the TalkShopLive video.
Want to hear it live? Check Trisha’s tour schedule. On 12 special dates this December, she’ll be performing the album with local symphonies across the country to spread holiday cheer.
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