A Charlie Brown Christmas is the eighth studio album by the American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi. Coinciding with the television debut of the Christmas special of the same name, the album was released in the first week of December 1965 by Fantasy Records.

Vincent Anthony Guaraldi was an American jazz pianist best known for composing music for animated television adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip. His compositions for this series included their signature melody "Linus and Lucy" and the holiday standard "Christmas Time Is Here". Guaraldi is also known for his performances on piano as a member of Cal Tjader's 1950s ensembles and for his own solo career. Guaraldi's 1962 composition "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" became a radio hit and won a Grammy Award in 1963 for Best Original Jazz Composition. He died of a sudden and unexpected heart attack on February 6, 1976, at age 47, moments after concluding a nightclub performance in Menlo Park, California.