It’s that time of year again and if you’re rushing to buy gifts, hey you might consider giving your audiophile friends and family a vinyl record. But not just any vinyl record, choose the best christmas records to own on vinyl to match the season.
It would make your Christmas dinner warm and more delightful, don’t you think?
There’s a lot of artists releasing vinyl records lately all thanks to affordable and easy vinyl manufacturing like UnifiedMFG custom vinyl pressing.
To help you along with choosing the best ones, here are some of the coolest Christmas vinyl record releases we’ve seen.
#15 A VERY SHE & HIM CHRISTMAS - SHE AND HIM
The album was released in 2011 and is composed of twelve tracks. Among them is the duo’s cover of the song “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” which was featured in a TV show where Deschanel starred in. In celebration of the Christmas album’s 10th Anniversary, the She & Him duo, composed of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward released a limited edition reissue of the album.
This limited edition includes a digital download card, the original LP and a 7 inch single vinyl holding one track on each side, “Holiday” for side A and “Last Christmas” for side B. Both custom vinyl records are in metallic silver color which are housed inside their own single jackets. The 12 inch is printed with the duo wearing black and the 7 inch with them in red.
#14 MERRY CHRISTMAS - MARIAH CAREY
Mariah Carey’s legendary “All I Want For Christmas Is You” single, which is now one of the acknowledged modern Christmas classics, belongs in this album. This album was the American singer-songwriter’s first Christmas album. It was surely a successful one as it sold 15 million copies all around the world since its release.
To commemorate its 20th anniversary, it was released in Europe and the United States in 2015. The 20th Anniversary Edition of the album was a record pressing on 12 inch custom vinyl records which were housed inside single vinyl jackets printed with the album’s original cover.
#13 A JOLLY CHRISTMAS FROM FRANK SINATRA - FRANK SINATRA
Frank Sinatra’s first full length Christmas album was released in 1957, the same year Elvis Presley released his hit Christmas album. And though both sang Christmas songs for their albums, there was still a clear difference in feels and delivery. With Sinatra’s album we get to hear a more full, suave, male voice that makes you think of a Christmas spent with royals.
This album was reissued in 2013 in Europe and had a custom vinyl pressing for it on green custom vinyl records. The vinyl is stored inside a single vinyl jacket printed with the original album cover and cut with a inversed C revealing a portion of the record.
#12 ELLA WISHES YOU A SWINGING CHRISTMAS - ELLA FITZGERALD
Ella’s Christmas album is a compilation of her renditions of popular American Christmas songs like “Jingle Bells”, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. For this reissue, the custom vinyl pressing was done by Vinyl Me, Please on green and purple hi-melt custom vinyl records. Just like the two vinyl albums before this, it also used its original album cover which seems to look like a zebra biting a flower’s stem among the grasses.
#11 CHRISTMAS - MICHAEL BUBLE
Though Michael Bublé is not like Frank Sinatra with his classy and suave crooning, we cannot deny that his voice is not to be disregarded when we think of classy and elegant singing. Thanks to his incredible voice, Bublé’s Christmas album, entitled “Christmas”, has become his best selling album with 12 million copies sold worldwide.
For the album’s reissue in 2018, Warner Music Group Company released a limited edition 12 inch custom vinyl record stored inside a single jacket printed with the album’s original cover. Something special about this edition is the design of the vinyl record itself which is a clear vinyl splattered with green and red colors.
#10 THE BEACH BOYS CHRISTMAS ALBUM - BEACH BOYS
The Beach Boys’ Christmas album is a 12 inch vinyl record compiling five original songs and five covers. Side A consists of six tracks, with all five original Christmas rock-themed songs on it while Side B consists of the other 6 cover songs.
This edition of the album is an exclusive custom record pressing of Newbury Comics. It is a completely green vinyl album with its green custom vinyl record and green vinyl jacket printed with a photograph of the band decorating a Christmas tree.
#9 WRAPPED IN RED - KELLY CLARKSON
This is Kelly Clarkson's first Christmas album and it is a mixture of both original and standard Christmas songs. It was released October 23, 2013 by RCA Records with 5 original songs and 11 covers of popular Christmas songs and carols. Clarkson’s Wrapped in Red album is definitely wrapped in red with her vinyl record in red and her on the front cover also covered in red.
#8 CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT - THE CARPENTERS
The Carpenters’ 1978 Christmas album entitled Christmas Portrait is the first black vinyl record on this list and even so, it is definitely at par with the other vinyl albums on this list. It is an album consisting of 17 tracks which features the duo’s signature Christmas song “Merry Christmas Darling” and two versions of “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town”. And for this vinyl album, aside from the standard black vinyl record is the vinyl jacket showcasing Robert Tanenbaum’s “Triple Self-Portrait” as well as the lyrics of the tracks printed on the inner sleeve.
#7 IT’S A HOLIDAY SOUL PARTY - SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings welcomes the Christmas season with a soulful, vibrant, and funky vibe. Their album “It’s a Holiday Soulful Party” kicks off with “8 Days (of Hanukkah)”, their ode to The Festival Lights.
For this new edition of the album, the jacket is a picture of the band sitting beside a Christmas tree and Sharon approaching the camera while holding out a present. This vinyl record is designed like a red peppermint candy, very fitting for Christmas.
#6 MERRY CHRISTMAS - BING CROSBY
This is the oldest Christmas album on the list and it will never disappoint. It is a compilation of Christmas songs released in 1945. It includes the Irish crooner’s signature song “White Christmas” which is the best-selling single of all time as it sold over 50 million copies all around the world.
Even after repackages and reissues, the single still topped Billboard charts for more than nine months. In this repackaged vinyl album with black vinyl record, it features Crosby laughing with a Santa hat on the top of his head.
#5 A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOU FROM PHIL SPECTOR - VARIOUS ARTISTS
The compilation album produced by Phil Spector is a great album, a true representation of pop classics. The Rolling Stones ranked it as 142 in their list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and number 1 in their list of 25 Greatest Christmas Albums of All Time. The black vinyl record is stored in the original album cover of the album.
#4 IN THE SPIRIT: A CELEBRATION OF THE HOLIDAYS - JOHN DRISKELL HOPKINS
John Driskell Hopkins showcases his signature baritone voice as he sings different favorite Christmas songs along with the accompaniment of Atlanta Pops Orchestra. It also features special guests. The vinyl album is a double LP in transparent blue with four tracks per side.
#3 SONGS FOR THE SEASON - INGRID MICHAELSON
Ingrid Michaelson’s first Christmas album released in 2018. It is a compilation of her covers of the standard Christmas songs and carols. Last November 5 this year, Michaelson released a reissue of her 3 year-old album.
The deluxe edition is composed of two standard black vinyl records on vinyl jackets. It also includes a digital download card, a recipe card of Ingrid’s Brown Butter Blondies, and a 12x12 inch lyric and poster insert.
#2 A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS - VINCE GUARALDI
Another great Christmas album is a soundtrack album of the same name. The tracks were all performed by Guaraldi, making it his eighth studio album. In 2016 the album was certified by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as a quadruple platinum as it sold over 4 million copies.
This snowflake picture disc edition of the album was released in 2019 and was exclusively sold at Walmart. The vinyl’s packaging retained the original album cover that features the famous Peanuts characters.
#1 ELVIS’ CHRISTMAS ALBUM - ELVIS PRESLEY
The best-selling Christmas album of all time in the United States is by Elvis Presley. It contains a total of 12 songs, including Presley’s rendition of “White Christmas” and “Here Comes Santa Claus”, with six pressed on each side.
This edition of the 1957 album was released by RCA Victor in Germany in 1985. Green is the chosen color for the custom vinyl records which complimented the red single jackets of the album.
That’s it! There’s our 15 best records on vinyl that you definitely need to own. Hope you get to choose from all these gems.
