Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a soundtrack album to the 1964 Rankin/Bass television special of the same name. The original cast recordings from the TV special (side "A" of the original LP release) are supplemented with instrumental versions recorded by the Decca Concert Orchestra (on side "B") on the Compact Disc version. All songs used in the television special were written by Johnny Marks.
The original LP album was first released in 1964. It was reissued as a CD in 1995. The CD was certified Gold by the RIAA on November 30, 2004. The album has sold 1,411,200 copies in the United States since 1991 when SoundScan began tracking sales.
Track listing
Notes The recordings of "A Holly Jolly Christmas" featured on this album and heard in the TV special, were never released as singles, and none of them became the one commonly heard during the holiday season. That version—featuring Burl Ives with an acoustic guitar intro and a slower tempo—was a different recording; first released as a single in November of 1964 (B-side track, "Snow for Johnny"), and then featured the following year on Ives' 1965 Christmas album Have a Holly Jolly Christmas. The brand-new song "Fame and Fortune", which replaced "We're a Couple of Misfits" in airings of the television special from 1965 through until the special was restored in 1998,Explanation of alternate versions of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer at imdb.com and at cbspressexpress.com does not appear on the soundtrack album. The recordings of " "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" featured on this album and heard in the TV special, are two different recordings, the television version of which is more commonly heard during the holiday season. An alternate version—featuring Burl Ives with an acoustic guitar and a slower tempo—was a different recording featured the following year on Ives' 1965 Christmas album Have a Holly Jolly Christmas. On the CD re-issue, contents / track order are the same except the "Christmas Medley" is placed in the middle, at track 10 (between A9 and B1 - the Burl Ives' sung and instrumental versions of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer").
Voices and personnel Burl Ives – voice of Sam the Snowman ("A Holly Jolly Christmas," "Silver and Gold," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer") Stan Francis – voice of Santa Claus ("Jingle, Jingle, Jingle") Janis Orenstein – voice of Clarice ("There's Always Tomorrow") Billie Mae Richards – voice of Rudolph ("We're A Couple Of Misfits") Paul Soles – voice of Hermey ("We're A Couple Of Misfits") Maury Laws – musical director of the Videocraft TV Musical Decca Concert Orchestra (side B instrumentals) Herbert Rehbein – conductor, Decca Concert Orchestra
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (2004) Peak position Chart (2020) Peak position Chart (2022–2023) Peak position
Year-end charts Chart (2018) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard) 76 Chart (2019) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard) 50 Chart (2020) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard) 51 Chart (2022) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard) 45 Chart (2023) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard) 46 Chart (2024) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard) 50 Chart (2025) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard) 56
References
External links Decca DL 34327 (original LP) at discogs.com MCA 15003 (1980 LP re-issue) at discogs.com MCAD 22177 (1995 CD re-issue) at amazon.com Soundtrack at internet movie database (imdb.com)