American Graffiti [Soundtrack]

American Graffiti (Related Recordings) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 22, 1993)
• Original Release Date: August 11, 1973
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: MCA
• ASIN: B000002O81
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (114 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,014 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #6 in Music > Pop > Oldies > Doo Wop
  • #8 in Music > Rock > Oldies & Retro > Rockabilly
  • #10 in Music > Pop > Vocal Pop > Classic

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. (We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley And The Comets

2. Sixteen Candles - The Crests

3. Runaway - Del Shannon

4. Why Do Fools Fall In Love - Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers

5. That'll Be The Day - Buddy Holly

6. Fanny Mae - Buster Brown

7. At The Hop - Flash Cadillac & The Continental Kids

8. She's So Fine - Flash Cadillac & The Continental Kids

9. The Stroll - The Diamonds

10. See You In September - The Tempos

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Ain't That A Shame - Fats Domino

2. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry

3. I Only Have Eyes For You - The Flamingos

4. Get A Job - The Silhouettes

5. To The Aisle - The Five Satins

6. Do You Wanna Dance - Bobby Freeman

7. Party Doll - Buddy Knox

8. Come Go With Me - The Del-Vikings

9. You're Sixteen-You're Beautiful (And You're Mine) - Johnny Burnette

10. Love Potion No. 9 - The Clovers

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

For those of us who grew up in the '70s, this drive-in compilation of '50s and '60s rock and doo-wop, complete with Wolfman Jack introductions, was our introduction to this music. There are 41 jukebox hits here, and every one of them is a classic of its time (although two tracks--"At the Hop" and "She's so Fine" are covers by the revival band Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids). In his 1973 movie, director George Lucas used the music (and the presence of mysterious deejay Wolfman) as the AM-radio soundtrack to one night in suburban California, 1962. The idea was to capture and sustain an end-of-summer, end-of-innocence mood that's in the air throughout the picture-- not as a shortcut to establishing a period (as in Robert Zemeckis'Forrest Gump). There's an awful lot of spontaneous energy in these tunes--from Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, to the Platters and the Clovers and the Del-Vikings, to the Crests and the Beach Boys--and also just a hint of melancholy that goes down very nicely with a burger, shake, and fries. --Jim Emerson

Product Description

Music from the icon! Sing along with some of the best tunes of all time!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 76 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent September 19, 2000

By Candace Scott

Format:Audio CD

What more can you say? This is quite possibly the best collection (and most eclectic sampling) of 50's and 60's music available. I was a kid when American Graffiti came out in 1973 and went week after week to the theatre to see it. It's held up beautifully all these years later. I owned the vinyl version of this double album, also the casette and even the eight track. The quality of the CD is leagues ahead of the original vinyl album, all the scratches and bumps have been removed and it results in a joyous listening experience. Each and every one of these songs is riveting, fun to listen to and just plain great!

If you're too young to remember these years, this album will give you a taste of what it must have been like to have grown up in the 50's and early 60's. An additional note: if you're never seen the movie, rent it or buy it immediately. It's a deserved classic!

70 of 75 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic rock of '50s, early '60s shine in this album! November 20, 2003

By Alex Diaz-Granados VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Of all the categories of music available on compact discs (or cassettes), one of my favorites has always been the movie soundtrack. Not only does a good soundtrack album helps listeners remember favorite scenes from the movies, but it also may inspire them to explore musical styles they would have otherwise never listened to.

Just as John Williams Romantic-era stylings of his Star Wars scores opened my ears and mind to classical music at the age of 14, the songs of various artists featured in the soundtrack for 1973's George Lucas nostalgia-laced American Graffiti opened my heart and soul to the early rock 'n' roll and doo-wop of the late 1950s and early '60s. Having been born in 1963 into a household where only my older sister listened to such artists as The Beatles, Tom Jones and Englebert Humperdinck, it was only in the days of "Happy Days" (a TV sitcom that was inspired by the success of Lucas' first real successful movie) that I got a taste of early rock 'n' roll songs in the vein of "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock," the song that kicks off this 2-CD, 41-song album.

The songs presented here were not only chosen by director George Lucas because they fit the time period (no song here was released after 1962), but also because the songs themselves were like a Greek chorus commenting on the on-screen doings of Steve, Laurie, Curt, John, Carol, Debbie and Toad. If the mood is upbeat, then songs like "Rock Around The Clock" are featured. For more emotionally charged sequences (Steve and Laurie's heart-rending argument at the school dance, for instance), The Platters' famous cover of Kerns' "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" and "Only You" are perfect accompaniment.

From that first track by Bill Haley and the Comets (such a whimsical and punny band name) to the surfin' crowd-pleasing Beach Boys' "All Summer Long," the original soundtrack album of American Graffiti will not only have listeners who saw the movie remembering the film's various characters and situations, it will also evoke the seemingly more innocent era of that pre-Cuban Missile Crisis summer of '62, with its cruising teenagers, drive-in diners with roller skating waitresses and the optimism of the Kennedy years.

This is a fun soundtrack album to listen to. If you're old enough to remember the era, it will be a personal musical portal to the past. If you're like me, born after 1962 and more familiar with Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Usher, and Britney Spears, give it a listen. It may open your heart and soul to older, yet still wonderful styles of early rock 'n' roll.

55 of 59 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic January 20, 2007

By thedude_888

Format:Audio CD

This is a fantastic soundtrack. The oldies are fading away from every day radio. Now is the time to buy CD's like this to keep that era alive.