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.


Classic   January 21, 2007
 46 out of 47 found this review helpful

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.


Magnificent   September 20, 2000
 43 out of 45 found this review helpful

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!


Music of an Entire Era   May 3, 2007
 41 out of 41 found this review helpful

I loved the movie and I love the soundtrack. It's amazing to hear so many great songs and bands of the past all together at once.
The soundtrack truly embodies an entire era of music, the mood and feel of which anyone who listens can feel. You are drawn into it by listening and just plain feel good during it, the songs are some of the most remembered and loved of all time.
This movie started or at least kept alive that trend of letting music be another character and being a significant part of the story. George Lucas, i and I'm sure everyone else believe, accomplished his goal. To make a movie that dealt with, among other things, coming of age; and to let music be a huge part of that story. You wouldn't have American Graffiti without all of these great songs of the olden days. They made that movie great.


Gets the Party Going !   April 23, 2007
 29 out of 30 found this review helpful

Great fun in this collection of great Classic songs.

Getting right to the point, this CD is an essential addition to any music lover's collection.

Buy it and get the party mood going!