Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (music)
Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the soundtrack from the 2019 film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film also contains numerous songs and scores not included on the soundtrack.
Background[edit]
Tarantino and his music supervisor, Mary Ramos listened to 14 hours of original 1969 KHJ-AM soundchecks to help create the soundtrack. It includes original Boss Radio jingles by Johnny Mann[1] and commercials, as well as the voices of Boss Radio DJs including Don Steele and Charlie Tuna, also featured in the film.[2] Ramos and Tarantino selected the songs in his home by going through his vinyl collection. They were approached by some name acts to record covers and by Lana Del Rey to record original material but Tarantino insisted he only wanted to use music recorded before 1970.[3]
Tarantino stated he was influenced by the soundtrack for American Graffiti. He said he "went nuts for [it]" and "It had Wolfman Jack DJ stuff filtered through. That was probably my first soundtrack album." When it came to using Neil Diamond's "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show" Tarantino stated, "Brother Love sounds a bit like Charles Manson" and "I have a connection to Neil that goes back to the Urge Overkill song [Diamond's "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon"] in Pulp Fiction." "I think this might be [my] best [soundtrack] yet."[4]
Mark Lindsay, lead singer of Paul Revere & the Raiders, whose music is featured in the film, once lived at 10050 Cielo Drive, the address of the Tate murders.[5] He wrote the song "Good Thing" which appears on the soundtrack, at the residence.[6] The Mamas & the Papas song "Straight Shooter" appears in the film and its trailer. The sheet music for the song was found on the piano inside Sharon Tate's residence during the investigation of her murder. Members of the group Cass Elliot and Michelle Phillips are portrayed in the movie.[7][8]
"The Green Door" is sung in the film by Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton on Hullabaloo. The song was cited as a reference to a portal to hell by a late 1960s Charles Manson-like cult leader, David Berg in letters regarding his group "The Family".[9] Another Hullabaloo scene was shot featuring DiCaprio singing "Don't Fence Me In" by Cole Porter and Robert Fletcher but it was not included in the final cut of the film.[10]
Tarantino stated he had an idea for the film that he abandoned which would help to illustrate how the movie was a fairy tale. He thought of using songs from the fictional band, The Carrie Nations from the film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, as though they were real. Tarantino went on to say that Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is connected to the Manson Family through both the character "Z-Man and with Phil Spector, for many reasons." He would have included them on KHJ.[11] The Playboy Mansion scene was originally scored to Bobby Jameson's song "Vietnam" from Mondo Hollywood, before being changed to "Son of a Lovin' Man."[12] Tarantino also said he really wanted to use the song "California Girl (And the Tennessee Square)" by Tompall & the Glaser Brothers in the film but was unable to.[13]
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
Jonah Bromwich of Pitchfork said the music was "a highlight" and an "oft-disquieting mixtape of golden-age rock n' roll, radio DJ patter, and period-specific commercials."[14] Ben Allen of Radio Times commented, "Tarantino knows exactly how effective music can be in enhancing key scenes in his films. This is evident throughout Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."[15] Michael Roffman of Consequence opined, "The collection is chock full of 60's selections that look strange on paper, but work effortlessly together on screen."[16] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote, "Listening to Once Upon a Time brings that world to life. It's like switching the AM radio on to a 1960s that never faded away."[17] It was nominated for the best compilation soundtrack album for visual media at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.[18]
Analysis[edit]
Jon Drawbaugh analyzed the way in which Once Upon a Time in Hollywood used its music thematically. He noted that Paul Revere & the Raiders' "Hungry" is used when Manson shows up to look for Terry Melcher at the Tate/Polanski residence where Melcher once lived with one of the band's members, whom Melcher produced. Drawbaugh also pointed out how the use of "Out of Time" by The Rolling Stones coincides as "the story is coming to its finale," and "darkness is falling upon Hollywood." He referred to Joan Didion's The White Album and how it illustrated how the Tate murders marked a transition from idealism and "the free spirit hippie vibe" into something "darker and more sinister." Drawbaugh said even the use of the ads was used in step with the film. When Helena Rubinstein's Heaven Sent ad is heard during a scene in which Cliff Booth talks to "Pussycat," the line "A little bit naughty, but heavenly" is heard, which Drawbaugh saw as a hint to what Booth thought about her. Drawbaugh also stated that the use of the ads was to provide an immersive radio experience, as Tarantino had done with K-Billy (Steven Wright) in Reservoir Dogs.[19]
Justin Martell noted that the Mamas & the Papas' "Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)" evokes "Manson-vibes" and is used as "Manson Family members [are] creeping up Cielo Drive [in Benedict Canyon] in their 1959 Ford." Martell states that this is a "perfect use of this song."[20] Jason Gorber of /Film wrote how Simon & Garfunkel's Mrs. Robinson is used to foreshadow "an illicit connection soon to come" by evoking another film, Mike Nichols' 1967 The Graduate, which it was originally written for. "The song plays as Cliff [Booth] (Brad Pitt) spots the (much younger) Pussycat (Margaret Qualley)," using its connection with The Graduate, in which Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) seduces the much younger Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman).[9][21]
Ethan Warren analyzed in detail the film's use of the radio ad for Jack Smight's The Illustrated Man, which appears on the soundtrack. It appears at the beginning of Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood and Warren writes that it is used to foreshadow the rest of the film. The Illustrated Man, like Tarantino's film examines the fear of younger generations by older ones. Warren notes The two films are also about three connected stories. Where The Illustrated Man and its stories are overshadowed by the title character, Once Upon a Time's shadow is Charles Manson (Damon Herriman). When the radio ad says "Don't dare stare," Warren sees that as a comment about Manson. Warren states that Manson has become America's ideal bogeyman. He believes Tarantino takes that away in his film by not only erasing his legacy but also by not making him a threat on Spahn Ranch or in the film's finale. And so, Warren concludes that a "price is to be paid for being intrigued by a villain," and just as we should not stare at the Illustrated Man, neither should we "stare" at Manson. Warren also comments on the story "The Veldt" from The Illustrated Man and how it is about children who turn into killers based on the media they consume, and "Sadie"'s (Mikey Madison) justification in Once Upon a Time that because Rick Dalton pretends to kill people on TV he has taught her and others to kill, and so deserves to be murdered himself.[22]
Author Ron Wilson wrote about the use of the "Lillie Langtry Theme" from John Huston's The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. The song starts playing at the end of Once Upon a Time when "the camera cranes above the gates as we watch Rick being greeted by Sharon." Roy Bean is a fantasy and myth of the Old West. It is about a time of transition in the West and was made at a time when Hollywood was transitioning away from Westerns, as Wilson sees Tarantino correlating with Once Upon a Time and it being about Hollywood transitioning away from Westerns and into a new era. Wilson says both films romanticize innocence and are shrines to a world that never existed. He states they are both symbolized by actresses. In the case of Roy Bean, by Lillie Langtry (Ava Gardner) and in the case of Once Upon a Time, Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie).[23] Kim Newman pointed out how both films share a fantasy revenge element as well. In Roy Bean the title character (Paul Newman) lives much longer than the historical Roy Bean and exacts revenge against the oil companies that changed America and the Old West.[24]
Soundtrack[edit]
| Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | ||||
| Released | July 27, 2019 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 1:14:19 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | L. Driver Productions Inc. | |||
| Quentin Tarantino film soundtrack chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [17] |
| Pitchfork | 7.7/10[14] |
Charts[edit]
| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA Charts) | 14 | [29] |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) | 18 | [30] |
| Flanders, Belgium (Ultratop Flanders) | 17 | [31] |
| Wallonia, Belgium (Ultratop Wallonia) | 98 | [32] |
| Czech Republic (ČNS IFPI) | 35 | [33] |
| France (SNEP) | 49 | [34] |
| Germany (Offizielle Top 100) | 18 | [35] |
| Hungary (MAHASZ) | 35 | [36] |
| Netherlands (Dutch Album Top 100) | 68 | [37] |
| Poland (ZPAV) | 13 | [38] |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE) | 15 | [39] |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) | 16 | [40] |
Additional music[edit]
Novel[edit]
A novelization of the film written by Tarantino was published in 2021. It contained printed lyrics of five songs not heard in the film with the permission of Hal Leonard LLC.[45]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Little Green Apples" | Bobby Russell | |
| 2. | "Lookin' out My Back Door" | John Fogerty | |
| 3. | "Secret Agent Man" | P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri | |
| 4. | "The Teddy Bear Song" | Don Earl and Nick Nixon | |
| 5. | "There But For Fortune" | Phil Ochs |
Limited-edition single[edit]
The Collectors Edition Blu-Ray and 4K release of the film issued in December 2019 included a limited-edition blue vinyl 45 (Columbia 38-25444). Although packaged in a mock sleeve for Rick Dalton's version of Green Door, the single itself contained "Bring a Little Lovin'" by Los Bravos and the Paul Revere & the Raiders recording of "Good Thing," which are also on the soundtrack album.
References[edit]
- ^ a b Durgin, Vance (January 21, 2020). "How Johnny Mann came to write the KHJ jingle in "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood"". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 22, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
- ^ Martino, Alison (July 19, 2019). "KHJ, L.A.'s Coolest AM Radio Station, Is Basically a Background Actor in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"". LAmag. Archived from the original on January 12, 2021. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
- ^ Browne, David. "Inside "Once Upon a Time Hollywood" Soundtrack". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
- ^ Glickman, Simon (December 19, 2019). "Radio Tarantino Plays All the Hits". Hits Daily Double (Interview). Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
- ^ Adams, Erik; Rife, Katie; Vanderbilt, Mike; Ihnat, Gwen; McLevy, Alex (August 2, 2019). "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood... annotated". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on August 4, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- ^ Lindahl, Chris (October 6, 2019). ""Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" Soundtrack: 4 Things Quentin Tarantino Wants You to Know". IndieWire. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ Runtagh, Jordan (March 21, 2019). "The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Trailer Makes a Chilling Secret Reference to Charles Manson". People. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ a b Moran, Sarah (July 26, 2019). "Every Song in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
- ^ a b c Gorber, Jason (August 1, 2019). "How the 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' Soundtrack Helps Quentin Tarantino Shape His Version of 1969 Los Angeles". /Film. Archived from the original on August 2, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
- ^ Collis, Clark (November 22, 2019). "Leonardo DiCaprio sings (sort of) in extended Once Upon a Time in Hollywood clip". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
- ^ Willman, Chris (October 4, 2019). "Quentin Tarantino on His "Once Upon a Time" Music Picks and Proudest Soundtrack Moments". Grammy Museum at L.A. Live. Variety. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ Tarantino, Quentin (July 26, 2021). "Explore Quentin Tarantino's favorite songs & soundtracks". My Whatever Playlist (Podcast). Sirius XM. Archived from the original on July 21, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ "Quentin Tarantino". Grammy Museum at L.A. Live. October 2, 2019. Event occurs at 39:00-41:00. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
- ^ a b Bromwich, Jonah (July 31, 2019). "Various Artists: Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 15, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
- ^ Allen, Ben (August 14, 2019). "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood soundtrack: All the 1960s tunes featured in the movie". Radio Times. Archived from the original on August 15, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
- ^ a b Roffman, Michael (July 25, 2019). "Quentin Tarantino announces Once Upon a Time in Hollywood soundtrack". Consequence. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
- ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen. "Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Quentin Tarantino's Once upon a Time in...Hollywood". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 15, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
- ^ "Artist: Quentin Tarantino". Grammy Awards. Archived from the original on October 4, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
- ^ Drawbaugh, Jon (September 11, 2020). "Synclove: Jon Drawbaugh – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". Synchtank. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
- ^ Martell, John (September 10, 2019). "Top Musical Moments of Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood". Ship to Shore Media. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ Murphy, A.D. (December 17, 1967). "Film Review: 'The Graduate'". Variety. Archived from the original on March 27, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
- ^ Warren, Ethan. "The Illustrated Manson". Bright Wall/Dark Room. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
- ^ Wilson, Ron (February 4, 2020). ""For Hollywood and Miss Sharon!" Cinetextuality in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood". Columbia University Press. Archived from the original on October 13, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
- ^ Bissette, Stephen R.; Dallmann, Shane; Lucas, Tim; Newman, Kim (September 23, 2019). "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Round Table". New Beverly Cinema. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
- ^ "Kathy Keegan – Suddenly". Discogs. Archived from the original on October 15, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
- ^ Thomas, Robert McG. Jr. (June 8, 1998). "Shirley Polykoff, 90, Ad Writer Whose Query Colored A Nation". New York Times. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
- ^ "Obituary: Rosemary Rice Merrell, 87, started in TV and radio". New Canaan Advertiser. August 21, 2012. Archived from the original on 2019-06-02. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
- ^ "Commercials: Week of 16-20 August". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media Inc. August 16, 1969. p. 25. Archived from the original on October 15, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
- ^ "Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Album)". ARIA Charts. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
- ^ "Soundtrack-Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". Ö3 Austria Top 40. Archived from the original on August 30, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
- ^ "Soundtrack Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". Ultratop (in Dutch). Archived from the original on September 13, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- ^ "Soundtrack Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". Ultratop (in French). Archived from the original on September 13, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- ^ "Hitparáda-CZ-Albums-Top 100". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (in Czech). Archived from the original on May 6, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
On the chart page, select 201934 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit," and then click "Zobrazit" to retrieve the correct chart data
- ^ "Soundtrack-Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Album)". SNEP. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
- ^ "Soundtrack Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Album". GfK Entertainment charts (in German). Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
- ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista". MAHASZ (in Hungarian). 2019. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
- ^ "Soundtrack Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". Dutch Album Top 100 (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on September 13, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
- ^ "Olis: Oficjalna Lista Sprzedaży". Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (in Polish). Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
- ^ "Top 100 Albumes – Semana 37". Productores de Música de España (in Spanish). September 6, 2019. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
- ^ "Soundtrack Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". Swiss Hitparade (in German). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- ^ Chow, Andrew R. (July 29, 2019). "Breaking Down the Hidden Meanings and Historical References in the Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood Soundtrack". Time. Archived from the original on July 31, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- ^ Irwin, Corey (July 26, 2019). "A Guide to the Music of "Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood"". Ultimate Classic Rock. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- ^ Frame, James (February 11, 2020). "The Johnny Mann Singers-Midnight Special". Donkey-Show. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
- ^ Rougeau, Michael (July 31, 2019). "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood: 42 Easter Eggs & References You Might Have Missed". GameSpot. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
- ^ Tarantino, Quentin (June 29, 2021). Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. New York: HarperCollins. p. 401 (unnumbered: first page after 400). ISBN 978-1398706149.