Original released on LP MCA MCA2-8001
(US, 1973)
The soundtrack to the George Lucas film about teenage life in a small California town in the early '60s was probably the best thing about the movie, featuring several dozen outstanding early rock & roll hits. There's nothing terribly obscure here - in fact, most of these were big smashes - but it's a good survey of rock's early days, ranging from superstars like Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and the Beach Boys to great one-shots like the Monotones, the Tempos, and Buster Brown. Drawbacks: Wolfman Jack talks over the intros of a few songs, and there are a couple tracks by early-'70s Sha Na Na-type revivalists Flash Cadillac. (Richie Unterberger in AllMusic)