"Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood" soundtrack

Happy Groundhog's Day!

In anticipation of the upcoming Academy Awards, I decided to redo the soundtrack for the film "Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood." Most of the music featured in the film is supposedly being heard on car radios broadcasting L.A.'s Boss Radio station KHJ on three days in 1969: Feb. 8 and 9 and Aug. 8.

But if you look at the soundtrack for the film as compiled by director/writer Quentin Tarantino you'll find that songs are from years before and after 1969. It seemed to me that it would have been better to use songs that would have actually been played on the Top 40 station on those particular days.

But how do you know what songs were being played on KHJ on those particular days? While you can't be absolutely certain, there is a great resource for finding the top hits on KHJ during those weeks: https://93khj.blogspot.com/2008/05/khj-survey-index.html. I used the charts for the weeks of Feb. 5 and 12 and Aug. 6 to determine a new soundtrack for the film.

SIDE A

1. Can I Change My Mind - Tyrone Davis (Treat Her Right - Roy Head & The Traits)
2. Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man - The Bob Seger System
3. River Deep, Mountain High - Deep Purple (Hush - Deep Purple)
4. Mug Root Beer Advertisement
5. Mendocino - Sir Douglas Quintet (Hector – The Village Callers)
6. I’m Living in Shame – Diana Ross and The Supremes (Son of a Lovin’ Man - Buchanan Brothers)
7. You Showed Me - The Turtles (Paxton Quigley’s Had the Course - Chad & Jeremy)

SIDE B

1. Tanya Tanning Butter Advertisement
2. Good Thing - Paul Revere & The Raiders
3. Hungry - Paul Revere & the Raiders
4. Sweet Cream Ladies March Forward – The Box Tops (Choo Choo Train - The Box Tops)
5. I Got a Line on You – Spirit (Jenny Take a Ride - Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels)
6. Proud Mary – Creedence Clearwater Revival (Kentucky Woman - Deep Purple)
7. This Girl is in Love with You - Dionne Warwick (The Circle Game - Buffy Sainte-Marie)

SIDE C

1. Crimson and Clover – Tommy James and the Shondells (Mrs. Robinson - Simon & Garfunkel)
2. Numero Uno Cologne Advertisement
3. Long Green – The Fireballs (Bring a Little Lovin’ - Los Bravos)
4. Suddenly - Heavenly Sent Fragrance Advertisement
5. Vagabond High School Reunion Advertisement
6. KHJ Los Angeles Weather Report
7. The Illustrated Man Film Advertisement
8. The Nitty Gritty – Gladys Knight and the Pips (Hey Little Girl - Dee Clark)
9. Summer Blonde Advertisement
10. Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show - Neil Diamond

SIDE D

1. What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am? - Bill Deal and the Rhondels (Don’t Chase Me Around - Robert Corff)
2. Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon - Paul Revere & the Raiders
3. California Dreamin’ - Jose Feliciano
4. Dinamite Jim (English Version) - I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni
5. I’d Wait a Million Years – The Grass Roots (You Keep Me Hangin’ On – Vanilla Fudge)
6. Quentin's Theme - Charles Randolph Grean Sound (Miss Lily Langtry - Maurice Jarre)
7. Wouldn't You Really Rather Have a Buick Advertisement - Neil Diamond (KHJ Batman Promotion)

One important point is that not all of the songs featured in the film are on the official soundtrack album. I found this nice list of all the songs in the order they appear in the movie: https://screenrant.com/once-upon-time-hollywood-movie-soundtrack-songs/. At one point I planned to replace all the songs, but in order to keep hold of my sanity I decided to focus only on the 22-track soundtrack album.

Three songs on the soundtrack are actually on the KHJ lists: "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" by the Bob Seger System, "Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show" by Neil Diamond and "Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon" by Paul Revere & the Raiders. So they're all kept. Also, in the film two other Paul Revere and the Raiders' songs, "Good Thing" and "Hungry" are in a scene where they're heard from an album playing rather than being heard on the radio. So I kept them. Finally, I also kept Jose Feliciano's "California Dreamin'" because I felt it was pivotal to the scene, and "Dinamite Jim" simply because I couldn't figure out what to replace it with.

In other cases, I replaced a band's song with one by the same group, but which appears on the KHJ lists. These include replacing Deep Purple's "Hush" with the band's "River Deep, Mountain High"; and The Box Tops' "Choo Choo Train" with their song "Sweet Cream Ladies March Forward."

From there, it was a matter of trying to find songs from KHJ's lists that matched the basic feel of the songs I was replacing. I put the song I replaced in italics following the song I'm replacing it with. I am kind of shocked that Tarantino didn't use "Quentin's Theme" which is originally from the "Dark Shadows" TV show and was a minor hit on KHJ's list. I mean, how appropriately coincidental is that?

Tarantino takes a number of liberties with "Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood" regarding timeline, and that doesn't stop with the song selection. One part of the film shows a party at the Playboy Mansion, even though Hugh Hefner didn't move into the mansion until 1972. Plus, some characters are based on real people, and others are fabrications. And of course, the climatic ending is a complete alternative history. So in that mindset, creating a soundtrack of songs from different years isn't far-fetched and Tarantino was more than likely going for a certain feel rather than historical accuracy. And on top of all that, licensing issues might have dictated what songs were available.

Still, I personally think my version would have worked just as well and have the added luxury of being tied to the time and place. All the songs are not difficult to track down, but they're from so many different sources that I'm not going to list them all here. I use the same cover for the album.

NOTE: It's now three months later since I posted this and I realized the order of the songs was completely wrong. When I put this together, I must have been looking at a different list rather than the track order. Anyway, besides fixing the track order, I also added in most of the commercials that appear on the actual soundtrack. I left off the Batman promo at the end since it was done sometime in 1966-68 and the TV show had been canceled by the time the movie takes place. In its place, I found a Buick commercial from 1969 with Neil Diamond singing the jingle, and I thought that was an amusing way to end the album. I then divided up the tracks as the vinyl version of the soundtrack was done.

The Supremes - "Sing Ballads and Blues"

The album The Supremes Sing Ballads and Blues was scheduled for release in September 1963. However, it was canceled and has never seen the light of day as it was originally intended. It would have been the group's second album if it had been released.

SIDE A
1. Come On, Boy
2. Mr. Blues
3. My Heart Can't Take It No More
4. Sunset
5. You Need Me
6. Tears in Vain

SIDE B
1. Tumbling Tumbleweeds
2. You Didn't Care
3. The Tears
4. Hey Baby
5. Heavenly Father
6. It Makes No Difference Now

There is debate on what tracks were supposed to be on this album, and in fact, there may not have been a finalized track list before it was canceled. The track list I offer here is conjecture based on what I've read on some fan sites.

While the album may not have been released, all the tracks are now available:

• The expanded version of the group's debut album, Meet the Supremes, includes "The Tears," "Hey Baby" and "Heavenly Father." 
• The expanded version of the album Where Did Our Love Go that was released in 2004 includes "Mr. Blues" and "Come On Boy."  
• On The Supremes Sing Country, Western and Pop, which was released in 1965, the tracks "My Heart Can't Take No More," "It Makes No Difference Now," "Sunset," "You Need Me," "You Didn't Care," "Tears in Vain" and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" are included.

Believe it or not, over the years, at least eight Supremes albums were canceled for one reason or another. The "Motown Machine" could be an odd system with projects coming and going, artists signed and disappearing, and what seemed surefire hits collecting dust.

As for a cover, I found this on the Soulful Detroit message board and thought it looked perfect.

The Supremes -- "Promises Kept" and "Dreams"

When I decided to put together The Supremes' unreleased Promises Kept album, I didn't quite understand what I was getting myself into. It didn't take long for me to realize that Motown continues to sit on a crazy amount of unreleased songs. I'm not sure what the lack of motivation is, but it seems ridiculous. A true embarrassment of riches.

There were reportedly 19 songs recorded for the Promises Kept sessions. But there were also leftover tracks from a previous album, Right On, and stray tracks from a couple of compilations. In all, I came up with 24 songs, enough for two albums. (Actually, there are quite a few other tracks from 1970-71 that are either lost or collecting dust somewhere). 

Although Motown created a catalog number for Promises Kept, it apparently never produced a tracklist. So to create Promises Kept, I compiled my own, and I made a second album with the rest that I've titled Dreams.

Promises Kept
SIDE A

1. Oh My Poor Baby

2. I'll Let Him Know I Love Him

3. Chained to Yesterday

4. If I were Your Woman

5. I Ain’t Easy to Lose

6. The Day Will Come Between Sunday and Monday

SIDE B

1. Life Beats

2. It’s Too Late

3. Take a Look Inside

4. Eleanor Rigby

5. Can't Get You Out of My Mind

6. May His Love Shine Forever

In selecting the songs for Promises Kept, I think I took a unique approach: I chose only songs that had been co-written by women. The one exception is Lennon/McCartney’s “Eleanor Rigby,” which of course is about a woman. The first side is dominated by the writing team of Gloria Jones and Pam Sawyer. “If I Were Your Woman” had already been recorded by Gladys Knight and The Pips. "The Day Will Come Between Sunday and Monday" had been originally scheduled for The Supremes’ Right On album, and ended up being the debut Motown single for Kiki Dee.

The second side kicks off with “Life Beats,” which had been scheduled to be an A-side of a Supremes single in 1970 but was pulled and removed from the Right On album as well. Besides “Eleanor Rigby,” this side includes another cover in Carole King’s “It’s Too Late.” The album ends on a spiritual note with “May His Love Shine Forever,” which was included on a 1971 Motown compilation Rock Gospel, The Key to the Kingdom.

For the Promises Kept album cover, I found the group photo online and added titles. 

Dreams

SIDE A

1. Walk with Me, Talk with Me, Darling

2. I Ain't Got the Love of the One I Love

3. Still Water (Love)

4. Take Your Dreams Back

5. Never Can Say Goodbye

6. Tears Left Over

SIDE B

1. Steppin’ on a Dream

2. All I Need

3. And I Thought You Loved Me

4. I Don't Want to Own You (I Just Want to Love You)

5. Make It with You

6. You've Got To Pay The Price

This Dreams album contains more cover tunes, including “Still Water (Love)” [Four Tops], “Never Can Say Goodbye” [Jackson 5], “Steppin’ on a Dream” [Jimmy and David Ruffin], “All I Need” [Temptations], “Make It with You” [Bread] and “You’ve Got to Pay the Price” [Gloria Taylor].

“Steppin’ on a Dream” was originally meant for The Supremes’ Right On album. “Still Water (Love)” is the only track on either of these albums to feature Mary Wilson on lead vocals rather than Jean Terrell. With two of the song titles including the word “dream” or “dreams” I decided to use that for the title.

For the Dreams album cover, I found this on the Soulful Detroit message board and just made some alterations.