Pulp Fiction (soundtrack)
Encyclopedia
Music from the Motion Picture Pulp Fiction is the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino
's 1994
film Pulp Fiction
. No traditional film score
was commissioned for Pulp Fiction. The film contains a mix of American rock and roll
, surf music
, pop
and soul
. The soundtrack is equally untraditional, consisting of nine songs from the movie, four tracks of dialogue snippets followed by a song, and three tracks of dialogue alone. Six songs featured in the movie were not included in the 41-minute soundtrack.
The album reached No. 21 on the Billboard 200
and the single, Urge Overkill
's cover of the Neil Diamond
song "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
" peaked at No. 59.
's now-iconic rendition of "Misirlou
", which is played during the opening credits. Tarantino chose surf music for the basic score of the film because, "it just seems like rock 'n' roll Ennio Morricone
music, rock 'n' roll spaghetti Western
music."
Many of the songs on the soundtrack were suggested to Tarantino by musician Boyd Rice
through their mutual friend Allison Anders
, including Dick Dale
's "Misirlou
". Other songs were suggested to Tarantino by his friends Chuck Kelley and Laura Lovelace, who were credited as music consultants. Lovelace also appeared in the film as Laura the waitress.
In addition to the surf-rock rendition of "Misirlou
", other notable songs include "Jungle Boogie
" by Kool & the Gang
, Dusty Springfield
's version of "Son of a Preacher Man
", "Flowers on the Wall
" by the Statler Brothers
and "Bustin' Surfboards" by The Tornadoes
, from 1962, which had been one of the first instrumental surf songs to hit the United States music charts after notables such as "Walk--Don't Run" by the Ventures.
Excerpts of dialogue include Jules' "Ezekiel 25:17" speech and the "Royale with Cheese" exchange between Jules and Vincent.
A two-disc collector's edition of the album was issued in 2002 — the first disc contained the songs, including five additional tracks; and the second disc was a spoken-word interview with Tarantino.
One song missing from the available soundtracks is the Ricky Nelson
"Waitin' In School" as performed by Gary Shorelle, which plays as Vincent and Mia enter Jackrabbit Slim's. The next number, "Lonesome Town
", is barely heard over the conversation about the five-dollar milkshake, but does show up on both editions of the soundtrack.
was one of the biggest films of 1994. The soundtrack reached No. 21 on the Billboard 200, and at the time, went platinum (100,000 units) in Canada alone. By November 12, 1994, total sales of more than 1.6 million were reached and by 1996 over 2 million units had been sold. In 1995 the soundtrack reached No. 6 on the charts according to SoundScan.
The soundtrack helped launch the band Urge Overkill
, which covered Neil Diamond
's "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
", into a mainstream market. Sony "received a nice sum" for "Son of a Preacher Man
" and Kool & The Gang
enjoyed a resurgence when "Jungle Boogie
" was released on the soundtrack.
The Orange County Register described why the soundtrack of Pulp Fiction stood out from all the others: "Unlike so many soundtracks, which just seem to be repositories for stray songs by hit acts regardless of whether they fit the film's mood, Tarantino's use of music in Reservoir Dogs
and Pulp Fiction exploded with a brash, Technicolor, pop-culture intensity that mirrored the stories he was telling."
Analyzing the success of Tarantino's marketing, Billboard chalked up MCA's compilation to identifying the market niche: "Pulp Fiction...successfully spoke to those attuned to the hip, stylized nature of those particular films." The eclectic "mix-and-match strategy" is true to the film. "In some cases, like Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, which were not geared toward any specific demographic, the soundtracks were still very focused albums," said Kathy Nelson, senior VP/general manager at MCA Soundtracks. "In both cases, the body of work — both the music and the film — has a specific personality."
In 1997, Gary Thompson of The Philadelphia Inquirer said that Pulp Fiction "reinvigorated surf rock". That statement would be defining for Del-Fi Records
, owned by legendary producer Bob Keane
; the Pulp Fiction soundtrack contained two songs that were originally released on Del-Fi: Bullwinkle Pt II by The Centurians, and Surf Rider by The Lively Ones. Del-Fi Records released a compilation CD in 1995 entitled Pulp Surfin featuring songs by those bands plus sixteen other surf tracks from the vaults. The cover artwork was yet another parody of the Pulp Fiction movie poster.
Inspired by the soundtrack, advertisers started to use surf music in their commercials "to help sell everything from burritos to toothpaste", making surf music hugely popular again.
More than two years after the film was released, the influence and monetary success was still being felt in the industry. "Mundane commercials using Dick Dale '60s surf licks, the kind made popular again by the Pulp Fiction soundtrack...following a trend — in this case, a two-year-old hit movie."
. The additional tracks are:
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
's 1994
1994 in film
1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time...
film Pulp Fiction
Pulp fiction
Pulp fiction may refer to:* pulp magazines, short stories presented in a magazine format, printed on cheaply made wood-pulp paper* Pulp Fiction, a 1994 film directed by Quentin Tarantino...
. No traditional film score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
was commissioned for Pulp Fiction. The film contains a mix of American rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, surf music
Surf music
Surf music is a genre of popular music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Orange County and other areas of Southern California. It was particularly popular between 1961 and 1965, has subsequently been revived and was highly influential on subsequent rock music...
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
. The soundtrack is equally untraditional, consisting of nine songs from the movie, four tracks of dialogue snippets followed by a song, and three tracks of dialogue alone. Six songs featured in the movie were not included in the 41-minute soundtrack.
The album reached No. 21 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and the single, Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill is an alternative rock band, formed in Chicago, United States, consisting of Nash Kato , and Eddie "King" Roeser . Their cover of Neil Diamond's song "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" appeared prominently in the movie Pulp Fiction, and became a hit in 1994...
's cover of the Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
song "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
"Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" is a song written by Neil Diamond, whose recording of it on Bang Records reached #10 on the U.S. pop singles chart in 1967. The song garnered a second life span when it appeared on the 1994 Pulp Fiction soundtrack, performed by rock band Urge Overkill...
" peaked at No. 59.
Composition
Tarantino used an eclectic assortment of songs by various artists. Notable songs include Dick DaleDick Dale
Dick Dale is an American surf rock guitarist, known as The King of the Surf Guitar. He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier.-Early life:Dale was born in South Boston, Massachusetts and lived in nearby...
's now-iconic rendition of "Misirlou
Misirlou
Misirlou , is a popular Greek song with popularity in five styles of music: Greek rebetiko, Middle-Eastern belly dancing, Jewish klezmer, American surf rock, and international orchestral easy listening .- History :...
", which is played during the opening credits. Tarantino chose surf music for the basic score of the film because, "it just seems like rock 'n' roll Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
music, rock 'n' roll spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
music."
Many of the songs on the soundtrack were suggested to Tarantino by musician Boyd Rice
Boyd Rice
Boyd Blake Rice is an American experimental sound/noise musician using the name of NON since the mid-1970s, archivist, actor, photographer, author, member of the Partridge Family Temple religious group, co-founder of the UNPOP art movement and current staff writer for Modern Drunkard...
through their mutual friend Allison Anders
Allison Anders
Allison Anders is an American film and television director. Anders has directed many independent films, on which she frequently collaborates with fellow UCLA film school graduate Kurt Voss.-Biography:...
, including Dick Dale
Dick Dale
Dick Dale is an American surf rock guitarist, known as The King of the Surf Guitar. He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier.-Early life:Dale was born in South Boston, Massachusetts and lived in nearby...
's "Misirlou
Misirlou
Misirlou , is a popular Greek song with popularity in five styles of music: Greek rebetiko, Middle-Eastern belly dancing, Jewish klezmer, American surf rock, and international orchestral easy listening .- History :...
". Other songs were suggested to Tarantino by his friends Chuck Kelley and Laura Lovelace, who were credited as music consultants. Lovelace also appeared in the film as Laura the waitress.
In addition to the surf-rock rendition of "Misirlou
Misirlou
Misirlou , is a popular Greek song with popularity in five styles of music: Greek rebetiko, Middle-Eastern belly dancing, Jewish klezmer, American surf rock, and international orchestral easy listening .- History :...
", other notable songs include "Jungle Boogie
Jungle Boogie
"Jungle Boogie" is a funk song recorded by Kool & the Gang for their 1973 album Wild and Peaceful. It scored number four as a single and became very popular in nightclubs. The song's spoken main vocal was performed by the band's roadie Don Boyce...
" by Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang are an American jazz, R&B, soul, and funk group, originally formed as the Jazziacs in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1964.They went through several musical phases during the course of their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then becoming practitioners of R&B and...
, Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
's version of "Son of a Preacher Man
Son of a Preacher Man
"Son of a Preacher Man" is a song recorded by Dusty Springfield in September 1968 and featured on the album, Dusty in Memphis. It was written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins. The rights to cover "Son of a Preacher Man" were originally offered to Aretha Franklin, who turned it down...
", "Flowers on the Wall
Flowers on the Wall
"Flowers on The Wall" is a song made famous by country music group The Statler Brothers. Written and composed by the group's original tenor, Lew DeWitt, the song peaked in popularity in January 1966, spending four weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart, and reaching No....
" by the Statler Brothers
Statler Brothers
The Statler Brothers were an American country music vocal group founded in 1955 in Staunton, Virginia.Originally performing gospel music at local churches, the group billed themselves as The Four Star Quartet, and later The Kingsmen...
and "Bustin' Surfboards" by The Tornadoes
The Tornadoes
The Tornadoes were a surf band from Redlands, California, the first to receive national airplay with a surf instrumental. The song was "Bustin' Surfboards", released on Aertaun Records in 1962, and it has since become a classic and mainstay of the surf genre...
, from 1962, which had been one of the first instrumental surf songs to hit the United States music charts after notables such as "Walk--Don't Run" by the Ventures.
Excerpts of dialogue include Jules' "Ezekiel 25:17" speech and the "Royale with Cheese" exchange between Jules and Vincent.
A two-disc collector's edition of the album was issued in 2002 — the first disc contained the songs, including five additional tracks; and the second disc was a spoken-word interview with Tarantino.
One song missing from the available soundtracks is the Ricky Nelson
Ricky Nelson
Eric Hilliard Nelson , better known as Ricky Nelson or Rick Nelson, was an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and actor...
"Waitin' In School" as performed by Gary Shorelle, which plays as Vincent and Mia enter Jackrabbit Slim's. The next number, "Lonesome Town
Lonesome Town
Lonesome Town is the name of a song written by Baker Knight. A version sung by Ricky Nelson became a hit single in the United States, reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1958.The song appears on the soundtrack to the film Pulp Fiction...
", is barely heard over the conversation about the five-dollar milkshake, but does show up on both editions of the soundtrack.
Influence
Pulp FictionPulp fiction
Pulp fiction may refer to:* pulp magazines, short stories presented in a magazine format, printed on cheaply made wood-pulp paper* Pulp Fiction, a 1994 film directed by Quentin Tarantino...
was one of the biggest films of 1994. The soundtrack reached No. 21 on the Billboard 200, and at the time, went platinum (100,000 units) in Canada alone. By November 12, 1994, total sales of more than 1.6 million were reached and by 1996 over 2 million units had been sold. In 1995 the soundtrack reached No. 6 on the charts according to SoundScan.
The soundtrack helped launch the band Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill is an alternative rock band, formed in Chicago, United States, consisting of Nash Kato , and Eddie "King" Roeser . Their cover of Neil Diamond's song "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" appeared prominently in the movie Pulp Fiction, and became a hit in 1994...
, which covered Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
's "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
"Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" is a song written by Neil Diamond, whose recording of it on Bang Records reached #10 on the U.S. pop singles chart in 1967. The song garnered a second life span when it appeared on the 1994 Pulp Fiction soundtrack, performed by rock band Urge Overkill...
", into a mainstream market. Sony "received a nice sum" for "Son of a Preacher Man
Son of a Preacher Man
"Son of a Preacher Man" is a song recorded by Dusty Springfield in September 1968 and featured on the album, Dusty in Memphis. It was written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins. The rights to cover "Son of a Preacher Man" were originally offered to Aretha Franklin, who turned it down...
" and Kool & The Gang
Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang are an American jazz, R&B, soul, and funk group, originally formed as the Jazziacs in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1964.They went through several musical phases during the course of their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then becoming practitioners of R&B and...
enjoyed a resurgence when "Jungle Boogie
Jungle Boogie
"Jungle Boogie" is a funk song recorded by Kool & the Gang for their 1973 album Wild and Peaceful. It scored number four as a single and became very popular in nightclubs. The song's spoken main vocal was performed by the band's roadie Don Boyce...
" was released on the soundtrack.
The Orange County Register described why the soundtrack of Pulp Fiction stood out from all the others: "Unlike so many soundtracks, which just seem to be repositories for stray songs by hit acts regardless of whether they fit the film's mood, Tarantino's use of music in Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs is an American crime film marking debut of director and writer Quentin Tarantino. It depicts the events before and after a botched diamond heist, but not the heist itself. Reservoir Dogs stars an ensemble cast: Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, and...
and Pulp Fiction exploded with a brash, Technicolor, pop-culture intensity that mirrored the stories he was telling."
Analyzing the success of Tarantino's marketing, Billboard chalked up MCA's compilation to identifying the market niche: "Pulp Fiction...successfully spoke to those attuned to the hip, stylized nature of those particular films." The eclectic "mix-and-match strategy" is true to the film. "In some cases, like Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, which were not geared toward any specific demographic, the soundtracks were still very focused albums," said Kathy Nelson, senior VP/general manager at MCA Soundtracks. "In both cases, the body of work — both the music and the film — has a specific personality."
In 1997, Gary Thompson of The Philadelphia Inquirer said that Pulp Fiction "reinvigorated surf rock". That statement would be defining for Del-Fi Records
Del-Fi Records
Del-Fi Records was a record label based in Hollywood, California and owned by Bob Keane. The label's first single released was no 4101 "Caravan" by Henri Rose released in 1958; however, the label was most famous for signing Ritchie Valens. Valens' first single for the label was "Come On Let's Go"...
, owned by legendary producer Bob Keane
Bob Keane
Bob Keane was an American musician, producer and owner of the record label Del-Fi Records. He was perhaps best known for being the producer and manager of Ritchie Valens.-Early years:...
; the Pulp Fiction soundtrack contained two songs that were originally released on Del-Fi: Bullwinkle Pt II by The Centurians, and Surf Rider by The Lively Ones. Del-Fi Records released a compilation CD in 1995 entitled Pulp Surfin featuring songs by those bands plus sixteen other surf tracks from the vaults. The cover artwork was yet another parody of the Pulp Fiction movie poster.
Inspired by the soundtrack, advertisers started to use surf music in their commercials "to help sell everything from burritos to toothpaste", making surf music hugely popular again.
More than two years after the film was released, the influence and monetary success was still being felt in the industry. "Mundane commercials using Dick Dale '60s surf licks, the kind made popular again by the Pulp Fiction soundtrack...following a trend — in this case, a two-year-old hit movie."
Track listing
Collector's edition
A two-disc collector's edition was released in 2002. It features remastered versions of the original sixteen tracks, along with five bonus tracks. The second disc contains an interview with director Quentin TarantinoQuentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
. The additional tracks are:
- "Since I First Met You" performed by The RobinsThe CoastersThe Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group that had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and "Young Blood", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller...
– 2:20 - "Rumble" performed by Link WrayLink WrayFred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr was an American rock and roll guitarist, songwriter and occasional singer....
and His Ray Men – 2:25 - "Strawberry Letter #23Strawberry Letter 23"Strawberry Letter 23" is a song written by Shuggie Otis, although known most prominently by the version recorded by The Brothers Johnson. Otis wrote the song for a girlfriend who used strawberry-scented paper when she wrote letters to him. George Johnson of The Brothers Johnson was dating one of...
" performed by The Brothers Johnson – 4:57 - "Out of Limits" performed by The MarkettsThe MarkettsThe Marketts were an American instrumental pop group, formed in Hollywood, California. They are best known for their 1963 million-seller, "Out of Limits".-Biography:...
– 2:05 - "Stranger Than Fiction / Tarantino Talks!" (2nd CD: interview with Quentin TarantinoQuentin TarantinoQuentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
) – 16:11