How did Tarantino choose the song "Little Green Bag" for Reservoir Dogs?

How did Tarantino choose the song "Little Green Bag" for Reservoir Dogs? - Side view of African American female in protective mask and gloves picking green spruces on market while choosing plants on street

Today I watched the retro-meta-iconic power walk scene in Reservoir Dogs again, which features the song "Little Green Bag".

This song by the Dutch George Baker Selection reached only no. 21 in 1969 on the U.S. singles charts, and their other productions were utterly unremarkable. It was probably not part of the "collective U.S. musical subconsciousness", at least not in its mainstream.

How did Tarantino choose that song? He probably didn't have "song scouts" back then presenting finds to him. (Does he now?) Did he simply choose from songs he knew, possibly after some digging of his own?



Best Answer

Reservoir Dogs has two credited music supervisors plus one credited assistant music supervisor. It’s possible their work was limited to obtaining clearance (licensing) for songs chosen by Tarantino, but it’s also possible if not likely they participated in song selection (maybe not the assistant).

One thing music supervisors often bring to the table is a comprehensive knowledge of extant music. Along with that, most music lovers have songs, albums, bands, and genres that they love but which were never top hits. Both directors like Tarantino and music supervisors can be motivated to explore their musical knowledge and collections for music that they understand, feels right for the moment, but isn’t overplayed. Lately a lot of “summer blockbuster” movies seem to use the same cues for the same situations. Auteurs like Tarantino want to have a more original and particular voice and tone in their films, so they are just as likely to place obscure tracks in their films as hits.




Pictures about "How did Tarantino choose the song "Little Green Bag" for Reservoir Dogs?"

How did Tarantino choose the song "Little Green Bag" for Reservoir Dogs? - Side view of African American female in protective mask and gloves choosing tall green coniferous tree while standing in market
How did Tarantino choose the song "Little Green Bag" for Reservoir Dogs? - Crop faceless buyer with shopping bag picking green asparagus while standing near stall with fresh greens in supermarket on blurred background
How did Tarantino choose the song "Little Green Bag" for Reservoir Dogs? - Enjoy Life Text On Green Tiles With Black Background



What song are they talking about in Reservoir Dogs?

Money by Pink Floyd. The first draft of the script called for the song where "Little Green Bag" is now. It was later changed because Tarantino heard "Little Green Bag" over the radio and was extremely nostalgic.

Who sang Little Green Bag in Reservoir Dogs?

The title for the film first came to Quentin Tarantino while visiting a production company and noticing that they had a pile of unsolicited scripts under the label "Reservoir dogs". All those scripts were fighting with each other for attention as dogs trapped in a reservoir tank. The name got stuck in his mind.

Why did Tarantino call it Reservoir Dogs?

Background. The track's original title was "Little Greenback", in reference to the color of the US dollar. However, the single was given the erroneous title "Little Green Bag", which some took to be a "bag of marijuana".



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Images: Uriel Mont, Uriel Mont, Michael Burrows, Thirdman