Included in the film, but not on the soundtrack, are "Gee" by the Crows, "Louie Louie" by Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids, and Harrison Ford's in-character a cappella rendition of "Some Enchanted Evening" (though the reason for the latter two's exclusion is because those sequences weren't added to the film until the 1978 re-release, they were absent in the original 1973 released version)[2] A second compilation, titled More American Graffiti (MCA 8007) (and not to be confused with the 1979 film sequel of that name) was issued by MCA in early 1975 with George Lucas's approval.

The UK version of the soundtrack album is slightly reordered and omits three tracks; both Beach Boys songs and "Teen Angel" by Mark Dinning.

Wolfman Jack appears on seven tracks: "That'll Be The Day", "Fannie Mae", "Barbara Ann", "Book of Love", "To the Aisle", "Green Onions", and "Only You (And You Alone)".

The CD features the single version of the song which concludes by repeating the verse "But when I kissed the cop at 34th and Vine, he broke my little bottle of Love Potion No.

"Party Doll" by Buddy Knox: fades out earlier than the original version during the final chorus.