Soundtracks to 37-year-old movies on LP are generally relegated to the dollar bins if not a box in the attic. The soundtrack to “Harold & Maude,” though, has been available for only a few months, and in that time become one of the hottest collector’s items currently in Internet auction sites.
Cameron Crowe, an aficionado of Hal Ashby’s film and the Cat Stevens songs that form its soundtrack, issued a vinyl-only soundtrack in December through his Vinyl Films imprint, quickly selling out the limited edition run of 2,500 through the Internet and mail order. At the end of May, copies could be found for between $100 and $150.
“It’s all about celebrating the film’s legacy quietly — just kind of luxuriating in a tribute to Hal Ashby,” Crowe says of the labor of love that took two years to assemble. “It’s a bouquet for fans of the movie, which was a pure, simple statement about love.”
As much as he is a fan of the film and the music, Crowe was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm the post-college generation has shown for the material. Visceral evidence was supplied at an Eddie Vedder concert as the Pearl Jam front man performed “Trouble” and “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out,” a track that was never released until Universal issued a box set seven years ago. Rather than react mystified, Crowe says, there were fans who started requesting “Don’t Be Shy,” the other “H&M” rarity.

The news has been out there for a week and it has even confounded some scribes. The vinyl edition of Bruce Springsteen's "Magic" will be released Sept. 25, one week ahead of the CD and the digital edition.
Where many retailers and fans complain that vinyl editions follow the release of a CD, by moving up the Springsteen album, the release date falls within the eligibility window for the 50th annual Grammy Awards.
Imagine, though, if Columbia stumbles into something here. Vinyl continues to grow in popularity despite the consistently high prices.Imagine a world, though, that would allow a fan to purchase a vinyl record for about $15 and a for a couple bucks more, provide them access to the digital edition of the album.
The Springsteen faithful who still own vinyl copies of "Born to Run," "Darkness on the Edge of Town" and "The River" might well want both, but have no interest in shelling out 20 to 30 bucks for the benefit of sound quality and portability. Might there be some sort of new-fangled business model hiding in there, especially for indie rockers with vinyl-loving fans? Makes more sense than previous vinyl-computer links.