The film takes its title from the lyrics of the song "Pleasant Street," written and performed by Tim Buckley. A selected part of the lyrics: "You don't remember what to say / You don't remember what to do / You don't remember where to go / You don't remember what to choose / You wheel, you steal, you feel, you kneel down / All the stony people / Walking 'round in Christian licorice clothes / I can't hesitate / And I can't wait / For Pleasant Street"
Jean Renoir's final feature film, in a cameo appearance in which he discusses love and life with the film's stars Beau Bridges and Maud Adams. The scene featuring the director was mostly improvised.
Director Monte Hellman's appearance came about due to the film's writer, Floyd Mutrux, who wrote much of the screenplay for Hellman's Asphaltrennen (1971) but lost credit in an arbitration with the Writer's Guild due to the fact he was not a member of the Guild. So Hellman agreed to appear in this film.
In one shot, in which Beau Bridges' character is preparing to shoot the hairspray commercial scene in the final sequence, the clapboard clearly reads "Title: The Christian Licorice Store; Director: J. Frawley".
Filmed in 1969 and shelved for two years.