Thursday, November 13, 2014

Record #0602: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly / March With Hope – HUGO MONTENEGRO, HIS ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS

RCA Victor 47-9423 (original, promo) USA, Jan. 1968
Words & Music bySide AEnnio Morricone; Side B – Morricone
Musicians: Tommy Morgan (harmonica), Art Smith (ocarina), Elliot Fisher (electric violin), Manny Klein (piccolo trumpet), Muzzy Marcellino (whistling) and others in an orchestra & chorus conducted by Hugo Montenegro
Recording sessions: Produced by Neely Plumb at RCA Victor's Music Center Of The World, Hollywood, CA, 1967 (?)
Highest chart positions:  US #2, US AC #1, UK #1

The title song is a cover of Ennio Morricone's theme from a 1966 Spaghetti Western "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" starring Clint Eastwood. Personally I think this is a very good cover, but still I prefer the original one with Pino Rucher's crisp & raw guitar sounds.

Both tracks appear on Montenegro's 1968 album "Music from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More", where he had music from the entire "Dollars Trilogy". He also released singles with the other two theme songs, but those didn't do as well in the charts as this one.

List price:  Promos not listed. For original release, Very Good+ is $4, Near Mint is $8

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