Ennio Morricone RIP

I posted this way back in the early days of the blog. 

Rest Easy Maestro

If there is anybody who could be said to be a better film scorer (don't know if that is the correct term) than the sadly departed John Barry then it would have to be Ennio Morricone, from his spaghetti westerns through the Mission to Cinema Paradiso they are all classics. My personal favourite has got to be Once Upon A Time In America, bits of which I used to drop into mixes all the time when I thought of myself a bit of a budding Weatherall back when delusional in the early 90s.

There are probably loads of scored by Morricone that I have never heard of. Today's track being a case in point it comes from the 1970 Italian film "Ciita Vioenta", Violent City or otherwise known as The Family which starred Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland and was set in New Orleans. I have no recollection of ever seeing this film but if it was ever on terrestrial telly when I was a teenager there is a good chance that I did as my father is a big Bronson fan!

I discovered this track on the Cherrystones compilation which I bought as David Holmes had something to do with the compiling. Most of the tracks on the cd were new to me but all are really good even the Cher track, a cover of I walk On Gilded Splinters and worth the five and a bit quid it is now going for on Amazon. It was more than double that at the time of release.

Ennio Morricone - Svolta Definitiva

Croatian Surf Rock

Were you aware that there was a large following for surf rock in the Balkans? No, me neither until my mate S told me about a cd that his older brother had copied for him. Intrigued I gave it a listen and sought it out. I love a bit of Ennio me, however preferring Once Upon A Time In America to Once Upon A Time In the West.

For A Few Guitars More is a tribute to the work of Ennio Morricone's Spaghetti Western soundtracks by bands from around the globe who specialise in the "surf rock" sound and splendid it is, too all that reverb and atmosphere. The Balkan connection comes from the fact that the album is on the Dancing Bear label from Zagreb, Croatia.

If you are able to find a copy and you like the work of Morricone or just want to hear what the Bambi Molesters sound like I would thoroughly recommend this cd.

Bradipos IV - Titoli (A Fistful of Dollars)

In The West - Once Upon A Time In The West

The Penetrators - Guns Don't Argue