The first time I heard any music from this movie was when I purchased the CAM LP entitled, THE WEST 1, the song THEY CALLED HIM DJANGO by John Balfour was a featured track on the compilation alongside a number of rare Spaghetti musical gems, like THE PRICE OF GOLD by Don Powell. I always wondered why the full score had not been issued and after seeing the movie itself on cable about a year ago I was even more astounded that this one had not been picked up for release by the likes of Digit movies and Hillside. Well my prayers have been answered and here it is in full stereo courtesy of Hillside. This is a great score by Maestro Umiliani, it contains all of those wonderful musical fingerprints that we associate with the Italian western. Racing percussion, electric guitars, strummed Spanish guitars, deep and echoing bass, castanets, soaring trumpet solos, choir, the obligatory saloon track a strong and haunting theme and a catchy title song, but also present is the inimitable stylization of Piero Umiliani. I wont bore you with individual track analysis but will make a selection of a handful that are deserving of special mention, Track 6, LIBERO E SELVAGGIO, is a delight, an easy going work for guitar which is punctuated by bass, the opening leads into a low key almost downbeat version of the scores central theme, but livens up and from nowhere bursts into a great little guitar piece with a riff that is as memorable as Giombini’s quirky SABATA theme and rivals Nicolai,s INDIO BLACK guitar theme. Track 7 is the song from the movie, performed by John Balfour, it is a laid back vocal, but a solid one with lyrics that make sense, which is sometimes not always the case with songs from Italian produced westerns, however this edit is slightly different from the version I heard many years ago, but that recording of the vocal is repeated at the end of the disc. Track 20 CAVALCATA also has similarities to Giombini,s SABATA as it begins in a very similar way to his second version of the theme from that score, but this soon melts away and is overtaken by a crazy sounding pair of trumpets that mirror each other in a jazzy sounding upbeat composition exhilarating stuff. All I can really say about this score is that I know it will be an instant hit with collectors, and also a compact disc that will be given regular plays. It is presented well with striking art work on both front and back covers, plus a nice touch inside with a picture of the CAM West 1 compilation LP cover, and a number of stills from the movie. The sound on this one is just perfect I cannot fault the work that has gone into re-mastering this as it is as clear as crystal. I love the style and the look of the Hillside productions, they always have eye arresting covers and are wonderfully illustrated within, the work carried out is obviously that of a fellow enthusiast and collector, the care and attention on each new release certainly shows. For this we have Claudio Fuiano to thank, as we all know Claudio has more or less devoted his life to being involved with the release of rare and sought after Italian film music, and for this we must say a big thank you. Another highly recommended Hillside production.
MOVIE MUSIC INTERNATIONAL. (MMI) . 