Soundtrack #4 Morricone's Masterpiece RIP 1928-2020

There are so many soundtracks that Ennio Morricone composed for film, but this one is the soundtrack that put him on the map.  As a lover of film and music, this is where all the music pieces fit with all the cinema pieces.  It is like building something out of legos and when completed the finished product you made something that totally matches the photographs on the box.  It's a soundtrack that was often duplicated, but never perfect like this one is.

I was kid when I saw this film and I would here my dad often till me that this was his favorite film ever.  He mentioned the soundtrack often and how each piece of music fit so well with the scene it was trying to enhance.  This soundtrack made me focus on what soundtrack music was for film.  It also made me love film as well.  The storyline was great and the acting was suburb and it was an epic in every description and superlative given to it.

My Ennio Morricone obsession as it were was by accident.  I had to put two and two together and I was shopping for music at the local record store.  There were always a section of tapes that were leftovers or cutouts.  They were not more then $3.99 and with a small budget I had I would buy a few at a time.  Some were great and some over time I ignored.  It's were I started my collection of ECM records.  I would buy the cassettes for $1.99 a bargain looking back.  I found some good ones, and over time I would get them on record or CD.

Somehow a Ennio Morricone Greatest Hits showed up in this discount tape display.  I grabbed it quickly and looked at the music on it.  One song was the theme to The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Around the same time of buying this cassette a friend who worked at the record store handed me a cassette from a musician named John Zorn.  On this cassette was a mix of John Zorn's interpretations of Morricone's music.  the friend who told me this cassette would be a perfect compendium to the Greatest Hits I bought.  He was right, not only was Morricone such an influence on John Zorn in the liner notes the small little essay gave high praise.  I was totally understanding what Zorn and countless others met.  Ennio Morricone was the go to guy for a soundtrack to your film.

After watching The Good, The Bad and the Ugly again I could see how this soundtrack completely made the movie so much better.  If it was any other composer the music would have fallen flat.  This soundtrack is often copied, but never duplicated the way Ennio Morricone did the music.  Over the next year or so I picked up the soundtrack to The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. I also made an effort to pick up more Morricone music and give it a good listen.   A great compilation of Morricone's music is on an anthology of his work called The Legendary Italian Westerns.  The songs from The Good, The Bad and the Ugly are not on it, but the music makes you curious on other Westerns Morricone scores.

There are many pieces on the soundtrack that you get curious on how imaginative Morricone was when he composed these.  The instrumentation and the use of wordless vocals keeps your head scratching.  It's amazing.  One piece of music is so memorable that you know where and or when the piece is used in the film.  It's imagery that is stamped in your brain.  Reliving these songs while writing this post gave me a smile because I know exactly where there placed in the film.

I don't buy soundtracks to films often but if I see if Ennio Morricone has composed the music for the film then I know I have a bit of a treat.  As of this post Morricone has made 520 soundtracks for movies.  The reputation of his music on these soundtracks more then likely start right here with The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.  I guarantee that this soundtrack will be on repeat for a few more spins then normal.  I love it so much that I'm on a small mission to find an original pressing of the record.  This music will grab you like no other, now is the time to give this music the greatness it deserves.  Listen and I think you too will be a Morricone fan for life.  Enjoy!!

As of writing this post Ennio passed away!  I'm truly heartbroken!  The man was a master and will always be remembered for his great contribution to music and cinema.  RIP The Maestro!