HUGO MONTENEGRO AND HIS ORCHESTRA - “The Good, The Bad And The Ugly”
(#261, 16th November 1968)
Even though I’ve never actually seen TGTBATU I’ve heard the original score often enough, dry empty and ragged where Montenegro’s is polished and full of incident. In the days before film soundtrack releases the shops were full of “…and His Orchestra” cash-ins, usually themes themed along Western, Spy, Love Song lines. Montenegro, with a pedigree in space-age exotica, was probably at the classy end of this spectrum but it would be easy to criticise his version for perceived inauthenticity.
Easy yes, fair no. The purpose of a film score and a pop version of a theme are very different: the former is setting a scene, helping you go in deep to a set experience. With the latter, the scene it’s setting is your own listening space - a living or bedroom in 1968 most likely. Sure you want to be reminded of the film, but maybe you also want to be in the film. So Montenegro’s smoothing out of the tune, his poppification of it, his greater emphasis on the beat and his nonsense vocals are partly tactics to make it easier for you to involve yourself, strike a pose like Clint. 6
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Marcello Carlin on September 1st, 2006
Nonsense vocals (which are also in the Morricone original) notwithstanding, the first instrumental number one since “Foot Tapper” if I’m not mistaken.
Oh No It's Dadaismus on September 1st, 2006
You haven’t seen the “The Good, The Bad And The Ugly” or “Bonnie and Clyde”? Very odd…
FT's Tom on September 1st, 2006
Marcello - yeah, I was going to talk a bit about instrumentals but I decided to wait a few #1s.
Dadaismus - I don’t watch many films! I have a DVD of TGTBATU which I got in an HMV sale for 2 quid, so this is one I will watch eventually.
FT's Pete Baran on September 1st, 2006
Its my job to watch the films round here, a job I take seriously.
Oh No It's Dadaismus on September 1st, 2006
Yes, but they’ve both been on the telly about a million times each!
FT's rosie on September 1st, 2006
I’ve seen TGTBATU twice, I think, but not for a long time. Actually the first time it was more like LBLBLT (Le Bon, Le Brut, Le Truand, I the dialogue was in Italian with French subtitles. Not that it mattered all that much as the dialogue was terse and spare, as were the snippets of Morricone’s score. I was familiar with this recording when I first saw the film so I was a little taken aback by the fragmentary nature of the score. The score, of course, fits the film perfectly but you’s hardly sit and listen to such minimalism in isolation, so Montenegro made a good fist of it.
That doesn’t make it any more than lift music for me though.
DV on September 1st, 2006
Tom, if you like music you should see the film. It probably has the best marrying of music to visual images of any film ever made.
FT's Doctor Mod on September 1st, 2006
This is possibly the most interesting musical example of Italian exoticization of the American frontier since Puccini’s La fanciulla del West.
Milan on January 29th, 2007
Does anybody know is Montenegro his real or artistic name?