Hugo Montenegro and His Orchestra, Music From ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ & ‘A Fistful of Dollars’ & ‘For a Few Dollars More’

By SoDak

My father hated John Wayne films. But he loved Clint Eastwood westerns, especially those directed by Sergio Leone. When he was in his twenties, he even looked like Eastwood did in these movies. We regularly watched A Fistful of Dollars, A Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. My father, who generally did not pay too much attention to music, really liked Ennio Morricone’s compositions for these films. These scores were an integral component, woven into the landscapes and the characters, creating an emotional connection to the scenes. The main title song of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is permanently etched in my brain. I can repeatedly listen to just this song. I have a visceral reaction. I get chills and excited when I hear it; I wish I was riding a horse through the desert while this song emanated from the earth itself. “La Missione San Antonio” and “La Storia di un Soldato” are absolutely beautiful and moving compositions. I can clearly see the scenes from the film, every time I hear these songs.

My parents had a few 8-tracks and a dozen records when I was very young. The main record that was ever played in the house was Hugo Montenegro and His Orchestra, Music From ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ & ‘A Fistful of Dollars’ & ‘For a Few Dollars More.’ My mother knew how much my father loved the music in the Eastwood westerns, so when she was at Woolworths and saw this record she bought it, not knowing that it was not the original soundtrack. Regardless, this particular record was extremely popular within the United States when it was released in 1968. The cover of the theme song (for The Good) was a hit, reaching number 2 on the Billboard Charts, just behind “Mrs. Robinson” by Simon and Garfunkel. Hugo Montenegro, after hearing the music from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, decided he had to record a cover version of the theme, and then proceeded to record an additional ten songs selected from Leone’s Spaghetti Western trilogy. These versions of the songs are more lush and smooth, than those in the films. Nevertheless, they evoke similar feelings in me. Plus, this record is satisfying given that it includes the theme songs for all three of the movies. In many ways, I have two versions of these songs in my head, from the films and this record.

Many years later, I made a copy of the Montenegro record on cassette for my father. Every road trip, he would request that we listened to this tape, and then he would let it play over and over. While we thought it was funny, none of us ever got sick of hearing it. Every time the opening notes of the theme for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly started we got goosebumps and settled into the ride, enjoying looking out over the open plains of South Dakota. It was the only tape he ever listened to. When my father died, there was only one choice for the music to be played at the funeral, and this record provided a bit of solace.