Saturday, July 14, 2012

Ennio Morricone - Angel Face / Una Pistola Per Ringo 7" (1965)


Okay, here's another rare 7" from Italy.  This one features music by Ennio Morricone written for the 1965 Duccio Tessari spaghetti western "Una Pistola Per Ringo (A Gun For Ringo)" starring babyfaced badass Giuliano Gemma.  Funny enough, I've actually seen this film, however I only saw part of it since my friend and I tracked down a burned bootleg DVD at Movie Madness that was taped of Swedish TV (and had Swedish Subtitles).  Where the story gets weird is about 15 minutes into the film it cuts to Ringo recovering from a gun wound in a rickety shag, nursing himself back to health by eating gross soup. Incase you didn't catch that, the DVD was missing about 40 minutes of the middle of the film, so it starts and then basically cuts to the climax, which was actually quite a funny way to see a film!  After about a forty minutes of watching the film, it ended, then there was about 40 minutes of a really depressing Swedish daytime television movie from the nineties that played for the remainder of the DVD. Talk about a weird double feature, two completely unrelated half-movies for the price of one!  It was pretty funny though.  Thanks for checking your quality Movie Madness!

Anyway, back to the record.  Side a features the soft western ballad Angel Face which features one of my favorite (phonetic) English singing Italian vocalists Maurizio Graf, who as far as I can tell has mostly done western songs.  However, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an entire Maurizio Graf vocal album, I just haven't come across one yet.  The song is very pretty and sentimental with top notch vocals by Maurizio.  A typical Morricone western arrangement, with the big booming drums, twangy guitars, lush string arrangements and choirs backing the whole production.  Side B, although it has an alternate title is basically the same as Side A except it is an instrumental version with the backing choirs more up front and a fuzzy lead guitar playing the melody in Maurizio's place.  Both very nice tunes.  I hope you enjoy them.  Freshly ripped straight from the Cowboy's crates with large cover scans for you digital collectors out there...

Tracks:
A: Angel Face (Vocals by Maurizio Graf)
B: Una Pistola Per Ringo

http://depositfiles.com/files/g2tm5x1vo

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Christy - Deep Down / Amore Amore Amore Amore 7" (1968)

Step back one year to 1968, set in Italy this time.  Here we have the extremely rare Deep Down single performed by Christy.  "Deep Down" is supposedly the only existing official artifact from the Danger: Diabolik soundtrack by Ennio Morricone (which is rumored to have been destroyed in a studio fire).  I know very little about Christy except that she is an insane singer with a wild passionate delivery which rivals even Italian pop goddess Mina!  Feel free to clue me in if you've got the goods on her.  The track "Deep Down" was the theme song for Mario Bava's campy film version of the comic "Danger: Diabolik" which stars a sensuous blonde haired Marisa Mell and a typical wooden performance by John Philip Law (which actually works quite effectively in this case).  This film is amazing, probably one of the most entertaining comic renditions I've seen.  Super mod, super classy, lots of twists, amazing soundtrack!  The music is your typical light hearted Morricone fuzz-fest.  Driving drums, bells, percussion, mermaid vocals and sweet sweet guitar fuzz (presumably Alessandro Alessandroni).  On the flip side we have a nice pop number written by Italian soundtracker Piero Piccioni.  Slowed down romantic vibe building up into a huge yelling session by Christy.  Pretty over the top considering the type of song it is.  I tell you, the Italians know how to write an effective pop vocal track!

A fresh 320 rip from original vinyl complete with scans.  Enjoy!

Tracks:
A: Deep Down
B: Amore Amore Amore Amore


http://depositfiles.com/files/4s8te1jzi

Slogan 69


As promised, here is the first 7" to kick off a small series of seven inch rips by the Cowboys from Sweden.  This one needs no real introduction, everyone should already know how amazing this little record is!  Slogan is probably one of my favorite tracks by anyone ever with it's dark and sexy groove layered with orchestral stabs, groovy bass lines and harpsichord melodies so good that they are maddening!  Talk about a duet, this one is unmatched!  Beautiful, breathy, highly melodic and almost aggressive with passion.  More please.  Anyhow, I'm sure you all know it.  So the real gem here is the B-Side.  A little instrumental track called "Evelyn" which I believe was Jane Birkin's character's name in the film this was made for (the 1969 french art film Slogan).  Great film as well, I highly recommend it!  Anyway, Evelyn is a breathtaking piano driven number with a hypnotic groove and breezy instrumentation.  Over all, it has a bit of a melancholy vibe to the melody, which is probably the reason I am such a sucker for it!  This record is pretty hard to find and it occasionally fetches astronomical prices online.  As far as I know, this 7" is the only official release of Evelyn (aside from the Serge Gainsbourg CD box set of film music put out some years ago).  A true rarity, hope you enjoy it as much as I, and please spread it around...

Tracks:
A. La Chanson De Slogan
B. Evelyn

http://depositfiles.com/files/t8r5bwc6z