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It’s a score so bizarrely distinctive that Reese Witherspoon has a meltdown to it in ELECTION and Quentin Tarantino uses it for the climactic death in KILL BILL VOL. 2. Yes, NAVAJO JOE is truly unforgettable.
Prolific composer Ennio Morricone is beloved for his wholesale reinvention of the western film score, combining operatic melodies, Italian pop and bizarre instrumental innovations. Many of his scores for Sergio Leone's "spaghetti westerns" have become classics not just of the genre, but the whole of film music.
Of Morricone's western scores, NAVAJO JOE (1966) stands out as his single most outrageous effort, if not the most downright insane. Utilizing full orchestra and the choral group I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni (The Modern Singers of Alessandroni) featuring stunning soloist Gianna Spagnulo (also heard on MOSES THE LAWGIVER, and GUNS FOR SAN SEBASTIAN from FSM), Morricone crafted a main title based on the chorus blasting out "Navajo Joe" amid shrieking Indian cries. It has to be heard to be believed and is utterly catchy – if not an occasion to stand up and proclaim love of life itself.
John Bender, writing in the liner notes to FSM's new CD, puts it best: "This music was not drafted to slavishly trace a fictional narrative involving a character named Navajo Joe – the score IS Navajo Joe."
Joe is an Indian brave (Burt Reynolds) who slays dozens of bandits in order to obtain "a dollar a head" from white townsfolk needing protection. Subtlety is not the point of director Sergio Corbucci: the story is a model of a quick-moving, non-talky B-movie plot, with copious action driven by the outstanding music. In addition to the main theme, Morricone also provides a recurring piece of percussive action and a rapturous love theme for Joe's attachment to a half-breed maid (Nicoletta Machiavelli).
The NAVAJO JOE score has become legendary over the years, in part due to Morricone's credit (the pseudonym "Leo Nichols") and the scattered availability of the soundtrack. Three tracks were released in stereo on a Morricone compilation, and an LP was released in mono featuring a brief program of music. (The CD that appeared in the 1990s was mastered from vinyl sources in hideous sound quality.)
FSM's premiere, definitive CD compiles the complete NAVAJO JOE soundtrack from 1/4" master tapes for the best-possible fidelity. This includes the three stereo tracks, the additional monaural tracks from the LP, and previously unreleased cues also in monaural sound – sequenced in film order, with bonus tracks afterwards. It is the NAVAJO JOE CD for which fans have always dreamed. Liner notes are by Bender and veteran B-movie director – and devoted Navajo Joe fan – Jim Wynorski.
Check it out at http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm?ID=8178
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I believe this is my son's favorite Morricone score. He even made several videos using that shrieking main title before Tarantino did.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that Tarantino uses several cues from NAVAJO JOE in KILL BILL VOL. 2, not just the main theme.
Oh, and 'A Silhouette of Doom' (track 2) was apparently used in DATE MOVIE somewhere.
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Great News - this is a terrific italian western score - can't wait to get it!
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I don't know what fates were able to bring this release together, but I thank them for it.
By the by, Arch, I take it your son is interested in filmaking? Must be a talented chap.
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Does anyone know for sure if the indian style screaming from Navajo Joe that was used in Election was original, or re-recorded by the film's composer Rolfe Kent?
Having seen Election just the once a few years ago I cannot recall from memory. At the time I didn't think it was but its been a long time since I listened to the LP.
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thanks mr jack, that solves that then.
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It's limited to 3,000.
By the by, Arch, I take it your son is interested in filmaking? Must be a talented chap.
I think he is. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to have a gift for writing or creating ideas, but he's a superb craftsman in directing, editing, and matching sound to visuals.
He matched the NAVAJO JOE shrieking to his old company logo and somehow managed to isolate one voice and make it echo as the logo ends. It was quite effective.
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It's limited to 3,000.
By the by, Arch, I take it your son is interested in filmaking? Must be a talented chap.
I think he is. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to have a gift for writing or creating ideas, but he's a superb craftsman in directing, editing, and matching sound to visuals.
He matched the NAVAJO JOE shrieking to his old company logo and somehow managed to isolate one voice and make it echo as the logo ends. It was quite effective.
Hope he doesn't find Dad's post about his lack of some gifts!
LK
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Hope he doesn't find Dad's post about his lack of some gifts!
Luckily, we've talked many times on the subject. I tend to live vicariously through him, so I'm often brutally honest about his talents or lack thereof. I guess he appreciates it since he calls to get my advice on filmmaking matters.
Sidetracking somewhat, I actually see a lack of creative writing skills in many young filmmakers, and I think a lot of it has to do with the success of Quentin Tarantino. They all look at his films and say, "Gee, I can do that." Then they do these lengthy dialogue scenes full of pop-culture references (with lots of cussing, of course), and usually culminating in some unexpected, graphic violence.
So all these scripts from my son and his friends are incredibly talky, and the dialogue is almost always excruciatingly pointless and unfunny. Plot, story, and characterization just never materialize.
Oddly, Tarantino himself seems to be suffering from this same problem, as DEATH PROOF clearly shows.
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Arch Stanton: So all these scripts from my son and his friends are incredibly talky, and the dialogue is almost always excruciatingly pointless and unfunny. Plot, story, and characterization just never materialize.
Perhaps he should be posting on this forum.
Luckily, we've talked many times on the subject. I tend to live vicariously through him, so I'm often brutally honest about his talents or lack thereof. I guess he appreciates it since he calls to get my advice on filmmaking matters.
I predict years of therapy and a very happy psychiatrist.
I'm not sure what was intended by either of your comments, but my son and I have a very healthy, strong relationship that includes being honest with each other. In fact, I'm hoping that we'll be working together on several projects in the near future.
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Arch
you, me and your kid, we could always dig up the gold coins in the next grave, of course!
if you're not too busy?
Frankly, dunno about you, but I could do with $200 in gold coins.
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Arch
you, me and your kid, we could always dig up the gold coins in the next grave, of course!
if you're not too busy?
Frankly, dunno about you, but I could do with $200 in gold coins.
Sounds good to me, although $200,000 sounds even better.
And let's let Tuco do all the legwork again...
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there are, as we know, two types of people in this world....
and some of em dig...
where are the shovels?!!
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"Hey, blondie! I got de shovel!"
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