Dollar Music For Dollar People

Willing to trudge through abandoned dollar sections, distant discount forests, cut-out bin hideouts, thrift sloughs, flea market battlefields and beyond for a diamond in the rough. Morricone madness and Reggae Fever.

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Lee Perry’s Lyrics Highjacked

One from the JA singles box. Shortly after Lee Perry left the countryside for the big city hustle of Kingston he started working for the infamous sound system operator and Treasure Isle record label owner/producer Duke Reid. Initially Perry was only doing odd jobs for Reid, though his real sights were on making it as a dancer and a singer. When the opportunity arose Perry auditioned one of his original tunes to Reid for possible recording. Reid immediately turned it down, though he was impressed with Perry’s lyrics. So impressed in fact that he straight up stole the lyrics and applied them to a Stranger Cole song that he was producing at the time. The outcome was the upbeat Ska song “Rough and Tough” released in 1963 on Reid’s side label Dutchess. This little stunt angered Perry so much that he quit working for Treasure Isle and joined the ranks of arch-rival label Studio One run by Coxtone Dodd. Great Jamaican music folklore.

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Il Diavolo Nel Cervello 1972

Released: 1972

Aka: Devil In The Brain, Le Diable Dans La Tete, Le Demon En Tete, Le Cerveau Diabolique

Director: Sergio Sollima

Composer: Ennio Morricone

Conductor: Bruno Nicolai

Feature length film

APPLIED MUSIC

Together Sergio Sollima and Ennio Morricone pulled off some spectacular feats. Whatever the (sub) genre, no matter the scenario, Sollima's film fictions were always perfectly complemented with Morricone's musical treatments. The Big Gundown (1966)  Citta Violenta (1970) and Revolver (1973) are three top trier examples. The Devil in the Brain is no exception. The main theme and it’s variants being the soundtrack's most compelling components. What I find interesting about the theme is the unique focus of the electric bass as a primary lead instrument. The drums/percussion were played lightly with brushes and were placed very low in the mix. They’re almost inaudible at times, allowing the electric bass to stand out as the anchoring instrument along with being the melody frontrunner. I was unable to identify the session bass player for this recording. Whoever they were, they're Devil in the Brain's shining star. Also, the curious appropriation of the first few bars of Beethoven's "Fur Elise" sprinkled throughout the entire soundtrack makes for a great musical knock-knock joke. You never know when its going to make an appearance. The beautifully executed 2015 vinyl reissue of Il Diavolo Nel Cervello is a must have for any discerning Morricone freak.

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L’AVVENTURIERO 1967

Released: 1967

AKA: The Rover, Peyrol le boucanierFrance, The Adventurer, Ich komme vom Ende der Welt

Director: Terence Young

Composer: Ennio Morricone

Conductor: Bruno Nicolai

Feature length film

APPLIED MUSIC

I wasn’t able to dig up too much trivia on this lowkey Morricone score. The Rover gets a mere line list mention in the Ennio Morricone In His Own Words book. What little content available on the internet focuses mainly on the movie’s big budget and low box office ticket sales. Flop city. The score, which is primarily orchestral, highlights the violin / viola preformed by Dino Asciolla. My favorite track is “Tema Di Peirol” #7 or B1 on vinyl. The piece starts off with a few bars of subdued choir which subtly blends into an atmospheric symphonic foundation. It’s difficult to distinguish the instrumentation. Possibly mutiple sting instruments droning. The beginning is a bit ominous, but then Asciolla’s weeping viola melody sweeps in to provide emotional resolve that carries throughout the slow chordal shifts supplied by the orchestra. The mood invokes a sense of tragedy lost in the large expanse of deep ocean or maybe even deep outer space. A truly magical Morricone moment. Twelve years later Morricone would collaborte with Terence Young once again for the Bloodline movie. 

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Come Imparai Ad Amare Le Dnne 1966

Released:1966

AKA: How I Learned to Love Women,  Das Gewisse Etwas der FrauenGermany, Comment j'ai appris à aimer les femmes

Director: Luciano Salce

Composer: Ennio Morricone

Conductor: Bruno Nicolai

Feature Length Film

APPLIED MUSIC

Tracks 1 and 5, “Pioggia Sul Tuo Viso” (Rain On Your Face), performed by the English freakbeat band The Sorrows. After moderate success in the UK The Sorrows relocated to Italy, assuming around the time of this recording. Choir by I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni, solo voice by Edda Dell’Orso. Salce and Morricone’s working relationship / friendship started in 1958 while they were working on the Le Canzoni di Tutti (Everybody’s Song) television show. The following year Salce commissioned Morricone to write the incidental music for the comedic play La Pappa Reale followed by the play Il Lieto Fine. Most significantly, the first film that Morricone was credited as writing the entire score was Salce’s The Fascist (Il Federale) in 1961.

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SVEGLIATI E UCCIDI 1966

Released: 1966 AKA: Wake Up And Die, Too Soon To Die, Lutring, Reveille-Toi Et Meurs, Il Solista Del Mitra, Feuertanz, Betray and Kill

Director: Carlo Lizzani

Composer: Ennio Morricone

Conducted By: Bruno Nicolai

Feature length film

APPLIED MUSIC

Lovely lead vocals on "Una Stanza Vuota" by Lisa Gastoni who also starred in the film. Under her own name she released a cool looking picture sleeve single of the song with “Svegliati E Uccidi” on the B-side on the Arc label. Later on down the road in ‘71 she released a single of “Chi Mai” and “Maddalene”  that eventually ended up as bonus tracks on a few Maddalene LP reissues.

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The Game Changers

I’ve been told that if you want to be more than just a person who understands the moves of chess to a serious chess player you must read a book on strategy. Sure, the righteous and often bumpy road of being self-taught at anything can be incredibly rewarding, but sometimes a person needs a little extra instruction to break on through to the master realms. There are loads of internet resources on Ennio Morricone and Jamaican music but I feel reading through the pages of these books rather than endless scrolling on websites gave me a much more personal memorable experience. Though I’ve read these books through and through more than a few times I still keep both at arms length from my record shelf for referencing.

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This variation of “Lacroix’s Theme” was recorded with a Univox SR-95 drum machine and a Roland Juno 6 keyboard. It was intended to be on the Loosen The Lead and Spoil the Dogs album but had to be left off due to album-length constraints.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The spines of eight CDs with cut-out marks

In the recording industry, a cut-out refers to a deeply-discounted or remaindered copy of an LP, cassette tape, Compact Disc, or other item.

History

When LPs were the primary medium for distribution or recording, manufacturers would physically cut the corner, punch a hole, or add a notch to the spine of the jacket of unsold records returned from retailers; these "cut-outs" might then be re-sold to record retailers or other sales outlets for sale at a discounted price. A special section of a record store devoted to such items was known as the cut-out bin or bargain bin. [1][2]

As tapes and CDs supplanted LPs, the mechanisms for indicating a cut-out changed. On cassettes, a hole tended to be punched or burned through the case and through its printed insert. On CDs (a practice that continues today), a section of varying size is taken out of the spine of the jewel case and its paper track listing. Other methods of cutting CDs include punching a hole through the UPC and clipping a corner off of the front insert.

Cut-outs are typically wholesaled to retailers as non-returnable items, meaning that the store cannot send them back to the distributor for a refund; the reason for the cut or hole in the packaging is to mark the item as non-returnable.[2] The marking also serves to prevent the retailer from selling the discounted item at full price.[1] Recording artists also typically do not get full royalties from cut-outs, since they're sold at a "promotional" cost, far less than the retail price.[1] Except for the physical damage to the liner notes and outer case, the inner disc (LP or CD) is generally unharmed by the cut-out process, and sounds the same as the originally-sold recording.

A similar cut-out procedure was practiced with the laserdisc home video format as well as the 8-track tape cartridge. The practice has also been extended to DVD.

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Artist: Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66

Title: Look Around

Format: LP

Released:1968

Genre: Bossa Nova, Brazilian, Easy Listening, Lounge, Samba

Label: A&M

Purchased from: Thrift Store

Price: $0.69

Cost per song: .69 / 10 = $0.07 per song

Tracks that make it worth keeping in your collection: "With a Little Help From My Friends", "Look Around" "Pardizer Adeus (To Say Goodbye)" & "The Look of Love"

Synopsis: "Look Around" was a big hit so this record pops up quite a bit in thrift stores, dollar sections and schlock bins. Definitely worth a buck, especially if it's in good or fair condition. Perfect tunes for cooking pancakes on Sunday mornings.

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The best music is always for a dollar or less. It's not about the bargain it's about the worth.