CD REVIEW - PER IL GUSTO DI UCCIDERE (BOUNTY KILLER)


Per Il Gusto Di Uccidere (Bounty Killer)
Music by Nico Fidenco
GDM Hillside Series GDM 4137
35 Tracks 59:37 mins


The first of three new releases in the GDM Hillside Series, Tonino Valerii's 1966 western stars genre regulars Craig Hill, George Martin and Fernando Sancho and follows a bounty hunter who tracks stagecoaches, watches them robbed and then moves on the perpetrators to collect his reward.
The first twelve tracks on the album are in stereo, which sugggests they were prepared for an album release but, to the best of my knowledge, this never happened, though nine of them featured on an RCA collection of four of composer Fidenco's western scores. The remainder of the selections on this release feature the mono film tracks.
The music is familiar Italian Western fare, sporting one of my favourite genre songs, titled "The Yankee Fellow" on this album, but actually is "A Lanky Gunman," sung by the Wilder Brothers who also sang another of my favourites "Johnny Yuma." The song opens the album and is followed by "Titoli," which is a great instrumental version on the song, though I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni also feature prominently. Further variations on the theme can be found in "Lanky Fellow Il Bounty Killer," "Transporto Blindato," "La Sfida," "Omaha," and "Transporto Blindato (#2); all of which demonstrate the theme's great versatility.
The remainder of the stereo tracks are made up of the fast-flowing, but all-too brief "Il Carico D'Argento;" the somewhat mournful "L'Orgoglio di Lanky" and "Addio Lanky Fellow;" and the tense "La Sfida (#2); with a more laid-back reprise of the vocal closing things out.
As for the mono tracks, well, it should be said that there's a good deal of suspenseful stuff here, which is typical of the genre, and doesn't make for great listening away from the film; but there are of course versions of the themes featured in the stereo tracks, and also new material in the form of a fife and drum march theme, with "A Lanky Gunman" again closing out the programme.
The colourful accompanying booklet is lacking in information, but features plenty of poster artwork and stills from the film.
Order your copy of this very limited edition release of just units from www.hillsidecd.co.uk, but you'd best hurry, as I'm sure it will quickly sell out.