When a cowboy dreams of pasta, what is he playing on his guitar?

February 17, 2009 7:22 AM

What are some good songs for an Italian / cowboy playlist?

We're hosting a "spaghetti western" potluck in a few days, and I wanted to put together a good playlist for the event. This thread had some good suggestions for cowboy music, and I found a little bit of information on spaghetti western soundtracks through google. I would love to find a few songs that sounded both distinctly cowboy and italian.

Bonus points for:
songs that are available through the public domain.
songs that include references to moustaches.
songs that will make people dance.

posted by ajarbaday to media & arts (6 comments total)

Maybe Calexico's album "Carried to Dust?" Here's "Inspiracion," which reminds me a little of spaghetti western music. The rest of the album is similar in tone, but with songs sung in English.
posted by GamblingBlues at 8:33 AM on February 17

Seconding Calexico, although their older albums (The Black Light and earlier) are much more 'spaghetti western' than Carried To Dust or Garden Ruin. Also worth investigating are Friends of Dean Martinez.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 8:40 AM on February 17

There's a compilation called "The Big Gundown", which is a collection of 60s/70s reggae inspired by spaghetti westerns. Not public domain, unlikely to be any songs about moustaches but it should get people dancing.
posted by uk_giffo at 8:57 AM on February 17

Not to be confused with the The Big Gundown that's a John Zorn tribute to Ennio Morricone. Great record, but not what you're looking for. Speaking of Morricone--he's the obvious answer to this question, but, just in case you've missed him, I'll mention it anyway. His scores for the Sergio Leone Man With No Name movies pretty much created the genre, and make a great jumping-off point.
posted by box at 9:04 AM on February 17

Spindrift's body of work is key, especially the Legend Of God's Gun a psychedelic rock version of a soundtrack to an imaginary Spaghetti Western. It was so good they actually made the movie.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:44 AM on February 17

Check out The Alps' III too (their earlier work, mostly collected on Jewelt Galaxies/Spirit Shambles, isn't nearly so cinematic or Western-ish).
posted by box at 10:05 AM on February 17