Requiem per un Gringo

Quartet Records, in collaboration with Cinevox Records, presents a remastered, expanded edition of the classic Angelo Francesco Lavagnino western score for a most unusual duel.

Directed by Eugenio Martín and José Luis Merino in 1968, REQUIEM PER UN GRINGO made use of unorthodox costume and set design and a great plot device to say something new in the genre. Based on the idea of a Ulysses-like character who uses his brain against his violent opponents, the film tells the story of peace-loving bounty hunter Ross Logan who takes revenge on his brother’s killers by turning his foes against each other while using a natural phenomenon to defeat them.

Starting off with the “Sandstorm” song performed by I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni, the opening credits use familiar Sergio Leone-inspired titles of aggressively tinted movie scenes played against animated opening credits. The score features two different organs, including a church organ for Logan’s love of astronomy. Some of the other highlights include haunting vocal effects, Lavagnino’s signature percussion work over sustained organ notes, and “Follow Me,” a dance number that unwittingly sows seeds of discontent within the gang of marauders.

A selection of 18 tracks was issued on LP by Cinevox when the film came out, and the same program (plus an 11-minute suite with unreleased cues and takes) was reissued in a Lavagnino western compilation on Saimel in 2006. This new CD, produced by Claudio Fuiano and mastered by Chris Malone from first-generation master tapes courtesy of Cinevox, features the original program augmented with previously unreleased cues and a bonus suite of surviving stereo cues. The lavishly illustrated 12-page liner notes by Gergely Hubai discuss the film and the score.

The Original Album 

1. Sandstorm (2:18)

2. Twilight (2:15)

3. The moon and you (1:51)

4. Trouble in Store (0:59)

5. Fear and Pleasure (1:47)

6. Feather weight heart (1:40)

7. Pistols Galore (1:55)

8. Don’t look now (1:31)

9. Moody mountain (1:01)

10. Take that (1:38)

11. Far from now (0:38)

12. Single handed (1:01)

13. The Price of a Gun (1:00)

14. Heartbeat (1:47)

15. Cloudy Prairy (1:39)

16. Follow me (1:46)

17. Thoughtless Greenery (1:38)

18. Misty tree (2:56)

Bonus tracks

19. Requiem per un gringo (Nocturne) (2:57)

20. Requiem per un gringo (Waiting) (1:49)

21. follow me (Film version) (1:01)

22. Requiem per un gringo (Cavalcade) (1:48)

23. Requiem per un gringo (Cavalcade #2) (1:06)

24. Requiem per un gringo (Ambush) (1:32)

25. Requiem per un gringo (Fear in the night) (2:36)

26. Requiem per un gringo (Guitar cantina) (3:01)

27. Requiem per un gringo (Western story) (1:33)

28. Requiem per un gringo (Bandidos) (1:55)

29. Requiem per un gringo (Nostalgic moment) (1:58)

30. Requiem per un gringo (Before the attack) (2:13)

31. Requiem per un gringo (Gringo) (2:29)

32. Requiem per un gringo (Suite in stereo) (4:11)