Editing Ennio Morricone (section)

===== The Dollars Trilogy =====
{{main|Dollars Trilogy|The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (soundtrack)}}

Because budget strictures limited Morricone's access to a full orchestra, he used gunshots, cracking whips, whistle, voices, [[jew's harp]], trumpets, and the new Fender electric guitar, instead of orchestral arrangements of Western standards à la [[John Ford]]. Morricone used his special effects to punctuate and comically tweak the action—cluing in the audience to the [[silence|taciturn]] man's ironic stance.<ref name="Leinberger" />{{rp|69–77}} <!--Though sonically bizarre for a movie score, Morricone's music was [[wikt:viscerally|viscerally]] true to Leone's vision.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}-->

As memorable as Leone's [[close-up]]s, harsh violence, and black comedy, Morricone's work helped to expand the musical possibilities of film scoring. Initially, Morricone was billed on the film as Dan Savio, a name they had used on [[Duello nel Texas]] to help its appeal on the international market. ''A Fistful of Dollars'' came out in Italy in 1964 and was released in America three years later, greatly popularising the so-called [[Spaghetti Western]] genre. For the American release, Sergio Leone followed Morricone and [[Massimo Dallamano]]'s lead and decided to adopt an American-sounding name, Bob Robertson. Over the film's theatrical release, it grossed more than any other Italian film up to that point.<ref name="Hughes7">{{cite book|last=Hughes|first=Howard|title=Aim for the Heart: The Films of Clint Eastwood|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PbWKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA7|date=30 July 2009|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-0-85771-021-5|page=7}}</ref> The film debuted in the United States in January 1967, where it grossed {{USD|4.5&nbsp;million|link=yes}} for the year.<ref name="Hughes7"/> It eventually grossed $14.5&nbsp;million in its American release,<ref name="Hughes7"/> against its budget of {{USD}}200,000.<ref>{{cite book|last=Giddins|first=Gary|title=Warning Shadows: Home Alone with Classic Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DuYHM-Ltkx4C&pg=PA122|date=19 April 2010|publisher=W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-33792-1|page=122}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Sterritt|first=David|title=The Cinema of Clint Eastwood: Chronicles of America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zfrpBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA42|date=25 November 2014|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-85071-1|page=42}}</ref>

With the score of ''A Fistful of Dollars'', Morricone began his 20-year collaboration with his childhood friend [[Alessandro Alessandroni]] and his Cantori Moderni.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strachan |first1=Ian Gregory |last2=Mask |first2=Mia |title=Poitier Revisited: Reconsidering a Black Icon in the Obama Age|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kEogBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT268|date=27 November 2014|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-62356-923-5|page=268}}</ref> Alessandroni provided the whistling and the twanging guitar on the film scores, while his Cantori Moderni were a flexible troupe of modern singers. Morricone in particular drew on the solo [[soprano]] of the group, [[Edda Dell'Orso]], at the height of her powers "an extraordinary voice at my disposal".<ref>[https://www.italyonthisday.com/2018/02/edda-dellorso-Italian-vocalist-Morricone-Spaghetti-westerns-sergio-leone.html Edda Dell'Orso – vocalist / Soprano was wordless voice of Morricone soundtracks] italyonthisday.com 16 February 2018</ref>

The composer subsequently scored Leone's other two ''[[Dollars Trilogy]]'' (or ''[[Man with No Name|Man with No Name Trilogy]]'') spaghetti westerns: ''[[For a Few Dollars More]]'' (1965) and ''The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly'' (1966). All three films starred the American actor [[Clint Eastwood]] as ''The Man With No Name'' and depicted Leone's own intense vision of the mythical West. Morricone commented in 2007: "Some of the music was written before the film, which was unusual. Leone's films were made like that because he wanted the music to be an important part of it; he kept the scenes longer because he did not want the music to end." According to Morricone this explains "why the films are so slow".<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/mar/18/features.musicmonthly10 "Q&A – Ennio Morricone"] ''[[The Guardian]]'', 18 March 2007</ref>

Despite the small film budgets, the ''Dollars Trilogy'' was a box-office success. The available budget for ''The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly'' was about {{USD}}1.2&nbsp;million, but it became the most successful film of the ''Dollars Trilogy'', grossing {{USD}}25.1&nbsp;million in the United States and more than [[Italian lira|Lire&nbsp;]]2.3&nbsp;billion (1.2&nbsp;million EUR) in Italy alone. Morricone's score became a major success and sold more than three million copies worldwide. On 14 August 1968 the original score was certified by the [[RIAA]] with a golden record for the sale of 500,000 copies in the United States alone.<ref>[https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?content_selector=gold-platinum-searchable-database RIAA, Gold and Platinum – The Good, the Bad & the Ugly], Retrieved 24 January 2013 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130331234333/http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?content_selector=gold-platinum-searchable-database |date=31 March 2013 }}</ref>

The main theme to ''The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly'', also titled "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", was a hit in 1968 for [[Hugo Montenegro]], whose rendition was a No.2 Billboard pop single in the U.S. and a U.K. No.1 single (for four weeks from mid-November that year).<ref>{{cite web|title=Official [U.K.] Singles Chart Top 50: 13–19 November 1968|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19681113/7501/ |publisher=The Official UK Charts Company |access-date=21 August 2020}}</ref>

"[[The Ecstasy of Gold]]" became one of Morricone's best-known compositions. The opening scene of [[Jeff Tremaine]]'s ''[[Jackass Number Two]]'' (2006), in which the cast is chased through a suburban neighbourhood by bulls, is accompanied by this piece. While punk rock band The [[Ramones]] used "The Ecstasy of Gold" as a closing theme during their live performances, [[Metallica]] uses "The Ecstasy of Gold" as the introductory music for its concerts since 1983.<ref>[http://www.metallica.com/index.asp?item=600114 "We All Love Ennio Morricone"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202024236/http://www.metallica.com/index.asp?item=600114 |date=2 February 2007 }}, Metallica.com, 11 March 2007</ref><ref>[http://www.metallicaworld.co.uk/f_a_q.htm Metallica related F.A.Q.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130531020521/http://www.metallicaworld.co.uk/f_a_q.htm |date=31 May 2013 }}, Metallic World, retrieved 22 January 2013</ref> This composition is also included on Metallica's live symphonic album ''[[S&M (album)|S&M]]'' as well as the live album ''[[Live Shit: Binge & Purge]]''. An instrumental metal cover by Metallica (with minimal vocals by lead singer [[James Hetfield]]) appeared on the 2007 Morricone tribute album ''[[We All Love Ennio Morricone]]''. This metal version was nominated for a [[Grammy Award]] in the category of [[Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance|Best Rock Instrumental Performance]]. In 2009, the Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist [[Coolio]] extensively sampled the theme for his song "Change".<ref>{{YouTube|gYjwtiR10yc|Coolio vs. Ennio Morricone}}, Change, 15 February 2009.</ref>