Little Rita nel West

When I first heard that this soundtrack was due for a CD release, it did not really interest me that much as I personally do not think that musical westerns(especially Italian examples) work. But then I was told by Hillside that is was just the score that they would be issuing no songs just music by Robby Poitevin, now that was a different matter indeed. The score to LITTLE RITA NEL WEST, is an excellent fast paced work that is everything an Italian western score should be, full to brimming with inventive and catchy themes and containing all the right sounds and style that are associated with the spaghetti western. The composer makes excellent use of electric guitar throughout and also relies heavily upon the distinctive and flawless vocalising of IL CANTORI MODERNI under the direction of Alessandro Alessandroni. Track six is a particular treat as it is an accapella rendition of the theme with choir and solo female voice combining to create a stunning and unique sound that could rival anything composed by Morricone, and indeed is somewhat similar to Morricone’s choral version of the DEATH RIDES A HORSE theme and also has certain similarities to NAVAJO JOE‘S quieter moments. Track seven to is an attractive sounding cue, where the composer utilises solo harmonica and sentimental sounding woods supported by slow almost easy listening strings. There are a number of saloon tracks scattered throughout the recording, but these don’t seem to be as annoying as usual and are short lived in each of their manifestations the longest being just over two minutes. The score also includes some nice Mexican sounding cues which are vibrant and energetic and above all entertaining. I know a number of collectors were quite anti this release, even after being told it was the score as opposed to the songs, but let me tell you if you don’t buy this and it becomes deleted you will be very sorry and I think it could end up being one of those soundtracks that is a holy grail as this is again a limited edition for collectors of just 750 copies. This is a score that will be returned to many times and contains what I would call the quintessential spaghetti sound. Presented with original art work from the LP release which was also used to publicise the movie and the booklet contains a number of stills from the film, sound quality is very good, well worth getting. Highly recommended.