"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" is a theme composed byEnnio Morricone. It first appeared in the 1966film of the same name, and was included on thefilm soundtrack as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (main title)", withBruno Nicolai conducting the orchestra. Acover version byHugo Montenegro in 1967 was a pop hit in both the US and the UK.^[1] It has since become one of the most iconic scores in film history.^[2]

Ennio Morricone was an Italian composer who created music for hundreds of films.^[3] In the 1960s, director Sergio Leone was impressed by a musical arrangement of Morricone's and asked his former schoolmate to compose music for one of his films,A Fistful of Dollars. This led to a collaboration between the two on future Leone films, many of which came to be referred to as "Spaghetti Westerns".

After a steady percussion beat, the theme toThe Good, the Bad and the Ugly begins with a two-note melody sounding like the howl of a coyote. Additional sounds follow, some of whichsymbolize characters and themes from the film. This instrumental composition plays at the beginning of the film. Morricone commented that his frequent collaborator guitaristBruno Battisti D'Amario was "able to conjure up extraordinary sounds with his guitar" recording the composition.^[4] The music is complex and features soprano recorder, drums, bass ocarina, chimes, electric guitar, trumpets, whistling, and a choir.

Largely due to the memorable quality of the main theme, the film's soundtrack peaked at #4 on theBillboard 200 album chart,^[5] and it stayed on this chart for over a year.

Hugo Montenegro was an American composer and orchestra leader who began scoring films in the 1960s. After hearing the music fromThe Good, the Bad and the Ugly, he decided to create acover version of the theme. MusicianTommy Morgan is quoted in Wesley Hyatt'sThe Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits as saying that Montenegro's version "...was done in one day. I think it was all day one Saturday atRCA."^[1] Similar to Morricone's original composition, Montenegro and a few session musicians sought to recreate this record using their own instrumentation. The opening two note segment was played on anocarina by Art Smith; Morgan provided the sounds that followed on aharmonica. He was quoted as saying: "I knew it was live, so I had to do this hand thing, the 'wah-wah-wah' sound."^[1] Hyatt's book states that Montenegro himself "grunted something which came out like 'rep, rup, rep, rup, rep'" between the chorus segments.^[1] Other musicians heard on the record include Elliot Fisher (electric violin),Mannie Klein (piccolo trumpet) andMuzzy Marcellino, whosewhistling is heard during the recording.^[1]

Much to the surprise of Montenegro and the musicians who worked with him, this cover of the film theme became a hitsingle during 1968. It peaked at #2 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart on 1 June 1968, held off the top spot by another song from a film,Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson" (from the 1967 filmThe Graduate).^[7] It spent three weeks atop theBillboardEasy Listening chart during the same time frame.^[1] In September 1968, Montenegro's version reached theUK Singles Chart and began a steady climb, eventually reaching the top of the chart on 16 November and remaining there for four weeks.^[8]

Detailing this piece in a description of the film soundtrack, the website CD Universe states that it is "so familiar as to be a cultural touchstone. Even an abbreviated soundbite of the theme is enough to conjure images of desolate desert plains, rolling tumbleweeds, and a cowboy-booted figure standing ominously in the distance."^[9] It has been used frequently to convey these sorts of images on radio, film and television in the years since the film's release.The Simpsons has used the opening notes of this theme in multiple episodes over the years.

Wall of Voodoo recorded a live rendition of the song as part of a medley with "Hang 'Em High". The recording appeared as a non-albumB-side to their single "Ring of Fire".

Numerous musicians have, in full or in part, borrowed from this piece.Bill Berry, former drummer of the bandR.E.M., played what was dubbed an "Ennio whistle" on the track "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us", from their 1996 albumNew Adventures in Hi-Fi. TheAmericanpunk rock groupRamones were known to play a recording of this piece at the beginning of their concerts, while at the end of their shows, a snippet of "The Ecstasy of Gold" was played.^[10] Punk bandThe Vandals sampled the beginning of this piece at the beginning of their song "Urban Struggle" on their EPPeace thru Vandalism.^[11][12]

The song was used in Argentinian and Portuguese TV commercials forCamel Cigarettes in 1981.^[13][14] The theme was used in 2014 for commercials for theNissan Altima and also was used in 2015 for aNestlé Dancow 1+ milk commercial in Indonesia.^[15]

ComedianEddie Murphy whistled the opening notes during the "Shoe-Throwing Mother" monologue of his 1983Delirious television special.^[16]

• Montenegro 7" vinyl (UK) Discogs
• Montenegro 7" vinyl (US) Discogs

• 1966 songs
• 1966 compositions
• 1968 singles
• Ennio Morricone songs
• Hugo Montenegro songs
• Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
• 1960s instrumentals
• Film theme songs
• UK singles chart number-one singles
• RCA Records singles
• Dollars Trilogy

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hAudio microformats
• Certification Table Entry usages for United States
• Pages using certification Table Entry with sales figures
• Pages using certification Table Entry with sales footnote