Roll with that.

Hugo Montenegro died this day in 1981. His theme music for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly not only cemented his place in pop culture as THE spaghetti western music but also was a not bad hit going up to #2 on the Billboard Charts in 1968. I'm still pickin tumbleweeds outta my teeth.

A gifted band leader and arranger he was able to play anything. From lush orchestrations to crazy dance beats. He worked for many labels both as an artist and musical director but it was Muzzy Marcellino's whistling and Montenegro's arrangment of the famous movie's theme that led to stardom. He appears on the track "sounding Italian" in the background.

He also scored music for The Man From Uncle and I Dream of Jeannie's iconic theme. Always willing to experiment he produced several electronic albums in a genre that was later called Space Age Pop.