Listen To:


Selected MP3s of guitar instrumentals, jazz, big band, and classic easy listening from the original vinyl.

Welcome to Guitars & All That Jazz

Welcome to Guitars & All That Jazz

Guitars & All That Jazz was a radio station that webcast via Live365 for 11 years, ending in June 2011. The playlist consisted of guitar instrumentals, jazz, big band, early rock 'n' roll, lounge music and classic easy listening.

I hope to share some of this music with you via this blog. Most of it will be taken from the original vinyl (LPs and 45s) , cassettes and the occasional commercially unavailable CD.

Here's hoping you'll find something to enjoy. Please note files are available only for a limited time.

I urge you to purchase the digital version of the albums featured, either on CD or via download, wherever possible.

Listen to the Music
There are now two music streams. Click the appropriate player to the right.
1. Guitars & All That Jazz: Five hours of the best in jazz, guitars and other instrumental gems. New songs are added weekly.
2. Tiki Shores: Music to sweep you away to a tropical isle, a South American dance floor or a bossa nova on the beach at Rio. About 4.5 hours of classic exotica music, Latin rhythms and bossa nova.
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Thursday, October 30, 2014

The Hollywood Soundmakers - Great Music from A Fistful of Dollars, etc.


Although RCA Victor issued the soundtracks for the first two films in the "Dollars" trilogy the score for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly came out on a United Artists LP in 1967.

For those who didn't want to shell out real money United Artists used their Unart budget label to issue Great Music from A Fistful of Dollars, etc. This collection of tracks from all three films was released in 1968. It was billed as by the Hollywood Soundmakers, but was recorded at a studio in Miami, Fla. There are no meaningful credits on the LP cover or label -- just the name of the recording engineer.

Still, this is a very listenable interpretation of Ennio Morricone's music, despite the rather odd instrumentation on some tracks. Take for instance the organ on The Story of a Soldier from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Granted this is a dirge like melody, but the tone of the keyboard reminds me of something you might have heard in your neighborhood church or roller rink in the 1950s. The guitar's pretty good, though.

The Story of a Soldier



Strangely this collection from the Hollywood Soundmakers has turned up on CD and as a download. However, the cover art looks suspiciously like a cheap bootleg and the release certainly didn't come from whoever controls the United Artists catalog these days. You can check out this release on just about any of the major sites.

My advice would be to look for a cheap copy of the LP. They seem to turn up quite frequently.

Here's how The Story of a Soldier sounded on the original soundtrack album.

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