Hugo Montenegro born 2 September 1925

Hugo Montenegro (September 2, 1925 - February 6, 1981) was an American orchestra leader and composer of film soundtracks. His best known work is derived from interpretations of the music from Spaghetti Westerns, especially his cover version of the main theme from the 1966 film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. He composed the musical score for the 1969 Western Charro! which starred Elvis Presley.

Hugo Mario Montenegro was born in New York City. He attended Manhattan College, studying composition. While in college. he began leading his own band for school dances, which led into professional gigs on a full-time basis. This was quickly interrupted, however, by a two-year stint in the U.S. Navy, most of which he spent as the arranger for the Newport Naval Base band in Rhode Island.

In the middle 1950s, he was directing, conducting, and arranging the orchestra for Eliot Glen and Irving Spice on their Dragon and Caprice labels. It was he who was directing the Glen-Spice Orchestra on Dion DiMucci's first release when Dion was backed by Dragon recording artists, the Timberlanes. Released on Mohawk #105 in 1957, the songs were "Out In Colorado" and "The Chosen Few", which were soon issued on the Jubliee label for better distribution.

He was later hired by Time Records as a musical director producing a series of albums for the label, and moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s where he began working for RCA records, producing a series of albums and soundtracks for motion pictures and television themes, such as two volumes of Music From The Man From U.N.C.L.E., an album of cover versions of spy music themes Come Spy With Me and an album of cover versions of the Clint Eastwood The Man With No Name series of spaghetti westerns that led to major chart hits.

 

Montenegro began scoring motion pictures with the instrumental music from Advance to the Rear in 1964. Following the success of his albums, he was contracted by Columbia Pictures where he did such films as Hurry Sundown (film) and two Matt Helm pictures.

Montenegro was also contracted to Coumbia's television production company Screen Gems where he is most famous for his theme from the second season of the television series I Dream of Jeannie, his theme song "Seattle" and music from Here Come the Brides and The Outcasts.

Montenegro scored such classics of 60s Hollywood machismo as Dean Martin's two Matt Helm adventures, The Ambushers and The Wrecking Crew, Frank Sinatra's two films as the Miami private eye, Tony Rome and The Lady in Cement, and the Elvis Presley Western, Charro. He also ventured into some odd mixes of space-age pop, electronics, and rock with such albums as Moog Power, Mammy Blue, and The Dawn of Dylan.

Montenegro's electronic works were decisive and influential for the future generations of electronic musicians, giving a retro/futuristic edge by the use of the Moog synthesizer, and helped to push its popularity. He will be also remembered by his versions of classics such as Ennio Morricone's The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Toward the end of his life, Hugo Montenegro fought with emphysema. RCA released a compilation of his work in 1980, The Best of Hugo Montenegro, and his final LP Plays for Lovers came out in 1981. Montenegro lost the fight with his lung condition and died on February 6, 1981 Palm Springs, California.

His prolific compositions for film and his mark on the future of sound recording have established him as an enduring figure in the history of modern music. (info various mainly Wikipedia)