Good Vibrations - Hugo Montenegro

 

Tony's Theme

Good Vibrations

Hugo Montenegro

Produced by Joe Reisman

Whistler: Muzzy Marcellino

Recorded in RCA's Music Center Of The World, Hollywood, California 

Recording Engineer: Mickey Crofford

RCA STEREO LSP-4104

1969

From the back cover: The thing for a composer-arranger-conductor-recording artist to do is find a sound, style or lick that is uniquely his own and separate himself and his orchestra from all the others. OK, Hugo Montenegro has done this. He did it with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. His usage of the ocarina, the electric violin and a whistler was really tricky. That sound fooled most of us – we didn't know what it was, but we liked it.

Mr. Montenegro told me that the "sound" he used for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was one he researched a long time. He said he recorded over 200 different kinds of woodwind instruments, flutes, recorders, whistles, pipes, etc., before he finally decided that the ocarina was the sound he wanted. Therefore, it stands to reason that he must have done similarly involved research and experimentation to come up with the combination of electric violin and Muzzy Marcellino (the whistler, or rather, a whistler). Let's face it. You don't just jump up and say out of the blue: "I'll do that tune with an electric fiddle and a whistler!"

Anyway, the unique problem that Hugo Montenegro has is that he likes to research and experiment with all his music. He doesn't want to take what is a valid idea for one tune and, because it was successful, blow it up out of proportion and force it to fit every tune he does. This "freedom" to experiment is always a problem to any successful recording artist because the recording industry and the public tend to embrace the result of experimentation – the sound, the style, the lick, or whatever-instead of the motivation that caused it to be created. We always believe in the miracle instead of why or where from which it comes.

In this album Hugo Montenegro has come up with some new licks as a result of research and experimentation. The big concept, I think, is his utilization of voices. In popular music of late the "group" vocal backing behind the lead singer has become as important and involved artistically as the lead or melody. Hugo has taken the vocal backing of rock, folk rock, bossa nova, etc., and brought it up front, producing an interesting and exciting vocal effect. Because of the spirit in which it was created, GOOD VIBRATIONS can definitely be felt from this album.

Good Vibrations

Classical Gas

Another Place, Another Time (theme from the television production, "The Outcasts")

Tony's Theme (from the Twentieth Century-Fox release, "Lady In Cement")

A Future Left Behind (theme from "The Big Valley")

Lady In Cement (from the Twentieth Century-Fox release, "Lady In Cement")

Happy Together

Lullaby From "Rosemary's Baby" (from the Paramount picture, "Rosemary's Baby)

Knowing When To Leave (from the Broadway production, "Promises, Promises")

Night Rider

Love Is Blue