1965 Armando Trovajoli “7 Uomini D’Oro” on CAM

More killer Italian cinema-library blowout rare groove action from the maestro Trovajoli. It of course varies in style, but swings from HUGE brass arrangement big band heavy punch drama to Clint in a poncho doing his cheroot Spaghetti gunfighter thing, then to mod hipster vocal arrangements usually accompanying racy silhouettes of naked women in various colors superimposed over James Bond, then some whistling solos that sound a lot like my grandfather, who could whistle like Charlie Parker, and also build houses by hand with the plans scribbled on a piece of paper, fly planes, fix anything mechanical after staring at it for three minutes, and add huge columns of multi-digit numbers in his head. No joke, he also got a scholarship to play football for Alabama, but some guy apparently insulted my grandmother in a way that probably was just a mistake and my grandfather beat him so badly he was arrested, his scholarship canceled, and the judge told him he could do prison time or join the army. So, he flew B-19s for the Air Force. Anyhow, my grandfather was also pretty deeply racist, sexist, and virulently homophobic, went to church 2-3 times a week, believed unthinkingly in someone else’s god, and had a split-atom temper. I was terrified of him, but he was also my hero and I loved him deeply. And still do. Turns out the world is a complicated place, and anyone offering convenient answers is lying to you. In any case, my grandmother played a massive church organ and SHE seriously dug movie soundtracks and she would have LOVED this record, and after listening for a minute, busted out all the chords and melodic lines while my grandfather drank beer. Buy this record! Seven Men Of Gold! And not just because Trovajoli was once married to the super-sexy actress Pier Angeli.