The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ( theme ) - wikipedia The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ( theme ) `` The Good, the Bad and the Ugly '' Single by Hugo Montenegro from the album Music from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More B - side `` March with Hope '' ( US ) `` There 's Got to Be a Better Way '' ( UK ) Released 1968 Format 7 '' ( 45 rpm ) Recorded 1966 Genre Instrumental music Length 2 : 45 Label RCA 1727 Songwriter ( s ) Ennio Morricone Producer ( s ) Hugo Montenegro `` The Good, the Bad and the Ugly '' is the theme to the 1966 film of the same name, which was directed by Sergio Leone. Included on the film soundtrack as `` The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ( main title ) '', the instrumental piece was composed by Ennio Morricone, with Bruno Nicolai conducting the orchestra. A cover version by Hugo Montenegro in 1968 was a pop hit in both the U.S. and the U.K. It has since become one of the most iconic scores in film history. Contents 1 Ennio Morricone version 2 Hugo Montenegro version 3 Other uses 4 References 5 External links Ennio Morricone version The Good, The Bad And The Ugly main theme From The Good, the Bad and the Ugly soundtrack by Ennio Morricone Problems playing this file ? See media help. Ennio Morricone is an Italian composer who has created music for hundreds of films. In the 1960s, director Sergio Leone was impressed by a musical arrangement of Morricone 's and asked his former schoolmate to compose music for one of his films, A Fistful of Dollars. This led to a collaboration between the two on future Leone films, some of which came to be referred to as `` Spaghetti Westerns ''. After a steady percussion beat, the theme to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly begins with a two - note melody sounding like the howl of a coyote. Additional sounds follow, some of which symbolize characters and themes from the film. This instrumental composition plays at the beginning of the film. Largely due to the memorable quality of the main theme, the film 's soundtrack peaked at # 4 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and it stayed on this chart for over a year. Hugo Montenegro version Hugo Montenegro was an American composer and orchestra leader who began scoring films in the 1960s. After hearing the music from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, he decided to create a cover version of the theme. Musician Tommy Morgan is quoted in Wesley Hyatt 's The Billboard Book of # 1 Adult Contemporary Hits as saying that Montenegro 's version ``... was done in one day. I think it was all day one Saturday at RCA. '' Similar to Morricone 's original composition, Montenegro and a few session musicians sought to recreate this record using their own instrumentation. The opening two note segment was played on an ocarina by Art Smith ; Morgan provided the sounds that followed on a harmonica. He was quoted as saying : `` I knew it was live, so I had to do this hand thing, the ' wah - wah - wah ' sound. '' Hyatt 's book states that Montenegro himself `` grunted something which came out like ' rep, rup, rep, rup, rep ' '' between the chorus segments. Other musicians heard on the record include Elliot Fisher ( electric violin ), Manny Klein ( piccolo trumpet ) and Muzzy Marcellino, whose whistling is heard during the recording. Much to the surprise of Montenegro and the musicians who worked with him, this cover of the film theme became a hit single during 1968. It peaked at # 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in June of that year, held off the top spot by another song from a film, Simon & Garfunkel 's `` Mrs. Robinson '' ( from the 1967 film The Graduate ). It spent three weeks atop the Billboard Easy Listening chart during the same time frame. In September 1968, Montenegro 's version reached the UK Singles Chart and began a steady climb, eventually reaching the top of the chart on 16 November and remaining there for four weeks. Other uses Detailing this song in a description of the film soundtrack, the website CD Universe states that it is `` so familiar as to be a cultural touchstone. Even an abbreviated sound byte of the theme is enough to conjure images of desolate desert plains, rolling tumbleweeds, and a cowboy - booted figure standing ominously in the distance. '' It has been used frequently to convey these sorts of images on radio, film and television in the years since the film 's release. The Simpsons has used the opening notes of this theme in multiple episodes over the years. Among numerous musicians who have, in full or in part, borrowed or sampled from this song are Gorillaz, whose 2001 debut single, `` Clint Eastwood '', was so named because it reminded the group of Morricone 's theme and its melodic structure. Bill Berry, former drummer of the band R.E.M., played what was dubbed an `` Ennio whistle '' on the track `` How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us '', from their 1996 album New Adventures in Hi - Fi. The song was also covered by The Pogues for the soundtrack of the parodic western Straight to Hell. The Ramones were known to play a recording of this song at the beginning of their setlist. The Vandals use the opening motif and short guitar arpeggio on `` I Want to Be a Cowboy ''. The song is also featured in the video game, Maestro ! Jump in Music. 80 's R & B band Cameo used the theme 's opening whistle in their singles Word Up ! and Single Life. Las Vegas, Nevada - based band Sin City Sinners always walk onto stage with a recording of the tune playing in the background.In the film Wall Street : Money Never Sleeps, the character Jacob Moore, played by Shia LaBeouf, had a mobile cell phone ring tone of the opening tune of `` The Good, the Bad and the Ugly '', the film coincidentally also starred the actor who played the `` Ugly '', Eli Wallach. In the film Faster, the character `` Killer '' also had a mobile cell phone ring tone of `` The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ''. The song was also used in TV commercials for Camel Cigarettes during the 1980s. It was sampled for the remix of rapper Busta Rhymes 's song, `` Stop The Party '', after T.I. 's verse. It was sampled in the background beat of the chorus in rapper Big Lurch 's well - known song `` Texas Boy '' in conjunction with a sample of Oliver Nelson 's `` Skull Session ''. Comedian Eddie Murphy whistled the opening notes during the `` Shoe - Throwing Mother '' monologue of his 1983 Delirious television special. The theme was used in 2014 for commercials for the Nissan Altima and also was used in 2015 for indonesian commercial milk Nestlé Dancow 1 +. The song is used as intro music for the band Rival Sons at their concerts. References ^ Jump up to : Rice, Jo ( 1982 ). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits ( 1st ed. ). Enfield, Middlesex : Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 121. ISBN 0 - 85112 - 250 - 7. ^ Jump up to : Hyatt, Wesley ( 1999 ). The Billboard Book of # 1 Adult Contemporary Hits ( Billboard Publications ), page 66. Jump up ^ The Good, the Bad and the Ugly soundtrack chart info AllMusic.com. Retrieved 11 June 2009. Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 2004 ). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition ( Billboard Publications ), page 435. Jump up ^ `` Chart Stats : The Good, The Bad And The Ugly ''. Webcitation.org. Archived from the original on June 12, 2009. Retrieved 2014 - 04 - 07. CS1 maint : Unfit url ( link ) Jump up ^ `` Good, the Bad and the Ugly Soundtrack ''. Cduniverse.com. 2004 - 05 - 18. Retrieved 2014 - 04 - 07. Jump up ^ `` Welcome to the Monkey House ''. EW.com. 2005 - 11 - 25. Retrieved 2014 - 04 - 07. Jump up ^ `` R.E.M. - New Adventures In Hi - Fi ( Cassette, Album ) at Discogs ''. Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014 - 04 - 07. Jump up ^ `` Ramones Concert Setlists ''. setlist.fm. Retrieved 2014 - 04 - 07. Jump up ^ `` Shoe Throwing Mother ''. YouTube. 2008 - 12 - 14. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 02. Jump up ^ `` Iklan Dancow 1 + 2015 edisi Jadi Koboi ''. youtube.com. Retrieved 2015 - 07 - 03. External links Montenegro 7 '' vinyl ( UK ) Discogs Montenegro 7 '' vinyl ( US ) Discogs Preceded by `` With a Little Help from My Friends '' by Joe Cocker UK number one single 16 November 1968 - 7 December 1968 ( Hugo Montenegro version ) Succeeded by `` Lily the Pink '' by The Scaffold Preceded by `` Honey '' by Bobby Goldsboro `` Billboard '' Easy Listening number - one single May 18, 1968 ( three weeks ) Succeeded by `` This Guy 's in Love With You '' by Herb Alpert Dollars Trilogy Films A Fistful of Dollars ( 1964 ) For a Few Dollars More ( 1965 ) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ( 1966 ) See also Man with No Name The Good, the Bad and the Ugly : Original Motion Picture Soundtrack theme music `` The Ecstasy of Gold '' Ennio Morricone Soundtracks The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Once Upon a Time in the West La Piovra The Mission The Legend of 1900 Malèna The Hateful Eight Compilations and tribute albums Pearls -- Amii Stewart Sings Ennio Morricone The Big Gundown We All Love Ennio Morricone Yo - Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone Paradiso Crime and Dissonance Pieces `` Chi Mai '' `` Gabriel 's Oboe '' `` Nella Fantasia '' `` The Ecstasy of Gold '' `` The Good, the Bad and the Ugly '' `` The Story of a Soldier '' Related articles List of compositions List of concerts Mauro Maur Andrea Morricone ( son ) Spaghetti Western Orchestra Book Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Good,_the_Bad_and_the_Ugly_(theme)&oldid=798454697 '' Categories : 1966 songs 1968 singles Ennio Morricone songs Hugo Montenegro songs Irish Singles Chart number - one singles Instrumentals Theme music UK Singles Chart number - one singles Billboard Adult Contemporary number - one singles RCA Records singles Dollars Trilogy Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Unfit url Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia עברית Tiếng Việt Edit links This page was last edited on 2 September 2017, at 02 : 15. 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Question: who wrote the song the good the bad and the ugly
Answer: Ennio Morricone