When Will It Be Spring?

“When Will It Be Spring?” is an original instrumental intended to be in the 1960s style of the Shadows.

The Ecstasy of Gold

This is my cover of “The Ecstasy of Gold”. Composed by Ennio Morricone, it was part of his score for the 1966 Sergio Leone film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The music is played near the end of the film while the character Tuco (played by Eli Wallach) is frantically searching a cemetery for the grave that holds $200,000 in gold coins. It is one of the most well known of Morricone’s themes.

I could find no versions by any contemporaneous instrumental rock groups. However, Metallica regularly used “The Ecstasy of Gold” as the introductory music for its concerts.

Swells

“Swells” is an original instrumental intended to be in the style of the Shadows. Hank Marvin was one of the first rock guitarists to incorporate a volume pedal into his playing.

Cast Your Fate to the Wind

This is my cover of “Cast Your Fate to the Wind”, an instrumental which was originally written and performed by jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi. His recording was a top-40 hit in 1963, reaching #22 and staying on the charts for 18 weeks.

Despite the its popularity and straight-forward nature, I could find no recordings by and instrumental guitar bands such as the Ventures or Shadows.

The Hungry Hodad

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Cowboy Chords

“Cowboy Chords” is an original instrumental intended to evoke the style of the Ventures early 1960’s “country” numbers.

The Bat

This is my cover of “The Bat”, which was the opening track n the Ventures 1964 album, “Ventures in Space”.  It was composed by Lou Forbes  as the title theme for the 1959 film “The Bat”, which starred Vincent Price.