Navajo Joe

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

With Westerns one thing was clear, when Ennio Moricone was on board he would bring his usual western spaghetti music. Navajo Joe is slightly different considering its more a tale about Indians then cowboys but still, he just replaced the choral touch to a more Indian chant like singing, and voila his style would work no matter what. That is the ticket and winning formula of Navajo Joe, another good listen in the Western cannon, ready to be fired at a large audience, if only the sound would be of the standard we face it today. Now it stands distant, clarity is long gone and the brevity is lacking spunk, all making sure the score is losing points no matter how good the composition is. Frankly, the same could be said about various other soundtracks that surfaced on CD (Guns for San Sebastian for instance) and yet, that's what we have to make of it. Navajo Joe as said starts slightly different with 'Main Title / Navajo Joe', Indian chanting puts you at unease before the standard guitar and choir add the Morricone voice to it, leading the way for the sing likeable main theme of Joe to appear. Its fun and with spunk but lacking force and clarity to make it spunky. 'Raw Hides and Dead Hides' has harmonica and percussion and wanders through the proceedings fairly unnoticeable while 'A Silhouette of Doom' is one of the few tracks leading a darker life, with a more threatening sub theme used as guide tool. A step in the other direction comes from 'The Pyote Saloon' and as you would expect, its playful guitar and piano all the way. Morricone doesn't lose the touch of his choir and 'An Indian Story' returns with a solo voice singing part of the theme, brought forward briefly by choir in 'To Esperanza', returning then back to the danger sub theme.

Noticed tracks are 'The Bandit gets the Train' with its usage of atonal flutes and the danger theme while 'But Joe says No' is just mentioned because the sound's lack of clarity is truly hearting the ears, really don't play this too loudly. With the longest track also comes the longest written title and the best moment of score, 'The Demise of Barbara, And the Return of Joe' brings first a soft choral led main theme before the guitar and solo voice jump on the first track's performance to close it stylishly off. The danger theme returns with its more threatening sub themes in 'The Navajo's Prisoner' while 'Fear and Silence' is just a moody boring percussion track. Solo voice and brief drums are spotted in 'Healing the Wound', only bringing forth the main theme in 'Goodbye to Brother Jeffrey' in the same yet winning formula. The singing version of the theme is heard later on in 'Navajo Joe' with soft choral back up. With 'After the End' comes back the guitar led soft version of the theme, in again the lacking sound clarity that ruins half the effect and pleasure, the added solo voice still brings class to the tune. A drum laden singing version of the theme closes the score in wonderful fashion. At times I want to give this score more but in truth I know the sound quality alone destroys this effect and its this fact alone that keeps Navajo Joe down half a star. Sad non music composition has to effect on a rating but in overall a wining clarity of sound or arrangement of tracklisting can make differences in liking and loving an album more. What to expect from Navajo Joe is simple, the basic Morricone short listen, with a choral led main theme, solo vocals leading moments, darker laden tunes and an overall easy going pleasure that takes the score up a notch. What not to forget is that the sound's gonna play a large role in deciding how much you really like it.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Main Title / Navajo Joe (2.48)

2. Raw Hides And Dead Hides (1.20)

3. A Silhouette Of Doom (2.53)

4. The Pyote Saloon (2.30)

5. An Indian Story (1.19)

6. To Esperanza (1.47)

7. The Bandit Gets The Train (2.00)

8. But Joe Says No (1.18)

9. The Demise Of Barbara, And The Return Of Joe (4.00) Excellent Track

10. Fear And Silence (1.49)

11. The Navajo's Prisoner (1.40)

12. Healing The Wound (2.00)

13. Goodbye To Brother Jeffrey (0.27)

14. Navajo Joe (2.13)

15. After The End (2.14)

16. End Title Navajo Joe (1.53) Excellent Track

Total Length: 33.11

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: Ennio Morricone ===