From Alamo to El Dorado

Va-From Alamo To El Dorado | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 24, 1997)
• Label: Bear Family
• ASIN: B000001B4U
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #244,776 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Ballad of Cat Ballou [From Cat Ballou]

2. High Chapparal [From the High Chapperal]

3. The Lonely Man [The Lonely Man]

4. The Man From Laramie [From the Man from Laramie]

5. El Dorado [From el Dorado]

6. A Man With True Grit [From True Grit]

7. Fury [From Fury]

8. Wichita [From Wichita]

9. Old Turkey Buzzard [From MacKenna's Gold]

10. Bronco [From Bronco Billy]

11. Love in the Country [From "Mclintock"]

12. Sugarfoot [From Sugarfoot]

13. Stagecoach to Cheyenne [From Stagecoach]

14. Green Leaves of Summer [From the Alamo]

15. Marmalade, Molasses and Honey

16. Cimarron City [From the Cimarron City]

17. The Sheriff of Cochise [From the Sheriff of Cochise/U.S. Marshall]

18. Wagon Train [From Wagon Train]

19. The Legend of Wyatt Earp [From "The Legend of Wyatt Earp"]

20. 26 Men [From 26 Men]

See all 23 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

While the first volume in this wonderful series focused on TV and movie themes in the Western vernacular, such as Bonanza, Gunfight at the OK Corral, et al., this second collection digs deeper into the American kitsch experience -- as envisioned through the eyes of a German family's view of popular culture in the States. There are no less than 23 selections here that vary in range and quality from Nat "King" Cole and Stubby Kaye's bizarre rough and rowdy theme song for the Jane Fonda vehicle Cat Ballou, to Jose Feliciano's rockabilly singing of "Old Turkey Buzzard" from the film MacKenna's Gold, to Glen Campbell's gorgeous "A Man With True Grit" from the film True Grit. There's a vibe that runs through all of this seemingly disparate material, and that is how the Western theme song evolved from a simple Hollywood instrumental with lots of sound effects to the aftermath of Ennio Morricone's adaptations for spaghetti Westerns by Sergio Leone to the involvement of show tune composers such as Elmer Bernstein and Dan Black in the genre. There are traditional contributors of course, such as Tex Ritter with his theme to Wichita, the Sons of the Pioneers with "Sugarfoot," and Johnny Gregory with his theme from Bronco. But there was also an era when singers like Wayne Newton contributed his silky Vegas voice to the series Stagecoach and Andy Williams and his champagne throat sang on the soundtrack for the John Huston/Paul Newman vehicle The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. Thankfully, there is also a fine rendition here from the original released soundtrack to the television program Wagon Train, and Dean Martin weighs in with "The Wind, The Wind" from the film Pardners -- yes, it was a comedy. The package, unlike other Bear Family packages, contains literally no liner notes, but the sound has been remastered expertly and the booklet includes literally dozens of reproductions of movie posters (mostly German versions!) and stills from both film and TV. This is every bit as essential as the first volume and even more off the beaten track. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear...., August 2, 2000

By 

Joseph A. Aycock (rome, georgia USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Alamo to El Dorado (Audio CD)

this album is a treat to someone on the heavy side of 50 whose heroes always were and always will be cowboys. we had the best, the truest heroes, and nothing today compares with then. the themes in this album recall evenings spent glued to the tv, engrossed in the latest exploits of men with such unlikely names as bronco and wyatt. most important for me, it contains the theme of "twentysix men", a western that only played for a short while in my area. if you love cowboys, this is an album you have to have.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Very Unique CD, but low quality, March 25, 2008

By 

D. F. Uhlenhake (St. Marys, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: From Alamo to El Dorado (Audio CD)

I built up some gift certificate money, so I decided to use some bucks and get this CD. I only bought it to get the El Dorado theme by George Alexander and the Mellowmen. I'm a huge John Wayne fan and always loved the theme, but have had no luck in finding it anywhere else. Well, it sounds like they placed 2 recording mics in front of the TV and let 'er rip. And then instead of a fade out like in the movie, they decided to dub the last chorus with the actual orchestration at the end of the movie where John Wayne and Robert Mitchum are strolling down the street. The problem is the outro is in a different key and it is glaringly obvious! I guess the brilliant engineer on this CD missed the key changes in each of the verses of the theme song. I hope I can score a better recording someday. The High Chapperal by David Rose is awful, and most of the other tracks are sappy. Bronco and Sugarfoot brought back nice boyhood memories and Glen Campbell singing the True Grit song is OK. However, the Spanish version of A Man With True Grit and many of the other tracks made me cringe or laugh uncontrollably. Being spoiled by quality music from Westerns by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops, Tiomkin, or Bernstein made this one hard to bear.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For the Western TV/Movie Fan who likes Unique & Hard To Find, October 20, 2011

By 

Peps - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: From Alamo To El Dorado: Great Western Movie & TV Soundtracks Vol. 2 (Audio CD)

First have to set the Record straight. The track desciption lists "Bronco" From "Bronco Billy" (The Clint Eastwood Movie), THAT IS NOT THE CASE. This "Bronco" is from the 60's TV Show. That said, this is a unique collection of TV/Movie Westerns, that are done quite nice. It would have been nice if they had filled the CD. It runs less than a hour, a little over 55 minutes.
I like the obscure songs, like "Cat Ballou" by Nat King Cole & Stubby Kaye, Title Song From "El Dorado" by George Alexander, "Sugarfoot" by Sons of The Pioneer, even the Humorous Bob Hope doing "Buttons" & Bows from the movie "The Paleface". Also I like that they included not only the original song from the Movie "True Grit" by Glenn Campbell, but a Rare Spanish Version that he did. I think this is a true collectors gem.