I tracked down this 1966 western after falling in love with Ennio Morricone's score through its use in KILL BILL VOL. 2, but was warned by several people that it was nothing to get excited about. Instead, I looooved the film! I hate Burt Reynolds and his smarmy offscreen personality, but he was quite good in this film. Reviews have said Morricone's soundtrack is the only reason to see NAVAJO JOE, but I thought it had great action, a fine cast of characters and a basic concept of revenge mixed with that old chestnut "mysterious stranger protects town of innocents".

On another note, why is the soundtrack CD so damn expensive everywhere I look? I assume it's out of print, but I've not found a disc less than $30! I adore this score, but don't have the cash to spare on such an expensive curio. Can it be found ANYWHERE cheaper?!

I suspect a lot of it is simple bias against Burt Reynolds. Even when NAVAJO JOE first came out, archival press seemed to indicate most people thought he was trying to pull a Clint Eastwood -- marginal TV star goes to Italy and makes a western to get some street credibility. And that kind of dismissal is hard to shake, especially when you have as bad a public reputation as Reynolds does.

I'm dying for MGM to release a clean DVD of this movie after being inundated with so many bad pd releases of it. Burt has earned it.

Yeah, the soundtrack CD cost me an arm and a leg when I splashed out for it a few years ago (and it took WEEKS to source a copy and get in in the post) but it was worth the cost for me - annoyingly, though, the audio quality isn't exactly the best: the shriller passages of Navajo wailing have a tendency to distort. (I keep wondering if it's worth picking up the KILL BILL VOL.2 CD just to get a nice quality copy of a couple of the cues, although I haven't much idea which ones are actually on the disc - the main title, maybe - or variations thereon - but what else? Oh, and why on earth did Tarantino decide to credit JOE under its vanishingly rare alternate title of UN DOLLARO A TESTA? Answers, please...)

But it's a great, great score - and the sole Morricone soundtrack I (almost) play through continuously, without feeling the need the skip the occasional "filler" track (okay, I admit I don't listen to the Mormon chant...but the rest is pure gold). There's "The Demise of Barbara, and the Return of Joe", "After the End", not to mention the rousing opening and closing titles... I have to admit I fall into the camp which feels the film itself could have been better - it has a somewhat shoddy, rushed feel to it quite unlike Corbucci's other spaghettis, but the music keeps Joe's vengeance trail a compelling one and I, too, would love to be able to see the thing in its proper Techniscope dimensions instead of the P&S abortion I have instead.

An amusing touch: the CD credits "Leo Nicholls" with composing the score (Morricone's pseudonym on the film).

I am not a big fan of the film either, as it seems to be closer to the American type
of Western, although I like the similarly american-looking TEXAS ADIOS a lot. I remember liking the women though which is quite rare for a SW. The music is of course brilliant. Incidentally, I found a copy of the CD in a greek island last year for 15 euro which at the time was around 17.18 USD but I didn't buy it because
I found it expensive. I will definetely will be returning to this island this year...
Isn't Morricone credited as Lee Nichols in the film credits as well?

Well, bad news, Steve: the KILL BILL VOL. 2 CD only has "A Silhouette of Doom" from NAVAJO JOE. "The Demise of Barbara and the Return of Joe" figured into the stunning climax, but isn't on the CD. I downloaded it from Killbill2.net, though. Just wish the CD was readily available; I agree, if I had this CD, I don't think I would skip over anything...except that Monk chant... :)

On a side note, the "filler" of various war cries by high-pitched shriekers was also used in Paramount's ELECTION with Reese Witherspoon! I only realized this when watching NAVAJO JOE and heard the war cries; they appear whenever Reese Witherspoon gets a fire in her eyes and sees competition during the school president campaign.

I don't have the CD of the soundtrack, but rather the LP released by United Artists Records long, long ago. Leo Nichols is credited as the composer-conductor on the LP as well. I'm wondering if the CD may include any additional cuts beyond what appears on the LP. The LP contains:

Side One:
Main Title - Navajo Joe
Raw Hides and Dead Hides
A Silhouette of Doom
The Pyote Saloon
To Espereanza
The Bandit Gets The Train
But Joe Says No

Side Two:
The Demise of Barbara, and the Return of Joe
Fear and Silence
The Navajoe's a Prisoner
Healing the Wound
Goodbye to Brother Jeffrey
End Title - Navajo Joe

The tracks on the CD are as follows:

1. Titoli Di Testa-Navajo Joe [Main Title] {Navajo Joe}
2. Pelli Conciate E Pelli Morte (Raw Hides and Dead Hides)
3. Profilo del Destino (A Silhouette of Doom)
4. Saloon Pyote (The Pyote Saloon)
5. Storia Indiana (An Indian Story)
6. Verso Esperanza (To Esperanza)
7. Bandito Prende Il Treno (The Bandit Gests the Train)
8. Ma Joe Dice No (But Joe Says No)
9. Fine Di Barbara, E Il Ritornio Di Joe (The Demise of Barbara and the Return of Joe)
10. Paura E Silenzio (Fear and Silence)
11. Navajo E Prigioniero (The Navajo's a Prisoner)
12. Guarendo le Ferite (Healing the Wound)
13. Addio a Fratello Jeffrey (Goodbye to Brother Jeffrey)
14. Navajo Joe
15. Dopo la Fine (After the End)
16. Titoli Di Coda-Navajo Joe [End Title] {Navajo Joe}


The CD contains three additional tracks to the LP, and all of them particularly strong cues: An Indian Story (moody Navajo wailing, lower-key than the strident main title), Navajo Joe (IIRC, more of the twangy guitar used as Bill's theme in KILL BILL VOL.2) and After the End (which if memory serves is the actual end title used in the film NAVAJO JOE *, accompanying the final image of the white horse galloping off into the distance and which gave the finale such a huge emotional wallop - and which was botched on the VHS I watched thanks to its being unceremoniously chopped off when the screen cuts to black, instead of being allowed to play out as intended over the black screen). I think these extra tracks are absolutely terrific - two of them I've just used on a self-created Morricone compilation CD for my Dad for Xmas, so I can't offer any higher recommendation than that! :P

* Isn't it odd how so many Morricone cues end up being totally reshuffled by their films' directors in the actual final assembly - just as a for-instance, the so-called End Title from NAVAJO JOE is actually used during the train sequence, while the Duel in the Mirror Cabinet cue on the MY NAME IS NOBODY CD isn't used in that scene at all, as far as I remember (the film uses the Man with a Harmonica-styled "My Fault?" cue instead to accompany the "resa dei conti" sequence). It's consequently difficult to match up a CD cue to the memory of the cue actually employed in the film proper, making informed soundtrack purchases rather frustrating... But composers are always complaining that their scores are mishandled by directors - remember the late Jerry Goldsmith's railing against Ridley Scott re: ALIEN? - so I suppose it's no surprise to find this liberal mix-and-match approach being applied elsewhere. (Goblin's full score for NONHOSONNO is quite different to the edited and swapped-around edition used by Argento for his final assembly - but that's not a complaint. Music has to be selected to match the mood of the scene, and if that means editing cues, or using other bits and pieces from different sources in place of those composed specifically to accompany the film, then that's a creative decision that only the director should make, provided of course that he is competent to do so...)

Oh, and another P.S. about ELECTION - I remember almost shouting for joy when I saw this on the big screen and Morricone's magnificent NAVAJO JOE theme blared forth during Reese Witherspoon's freak-out. The director mentions his love for the score on the DVD commentary, too (an excellent one, by the way, if you haven't already given it a listen).

Forget the Morricone - its all about Aldo Sambrell! ;)