Alexander Emil “Al” Caiola
Alexander Emil “Al” Caiola (September 7, 1920 – November 9, 2016) was a guitarist, composer and arranger who spanned a variety of music genres including jazz, country, rock, western, and pop. He recorded over fifty albums and worked with some of the biggest names in music during the 20th century, including Elvis Presley, Ferrante & Teicher, Frank Sinatra, Percy Faith, Buddy Holly, Mitch Miller, and Tony Bennett. During World War II Caiola played with the United States Marine Corps 5th Marine Division (United States) Band that also included Bob Crosby. Caiola served in the Battle of Iwo Jima as a stretcher bearer.
Career[edit]
Caiola was a studio musician in the 1950s in New York City. He released some minor records under his own name in that decade. In addition, he performed under the musical direction of John Serry Sr. on an album for Dot Records in 1956 (Squeeze Play).
In 1960 he became a recording star on the United Artists label for over ten years. He had hits in 1961 with “The Magnificent Seven” and “Bonanza”. His guitar style was inspired by Duane Eddy. The arrangements were typically by Don Costa, using a large orchestral backing.[1] Caiola continuously released singles and albums throughout the 1960s and beyond, though no others appeared on the charts except for an entry in 1964 with “From Russia with Love“. United Artists used him to make commercial recordings of many movie and TV themes: “Wagon Train (Wagons Ho)”, “The Ballad of Paladin“, “The Rebel”, and “Gunslinger”. His album Solid Gold Guitar contained arrangements of “Jezebel”, “Two Guitars”, “Big Guitar”, “I Walk the Line”, and “Guitar Boogie”.
The Magnificent Seven album, other than the title track, consisted of a variety of pop songs with a jazzy bent. Guitars Guitars Guitars was similar. There was a wide variety to his albums — soft pop, Italian, Hawaiian, country, jazz. In the early 1970s he continued on the Avalanche Recordings label, producing similar work including the album Theme From the ‘Magnificent 7 Ride’ ’73. Later, on other labels, came some ethnic-themed instrumental albums such as In a Spanish Mood in 1982, and Italian instrumentals. In 1976, Caiola accompanied Sergio Franchi, Dana Valery, and Wayne J. Kirby (Franchi’s musical director) on a concert tour to Johannesburg, South Africa.
Caiola died in Allendale, New Jersey, at the age of 96.[2]
United Artists albums[edit]
- Guitars Guitars Guitars
- The Magnificent Seven
- Golden Hit Instrumentals
- Hit Instrumentals from Western TV Themes
- Solid Gold Guitar
- Midnight in Moscow (1962)
- Midnight Dance Party
- Golden Guitar
- City Guy Plays Country
- Acapulco 1922 and the Lonely Bull (with Ralph Marterie)
- Paradise Village (1963)
- Ciao
- Give Me the Simple Life
- Greasy Kid Stuff
- Cleopatra and All That Jazz
- The Best of Al Caiola (1963)
- 50 Fabulous Guitar Favorites (1964)
- 50 Fabulous Italian Favorites (1964)
- On the Trail (1964)
- Tuff Guitar (1964)
- Guitar for Lovers (1964)
- Have Guitar Will Travel (reissue of Midnight in Moscow)
- Solid Gold Guitar Goes Hawaiian
- Sounds for Spies and Private Eyes (1965)
- Tuff Guitar English Style
- Tuff Guitar Tijuana Style
- ‘Guitars Woodwinds and Bongoes (Ultra Audio series)
- Romantico
- All Strung Out
- Return of the Seven
- King Guitar
- Sound of Christmas (with Riz Ortolani)
- It Must Be Him
- The Best of Al Caiola vol.2 (1968)
- The Power of Brass (brass group presented by Caiola)
- Let the Sunshine In
Partial studio recordings list[edit]
- Paul Anka — “Diana“, “Lonely Boy“, “My Way“, “Puppy Love“, “Put Your Head on My Shoulder“, “Times of Your Life“
- Louis Armstrong — “Back O’Town Blues”, “Mop! Mop!”, “Blueberry Hill“ (All three tracks recorded live in 1947)
- Frankie Avalon — “DeDe Dinah“, “Venus“
- Burt Bacharach — “Bridget Bardo”
- Pearl Bailey — “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’“, “Westport”
- LaVern Baker — “I Cried a Tear”, “I’m Leaving You”, banjo on “Humpty Dumpty Heart”
- Tony Bennett — “Boulevard of Broken Dreams“, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain“, “Stranger in Paradise“
- Ruth Brown — “Miss Rhythm“, “Late Date with Ruth Brown“
- Solomon Burke — “Cry to Me“
- Glen Campbell — “Galveston“
- Petula Clark — “Don’t Sleep in the Subway“, “This Is My Song“
- Rosemary Clooney — “Come on a My House“, “Half as Much“, “Hey There“, “This Ole House“
- The Coasters — “Dance!”, “Gee, Golly”, “Hungry”, “I’m Fallin'”, “Run Red Run”
- Perry Como — “Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes“, “Patricia”, “Temptation“
- Ray Conniff, His Orchestra And Chorus — “Melody for Two Guitars”
- The Crickets — “Rave On!“, “That’s My Desire“
- King Curtis & Al Caiola — “Guitar Boogie Shuffle”
- Bobby Darin — “Artificial Flowers”, “Bill Bailey“, “Dream Lover“, “Mack the Knife“, “Queen of the Hop”, “Splish Splash“, “That’s All”
- Peter De Angelis Orchestra & Chorus featuring Al Caiola — “The Happy Mandolin”
- Dion — “Abraham, Martin and John“, “Drip Drop“, “Runaround Sue“, “The Wanderer“
- Fabian — “Tiger“, “Turn Me Loose“, “Hound Dog Man”
- Percy Faith — “The Theme from A Summer Place“
- Ferrante & Teicher — “Airport Love Theme”, “Theme from Exodus“
- Eddie Fisher — “Anytime”, “Dungaree Doll”, “On the Street Where You Live“, “Oh! My Pa-Pa“
- The Four Lads — “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing“, “Moments to Remember“, “No, Not Much“, “Standing on the Corner“
- Sergio Franchi – Two entire RCA Victor albums in 1968: “I’m A Fool to Want You” & “Wine and Song”
- Connie Francis — “Al-Di-La”, “Arrivederci Roma”, “Mama”, “Summertime in Venice”
- Jackie Gleason — “From Russia with Love“, “Melancholy Serenade”
- The Bobby Hackett Quartet — entire “You Stepped Out of a Dream” album
- Herbie Hancock — “Deck the Halls”
- Woody Herman — “Body and Soul“, “Caldonia“, “Early Autumn”, “Mood Indigo“
- Al Hirt — “Big Honey”, “Puppet on a String“
- Buddy Holly — “I’m Gonna Love You Too”, “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore“, “Moondreams”, “True Love Ways”
- The Hugo & Luigi Chorus — “It Happened in Monterey“
- Ivory Joe Hunter — “Empty Arms“, “Love’s a Hurting Game”
- Mahalia Jackson — “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands“, “I See God”, “You’re Not Living In Vain”
- Willis Jackson — “Back Door”, “Lator Gator”
- Ben E. King — “Spanish Harlem“, “Stand by Me“
- Andre Kostelanetz — “The Impossible Dream“, “My Favorite Things“
- Frankie Laine — “Lonely Man”, “Moonlight Gambler”
- Brenda Lee — “Fairyland”, “One Step at a Time“
- Peggy Lee — “Lean On Me”, “Spinning Wheel“
- Jerry Lee Lewis — “Let’s Talk About Us”, “To Make Love Sweeter For You”
- Julie London — “Lonely Girl”, “Remember”
- Al Martino — “Spanish Eyes“
- Johnny Mathis — “Chances Are“, “It’s Not for Me to Say“, “Misty“, “Smile“, “The Twelfth of Never“
- Howard McGhee — “Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries“ (Bethlehem, 1956)
- The McGuire Sisters — “Sugartime“
- Helen Merrill — “It’s De-Lovely“
- Mitch Miller — “The Yellow Rose of Texas“, most “Sing Along with Mitch“ albums
- Guy Mitchell — “Knee Deep in the Blues“, “Run with the Best”
- Lou Monte — “Lazy Mary”, “Pepino the Italian Mouse”
- Claus Ogerman — “Lyric Suite”
- Elvis Presley — “Santa Lucia“
- Johnnie Ray — “Just Walkin’ in the Rain“, “Soliloquy of a Fool”
- Henri René And His Orchestra — entire “Compulsion To Swing” album
- Marty Robbins — “A White Sport Coat“, “She Was Only Seventeen”, “The Story of My Life”
- Neil Sedaka — “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do“, “Calendar Girl“, “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen“, “Next Door to an Angel“
- Del Shannon — “Hats Off to Larry“, “Little Town Flirt“, “Runaway“
- Simon & Garfunkel — “Mrs. Robinson“, “Old Friends“, “Bridge over Troubled Water“ (also see Tom & Jerry)
- Frank Sinatra — “Bye Bye Baby”, “Don’t Cry Joe”, “Drinking Again”, “It All Depends on You”
- Somethin’ Smith and the Redheads — “It’s Gonna Snowflow”, “Love Is a Gamble”
- Barbra Streisand — “Bye Bye Blackbird“
- Tom & Jerry (Simon & Garfunkel) — “Baby Talk“
- Sarah Vaughan — “Autumn in New York“, “Lullaby of Birdland“, “Moonlight in Vermont“, “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever”
- The Village Stompers – “Washington Square”
- Dinah Washington — entire “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes!“ album
- Andy Williams — “Butterfly”, “Canadian Sunset“
- Joe Williams — “I Should Have Kissed Her More”, “On the Sunny Side of the Street“
- Chuck Willis — “C. C. Rider” (also known as “See See Rider“), “Hang Up My Rock ‘N’ Roll Shoes”, “What Am I Living For?”
- Hugo Winterhalter — “Blue Tango“, “Count Every Star“
References[edit]
- Jump up^ Carlton, Jim (2009). “Al Caiola (A Career At The Top)”. Conversations with Great Jazz and Studio Guitarists. Mel Bay Publications. pp. 5–18. ISBN 978-0786651238.
- Jump up^ Barnes, Mike (11 November 2016). “Al Caiola, Guitarist on Themes for ‘Bonanza’ and ‘The Magnificent Seven,’ Dies at 96”. The Hollywood Reporter. ISSN 0018-3660.
External links[edit]
