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Al Caiola was an American guitarist, composer and arranger who spanned genres including jazz, country, rock, and pop over several decades. He recorded over fifty albums working with major artists and was known for his instrumental versions of popular film and TV themes. Caiola had some chart success in the 1960s but was most prolific as a studio musician. He continued recording and performing until his death at age 96 in 2016.

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71 views4 pages

Al Caiola: Jump To Navigationjump To Search

Al Caiola was an American guitarist, composer and arranger who spanned genres including jazz, country, rock, and pop over several decades. He recorded over fifty albums working with major artists and was known for his instrumental versions of popular film and TV themes. Caiola had some chart success in the 1960s but was most prolific as a studio musician. He continued recording and performing until his death at age 96 in 2016.

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daniel dennis encarta
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Al Caiola

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Al Caiola

Birth name Alexander Emil Caiola

Born September 7, 1920

Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.

Died November 9, 2016 (aged 96)

Allendale, New Jersey

Genres Jazz, country, rock, pop

Occupation Musician, conductor, arranger, songwriter

(s)

Instrument Guitar

 1955–1969
Years
 1980–2016
active

Labels Atco, Chancellor, Coral, HMV, RCA, Roulette, Savoy, T

ime, United Artists, Durium

Associated Tony Mottola, The Living Trio, Roy Ross and the

acts Ragamuffins with Dizzy Gillespie, The Village

Stompers, The Ragtimers

Alexander Emil Caiola (September 7, 1920 – November 9, 2016) was an American


guitarist, composer and arranger, who spanned a variety of music genres including jazz,
country, rock, and pop.[1] He recorded over fifty albums and worked with some of the
biggest names in music during the 20th century, including Elvis Presley, Ray
Conniff, Ferrante & Teicher, Frank Sinatra, Percy Faith, Buddy Holly, Mitch Miller,
and Tony Bennett.

Contents

 1Career
 2Discography
 3Partial studio recordings list
 4References
 5External links

Career[edit]
During World War II Caiola played with the United States Marine Corps 5th Marine
Division Band that also included Bob Crosby. Caiola served in the Battle of Iwo Jima as
a stretcher bearer.
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" (#35 in USA) [2] and "Bonanza" (#19 in
USA[3]). The arrangements were typically by Don Costa, using a large orchestral
backing.[4]
Caiola 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".[citation needed]
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. [citation
needed]

Caiola died in Allendale, New Jersey, at the age of 96. [5]

Discography[edit]
 Serenade in Blue (Savoy, 1956)
 Music for Space Squirrels (Atco, 1958)
 Deep in a Dream (Savoy, 1958)
 High Strung (RCA Victor, 1959)
 Guitars Guitars Guitars (United Artists, 1960)
 Percussion Espanol (Time, 1960)
 Great Pickin' with Don Arnone (Chancellor, 1960)
 Salute Italia! (Roulette, 1960)
 Guitar of Plenty (Time, 1960)
 Italian Guitars (Time, 1960)
 Guitars Woodwinds and Bongos (United Artists, 1960)
 Golden Hit Instrumentals (United Artists, 1961)
 Hit Instrumentals from Western TV Themes (United Artists, 1961)
 Cleopatra and All That Jazz (United Artists, 1962)
 The Guitar Style of Al Caiola (RCA Camden, 1962)
 Solid Gold Guitar (United Artists, 1962)
 Golden Guitar (United Artists, 1962)
 Spanish Guitars (Time, 1962)
 50 Fabulous Guitar Favorites (United Artists, 1964)
 Guitar for Lovers (United Artists, 1964)
 The Magic World of Italy (Roulette, 1964)
 50 Fabulous Italian Favorites (United Artists, 1964)
 On the Trail (United Artists, 1964)
 Tuff Guitar (United Artists, 1965)
 Solid Gold Guitar Goes Hawaiian (United Artists, 1965)
 Songs for Spies and Private Eyes (United Artists, 1965)
 Tuff Guitar English Style (United Artists, 1965)
 Tuff Guitar Tijuana Style (United Artists, 1966)
 Romantico (United Artists, 1966)
 King Guitar (United Artists, 1967)
 The Power of Brass (United Artists, 1968)
 It Must Be Him (United Artists, 1968)
 Let the Sunshine In (United Artists, 1969)
 Soft Guitars (Bainbridge, 1980)
 In a Spanish Mood (Accord, 1982)
 Amigo & Other Songs (Aurora, 1993)
 Encore! Oro Italiano (Alanna, 2001)
 Guitar for Latin Lovers (Alanna, 2001)
 The Manhattan Guitars (Alanna, 2002)
 Classic Italian Love Songs (Alanna, 2005)

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