Representative Albums: "Bonanza! 1960-1969", "Italian Gold: Treasured Collection", "Heritage of Broadway: George Gershwin
Representative Songs: "Bonanza", "The Magnificent Seven", "The Mod Squad Theme
Biography
Al Caiola is a guitarist who initially made his reputation as a session musician, playing on records made by Percy Faith and Andre Kostelanetz, among others. Caiola was the conductor and arranger for United Artists Records in the late '40s and early '50s. After leaving UA, he signed with RCA, where he released a number of singles in the '50s. In the early '60s, he went back to United Artists, which is where he scored his first hit with the theme to the film The Magnificent Seven. The single peaked at 35 in early 1961 and it was quickly followed by the theme to the television series Bonanza, which climbed to number 19. For the rest of the '60s, Caiola released a number of easy listening instrumental albums. During the decade he also hosted a television show, which was only aired for a short while. Caiola continued to record throughout the '70s and into the '80s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Caiola was an active studio musician in the 1950s centered in the New York area. 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 recordingstar on the United Artists (UA) label for at least ten years. He had prominent pop hits in 1961 with "The Magnificent Seven" and "Bonanza". The style was inspired by Duane Eddy's twangy bass guitar sound. The arrangements were typically by Don Costa using a large orchestral backing. 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". UA used him to make commercial recordings of many movie and televisionthemes. A popular and sought-after album is 1961's Hit Instrumentals From Western TV Themes which included "Wagon Train (Wagons Ho)", "Paladin", "The Rebel" and "Gunslinger". It has been reissued in other forms since then. Solid Gold Guitar, probably his most impressive album, contained exciting big 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. The 1960s were his heyday. In the early 1970s he continued on the Avalanche Records 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.
