Amapola
Pretty Little Poppy
Amapola (Pretty Little Poppy) is a Spanish song composed by Joseph Lacalle in 1924. In the early 1940s, English lyrics were written by Albert Gamse. The version recorded by vocalist Helen O'Connell and the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra ranked number-one on the Billboard charts in 1941. The song has been a favorite of several opera tenors, including Jan Peerce; and the orchestral version by Ennio Morricone was the leitmotif in the 1984 movie Once Upon a Time in America.
Joseph Lacalle (1860 - 1937) was a Spanish composer, clarinetist, conductor, and music critic. He composed many songs and marches, and is best known for his song Amapola.
Ennio Morricone (born in 1928) is an Italian composer and conductor who wrote music for more than 500 movies and television series. His scores have been included in over twenty award-winning movies, and he has written several symphonic and choral pieces. Morricone is most famous for his work in the so-called "Spaghetti Westerns" such as A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965) , The Good, Bad and the Ugly (1966), and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). Among his many awards is an Honorary Academy Award for career achievement.
