Terry Funk and the Spaghetti Western Music Connection
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Terry Funk is best known for his hardcore wrestling style, but did you know he’s also a big fan of spaghetti western music?
Terry Funk
Terry Funk is a former professional wrestler and current professional wrestling promoter. He is the founder of Funk’s Texas Wrestling Academy, a wrestling school in Amarillo, Texas. Funk has also appeared in several films and television shows, most notably The Wrestler and Breaking Bad. He is also a big fan of spaghetti Westerns, and has even composed and performed music for several of them.
His early life and family
Terry Funk was born in Hammond, Indiana on June 30, 1944. He is the oldest of four brothers, all of whom became professional wrestlers. His parents divorced when he was four years old, and he was raised by his mother and maternal grandparents. As a teenager, he began working as a cowboy in Wyoming. He then attended West Texas State University on a football scholarship, but dropped out after one semester to continue working as a professional wrestler.
Funk has been married three times and has four children. His first marriage was to Vicki Lynn Jacobs, with whom he had two daughters: Dixie Caroline (born 1971) and Kodia Marie (born 1974). He married his second wife Cathy Jean Paine in 1977 and they had one son together: Corey James (born 1981). Funk divorced Paine in 1983 and married his third wife Stephanie after the divorce was finalized. Stephanie and Funk have one daughter together: Brittany Joy (born 1984).
His professional wrestling career
Terry Funk’s professional wrestling career began on November 15, 1965, in Amarillo, Texas. He was both a performer and promoter in the Panhandle territory of Texas and Oklahoma, where he owned and operated several wrestling promotions. He eventually became a mainstay in Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF), Mid-South Wrestling (MSW), World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). In the NWA, Funk was a former five-time world heavyweight champion, a former NWA United States Heavyweight Champion, and a former NWA World Tag Team Champion.
His retirement from wrestling
After his retirement from wrestling in 1997, Funk made sporadic wrestling appearances and ventured into acting. He appeared in several films, mostly Westerns, including *The Devil’s Rejects* (2005), *Huckberry Finn* (2007), *Sleepy Hollow* (1999), and *Tom and Jerry: The Movie* (1992). In 2010, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Spaghetti Western Music
In the late 1960s, a new genre of Western movie was born- the Spaghetti Western. These movies were characterized by their low budgets, shootouts, and Italian directors. The most famous of these directors was Sergio Leone, who directed movies such as The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The music in these Spaghetti Westerns was also unique, and it was composed by Ennio Morricone.
The origin of the genre
The spaghetti Western genre is named after the Italian director Sergio Leone, who directed a trilogy of films set in the American West: A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). These films starred Clint Eastwood and were scored by Ennio Morricone.
Leone’s films were highly stylized, with Morricone’s score providing a distinctive sound that came to be associated with the genre. The success of Leone’s films led to a boom in Italian production of Westerns, which continued into the 1970s.
The spaghetti Western genre has since been spoofed and homage paid to in numerous films and TV shows, such as Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles (1974) and Netflix’s Django Unchained (2012).
The influence of Ennio Morricone
Terry Funk is a huge fan of spaghetti westerns, and he credits the music of Ennio Morricone as one of the big influences on his career.
Morricone’s music has been used in some of the most iconic spaghetti westerns, such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West. Funk says that hearing Morricone’s music made him want to be a wrestler.
“When I was a kid, I used to love hearing Ennio Morricone’s music in those old spaghetti westerns,” Funk said. “It just made me want to jump up and be a part of it, you know? And that’s kind of how I felt about professional wrestling.”
Funk has used Morricone’s music as his entrance theme on several occasions, including his return to ECW in 1995. He even recorded a cover of Morricone’s “Ecstasy of Gold” for his 1997 album Terry Funk: Outlaw.
The popularity of the genre
The popularity of the Spaghetti Western music genre has been on the rise in recent years. This is due in part to the increasing popularity of films and TV shows that have been set in the American West.
One of the most famous Spaghetti Western musicians is Terry Funk. Funk is a well-known country music singer and songwriter who has been making music for over forty years. He is best known for his work with the band The Grateful Dead.
Funk has always had a strong connection to the American West. He was born in Texas and his family has roots in Oklahoma. He even spent time living in New Mexico while he was growing up.
This connection to the American West has been a strong influence on Funk’s music. His songs often tell stories about the people and places he has visited while on tour. Some of his most famous songs include “The Ballad of Leroy Brown” and “The Ghost Riders In The Sky”.
The popularity of Spaghetti Western music has also been boosted by the success of films like “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” and “Once Upon A Time In The West”. These films feature some of the most iconic moments in Spaghetti Western history, and their soundtracks are filled with unforgettable tunes.
The connection between Terry Funk and spaghetti Western music
Terry Funk is a well-known name in the world of professional wrestling. He is a former world champion and has held many other titles. He is also a member of the Wrestling Hall of Fame. Terry Funk has a strong connection to spaghetti Western music. In this article, we will explore that connection.
Funk’s love of the genre
Terry Funk is a big fan of spaghetti Western music, and he often uses it as his entrance music when he competes in professional wrestling matches. He has said that he loves the genre because it is “raw and real”, and he feels that it reflects his own personality.
Funk is not the only wrestler to have a connection to spaghetti Western music. WWE legend “Macho Man” Randy Savage also used the genre as his entrance music, and another WWE star, CM Punk, has said that he is a big fan of Ennio Morricone’s work.
His use of the music in his wrestling matches
In the early 1970s, when Funk was first starting out in the wrestling business, he became friends with a fellow wrestler nicknamed “Cowboy” Bob Orton. Orton had a collection of spaghetti Western soundtrack albums, and he would often play them while the two men were hanging out together. Funk became a big fan of the music, and he eventually began using it as his entrance theme when he wrestled.
Funk’s use of spaghetti Western music in his wrestling matches was part of what made him such a unique and charismatic performer. He would often walk to the ring wearing a cowboy hat and carrying a six-shooter, and his entrance theme would be a catchy piece of spaghetti Western music. The combination of Funk’s outrageous personality and the exciting music made for some very entertaining wrestling matches.
Over the years, Funk has used several different pieces of spaghetti Western music as his entrance theme, but one of the most popular is Ennio Morricone’s “Ecstasy of Gold” from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Whenever Funk makes his entrance to this piece of music, the crowd goes wild.
Funk is not the only wrestler who has used spaghetti Western music in his matches. Another famous wrestler who often uses this type of music is “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Austin is another wrestler who has an outgoing personality, and he also uses exciting pieces of spaghetti Western music as his entrance theme. Like Funk, Austin’s use of this type of music makes for some very entertaining wrestling matches.
His influence on the genre
Terry Funk’s impact on the spaghetti Western music genre is undeniable. His work with Ennio Morricone on “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” is widely considered to be one of the most influential pieces of music in the genre. His work on “Once Upon a Time in the West” is also highly regarded, and his influence can be heard in the work of many other artists who have followed in his footsteps.
