Peter Tevis (born 10 February 1937, in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...

, USA, died 13 September 2006 in

Mercer Island, Washington Mercer Island is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located on an island of the same name in the southern portion of Lake Washington. Mercer Island is in the Seattle metropolitan area, with Seattle to its west and Bellevue to it ...

) was an American

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

best remembered for his work on the soundtracks of composer Ennio Morricone. Tevis met Morricone while living in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in the 1960s, and suggested working together. A 1962 recording of the song " Pastures of Plenty" by

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

became a small hit single (RCA PM45-3115). Morricone later reworked it into the title theme of the famous Spaghetti Western movie "

A Fistful of Dollars ''A Fistful of Dollars'' ( it, Per un pugno di dollari, lit=For a Fistful of Dollars titled on-screen as ''Fistful of Dollars'') is a 1964 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, ...

" directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood (without Tevis lyrics). Later they continued to collaborate on a number of recordings. Tevis is credited with singing the lyrics of songs on the soundtracks of several Spaghetti Western movies, including: *" A Gringo Like Me" from the film

Gunfight at Red Sands ''Duello nel Texas'', also known as ''Gunfight at Red Sands'' and ''Gringo'', is a 1963 Italian/Spanish international co-production directed by Ricardo Blasco and Mario Caiano, and produced by Albert Band as his first Spaghetti Western. It was al ...

*" Lonesome Billy" from the film Bullets Don't Argue *" Per un Pugno di Dollari" (A Fistful of Dollars) Tevis was also credited with singing the theme song of the animated television series

Underdog (TV series) ''Underdog'' is an American Saturday morning animated television series that ran from October 3, 1964, to March 4, 1967 starting on the NBC network until 1966, with the rest of the run on CBS, under the primary sponsorship of General Mills, fo ...

in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Tevis ran a record label called Pet Records, based in Burbank, California. The label released records designed to train pet birds to talk as well as other pet training records. The word pet also stood for "Peter Edward Tevis." Tevis was married to actress Tiffany Bolling from 1969 to 1970. In his latter years he suffered from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

and nearly lost his voice.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Blog post
* * (same person?) * 1937 births 2006 deaths American folk singers 20th-century American singers {{US-folk-singer-stub