oh yes , he was a first call session player in the 50s and 60s ,played on thousands of recordings . The Bonanza theme was a huge hit along with the theme from Magnificent Seven ...these were pop versions of the original themes from the series and movie .
He also did tons of easy listening guitar records ,. I probably have half a dozen of them.

His spy theme records are good.

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Last edited: Dec 26, 2016 22:16:47

What are the Spy albums? And any other suggestions of albums you guys like featuring him?

I literally grew up on Al. His version of Experiment in Terror was the theme song for Chiller Theater in Pittsburgh. I heard it every Saturday night for as long as I can remember.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Great album, I got aware of him when I started listening to soundtrack & library music back in the 90's.

Last edited: Dec 27, 2016 08:04:10

Here's just a partial list of hits by others he played on
Partial studio recordings list[edit]
Paul Anka — "Diana", "Lonely Boy", "My Way", "Puppy Love", "Put Your Head on My Shoulder", "Times of Your Life"
Louis Armstrong — "Back O'Town Blues", "Mop! Mop!", "Blueberry Hill" (All three tracks recorded live in 1947)
Frankie Avalon — "DeDe Dinah", "Venus"
Burt Bacharach — "Bridget Bardo"
Pearl Bailey — "I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'", "Westport"
LaVern Baker — "I Cried a Tear", "I'm Leaving You", banjo on "Humpty Dumpty Heart"
Tony Bennett — "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", "Climb Ev'ry Mountain", "Stranger in Paradise"
Ruth Brown — "Miss Rhythm", "Late Date with Ruth Brown"
Solomon Burke — "Cry to Me"
Glen Campbell — "Galveston"
Petula Clark — "Don't Sleep in the Subway", "This Is My Song"
Rosemary Clooney — "Come on a My House", "Half as Much", "Hey There", "This Ole House"
The Coasters — "Dance!", "Gee, Golly", "Hungry", "I'm Fallin'", "Run Red Run"
Perry Como — "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes", "Patricia", "Temptation"
Ray Conniff, His Orchestra And Chorus — "Melody for Two Guitars"
The Crickets — "Rave On!", "That's My Desire"
King Curtis & Al Caiola — "Guitar Boogie Shuffle"
Bobby Darin — "Artificial Flowers", "Bill Bailey", "Dream Lover", "Mack the Knife", "Queen of the Hop", "Splish Splash", "That's All"
Peter De Angelis Orchestra & Chorus featuring Al Caiola — "The Happy Mandolin"
Dion — "Abraham, Martin and John", "Drip Drop", "Runaround Sue", "The Wanderer"
Fabian — "Tiger", "Turn Me Loose", "Hound Dog Man"
Percy Faith — "The Theme from A Summer Place"
Ferrante & Teicher — "Airport Love Theme", "Theme from Exodus"
Eddie Fisher — "Anytime", "Dungaree Doll", "On the Street Where You Live", "Oh! My Pa-Pa"
The Four Lads — "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing", "Moments to Remember", "No, Not Much", "Standing on the Corner"
Sergio Franchi - Two entire RCA Victor albums in 1968: "I'm A Fool to Want You" & "Wine and Song"
Connie Francis — "Al-Di-La", "Arrivederci Roma", "Mama", "Summertime in Venice"
Jackie Gleason — "From Russia with Love", "Melancholy Serenade"
The Bobby Hackett Quartet — entire "You Stepped Out of a Dream" album
Herbie Hancock — "Deck the Halls"
Woody Herman — "Body and Soul", "Caldonia", "Early Autumn", "Mood Indigo"
Al Hirt — "Big Honey", "Puppet on a String"
Buddy Holly — "I'm Gonna Love You Too", "It Doesn't Matter Anymore", "Moondreams", "True Love Ways"
The Hugo & Luigi Chorus — "It Happened in Monterey"
Ivory Joe Hunter — "Empty Arms", "Love's a Hurting Game"
Mahalia Jackson — "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands", "I See God", "You're Not Living In Vain"
Willis Jackson — "Back Door", "Lator Gator"
Ben E. King — "Spanish Harlem", "Stand by Me"
Andre Kostelanetz — "The Impossible Dream", "My Favorite Things"
Frankie Laine — "Lonely Man", "Moonlight Gambler"
Brenda Lee — "Fairyland", "One Step at a Time"
Peggy Lee — "Lean On Me", "Spinning Wheel"
Jerry Lee Lewis — "Let's Talk About Us", "To Make Love Sweeter For You"
Julie London — "Lonely Girl", "Remember"
Al Martino — "Spanish Eyes"
Johnny Mathis — "Chances Are", "It's Not for Me to Say", "Misty", "Smile", "The Twelfth of Never"
Howard McGhee — "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries" (Bethlehem, 1956)
The McGuire Sisters — "Sugartime"
Helen Merrill — "It's De-Lovely"
Mitch Miller — "The Yellow Rose of Texas", most "Sing Along with Mitch" albums
Guy Mitchell — "Knee Deep in the Blues", "Run with the Best"
Lou Monte — "Lazy Mary", "Pepino the Italian Mouse"
Claus Ogerman — "Lyric Suite"
Elvis Presley — "Santa Lucia"
Johnnie Ray — "Just Walkin' in the Rain", "Soliloquy of a Fool"
Henri René And His Orchestra — entire "Compulsion To Swing" album
Marty Robbins — "A White Sport Coat", "She Was Only Seventeen", "The Story of My Life"
Neil Sedaka — "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do", "Calendar Girl", "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen", "Next Door to an Angel"
Del Shannon — "Hats Off to Larry", "Little Town Flirt", "Runaway"
Simon & Garfunkel — "Mrs. Robinson", "Old Friends", "Bridge over Troubled Water" (also see Tom & Jerry)
Frank Sinatra — "Bye Bye Baby", "Don't Cry Joe", "Drinking Again", "It All Depends on You"
Somethin' Smith and the Redheads — "It's Gonna Snowflow", "Love Is a Gamble"
Barbra Streisand — "Bye Bye Blackbird"
Tom & Jerry (Simon & Garfunkel) — "Baby Talk"
Sarah Vaughan — "Autumn in New York", "Lullaby of Birdland", "Moonlight in Vermont", "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever"
The Village Stompers - "Washington Square"
Dinah Washington — entire "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes!" album
Andy Williams — "Butterfly", "Canadian Sunset"
Joe Williams — "I Should Have Kissed Her More", "On the Sunny Side of the Street"
Chuck Willis — "C. C. Rider" (also known as "See See Rider"), "Hang Up My Rock 'N' Roll Shoes", "What Am I Living For?"
Hugo Winterhalter — "Blue Tango", "Count Every Star"

I have an old LP from my dad where Al plays the theme from Bonanza plus schmaltzed-up versions of 11 other intro hits from the late 50's and early 60's, including Apache, Ram-Bunk-Shush, and Hearts of Stone. They were the first versions of these tunes that I heard as a kid. His playing is first-rate and the guitar sounds are cool, but the orchestral backings on some of the tracks are a little too "old showbiz" for me now. Still, probably one of the reasons I keyed into the guitar in the first place.

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Last edited: Dec 27, 2016 10:57:04

ArabSpringReverb wrote:

Here's just a partial list of hits by others he played on
Partial studio recordings list[edit]
Paul Anka — "Diana", "Lonely Boy", "My Way", "Puppy Love", "Put Your Head on My Shoulder", "Times of Your Life"
Louis Armstrong — "Back O'Town Blues", "Mop! Mop!", "Blueberry Hill" (All three tracks recorded live in 1947)
Frankie Avalon — "DeDe Dinah", "Venus"
Burt Bacharach — "Bridget Bardo"
Pearl Bailey — "I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'", "Westport"
LaVern Baker — "I Cried a Tear", "I'm Leaving You", banjo on "Humpty Dumpty Heart"
Tony Bennett — "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", "Climb Ev'ry Mountain", "Stranger in Paradise"
Ruth Brown — "Miss Rhythm", "Late Date with Ruth Brown"
Solomon Burke — "Cry to Me"
Glen Campbell — "Galveston"
Petula Clark — "Don't Sleep in the Subway", "This Is My Song"
Rosemary Clooney — "Come on a My House", "Half as Much", "Hey There", "This Ole House"
The Coasters — "Dance!", "Gee, Golly", "Hungry", "I'm Fallin'", "Run Red Run"
Perry Como — "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes", "Patricia", "Temptation"
Ray Conniff, His Orchestra And Chorus — "Melody for Two Guitars"
The Crickets — "Rave On!", "That's My Desire"
King Curtis & Al Caiola — "Guitar Boogie Shuffle"
Bobby Darin — "Artificial Flowers", "Bill Bailey", "Dream Lover", "Mack the Knife", "Queen of the Hop", "Splish Splash", "That's All"
Peter De Angelis Orchestra & Chorus featuring Al Caiola — "The Happy Mandolin"
Dion — "Abraham, Martin and John", "Drip Drop", "Runaround Sue", "The Wanderer"
Fabian — "Tiger", "Turn Me Loose", "Hound Dog Man"
Percy Faith — "The Theme from A Summer Place"
Ferrante & Teicher — "Airport Love Theme", "Theme from Exodus"
Eddie Fisher — "Anytime", "Dungaree Doll", "On the Street Where You Live", "Oh! My Pa-Pa"
The Four Lads — "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing", "Moments to Remember", "No, Not Much", "Standing on the Corner"
Sergio Franchi - Two entire RCA Victor albums in 1968: "I'm A Fool to Want You" & "Wine and Song"
Connie Francis — "Al-Di-La", "Arrivederci Roma", "Mama", "Summertime in Venice"
Jackie Gleason — "From Russia with Love", "Melancholy Serenade"
The Bobby Hackett Quartet — entire "You Stepped Out of a Dream" album
Herbie Hancock — "Deck the Halls"
Woody Herman — "Body and Soul", "Caldonia", "Early Autumn", "Mood Indigo"
Al Hirt — "Big Honey", "Puppet on a String"
Buddy Holly — "I'm Gonna Love You Too", "It Doesn't Matter Anymore", "Moondreams", "True Love Ways"
The Hugo & Luigi Chorus — "It Happened in Monterey"
Ivory Joe Hunter — "Empty Arms", "Love's a Hurting Game"
Mahalia Jackson — "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands", "I See God", "You're Not Living In Vain"
Willis Jackson — "Back Door", "Lator Gator"
Ben E. King — "Spanish Harlem", "Stand by Me"
Andre Kostelanetz — "The Impossible Dream", "My Favorite Things"
Frankie Laine — "Lonely Man", "Moonlight Gambler"
Brenda Lee — "Fairyland", "One Step at a Time"
Peggy Lee — "Lean On Me", "Spinning Wheel"
Jerry Lee Lewis — "Let's Talk About Us", "To Make Love Sweeter For You"
Julie London — "Lonely Girl", "Remember"
Al Martino — "Spanish Eyes"
Johnny Mathis — "Chances Are", "It's Not for Me to Say", "Misty", "Smile", "The Twelfth of Never"
Howard McGhee — "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries" (Bethlehem, 1956)
The McGuire Sisters — "Sugartime"
Helen Merrill — "It's De-Lovely"
Mitch Miller — "The Yellow Rose of Texas", most "Sing Along with Mitch" albums
Guy Mitchell — "Knee Deep in the Blues", "Run with the Best"
Lou Monte — "Lazy Mary", "Pepino the Italian Mouse"
Claus Ogerman — "Lyric Suite"
Elvis Presley — "Santa Lucia"
Johnnie Ray — "Just Walkin' in the Rain", "Soliloquy of a Fool"
Henri René And His Orchestra — entire "Compulsion To Swing" album
Marty Robbins — "A White Sport Coat", "She Was Only Seventeen", "The Story of My Life"
Neil Sedaka — "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do", "Calendar Girl", "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen", "Next Door to an Angel"
Del Shannon — "Hats Off to Larry", "Little Town Flirt", "Runaway"
Simon & Garfunkel — "Mrs. Robinson", "Old Friends", "Bridge over Troubled Water" (also see Tom & Jerry)
Frank Sinatra — "Bye Bye Baby", "Don't Cry Joe", "Drinking Again", "It All Depends on You"
Somethin' Smith and the Redheads — "It's Gonna Snowflow", "Love Is a Gamble"
Barbra Streisand — "Bye Bye Blackbird"
Tom & Jerry (Simon & Garfunkel) — "Baby Talk"
Sarah Vaughan — "Autumn in New York", "Lullaby of Birdland", "Moonlight in Vermont", "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever"
The Village Stompers - "Washington Square"
Dinah Washington — entire "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes!" album
Andy Williams — "Butterfly", "Canadian Sunset"
Joe Williams — "I Should Have Kissed Her More", "On the Sunny Side of the Street"
Chuck Willis — "C. C. Rider" (also known as "See See Rider"), "Hang Up My Rock 'N' Roll Shoes", "What Am I Living For?"
Hugo Winterhalter — "Blue Tango", "Count Every Star"

Thanks for this list! You certainly know your stuff and obviously so did he with everything he's played on! I am definitely going to explore more of his playing.
You realize how pervasive the sound of surf/instrumental guitar was then in all types of music!