1) Alla scoperta dell America - where does 1961 come from?

Long before any chronology was provided by an official site or book, there have been the fans.
The movie here is a documentary on how Columbus discovered America in 1492. That docu was only shown in Italian-TV, and propably only once, so it was not much known. In 1986 the first book with a filmography ever appeared: Hommage au Maitre Ennio Morricone by Jean Lhassa. Obviously he couldn't find more information on this move but the title (which alone is a great effort), and gave it the year 1961 - the earliest year in the filmography. This error was reprinted in 1990 by the filmography published by Martin van Wouw. Simply because no further information could be obtained. From that time on the error has been copied from one filmography to another.

This was until in 2006 we got a CD with the music of the film. Now in the liner notes it is clearly said, that the movie is from 1977 and I guess we can rely on that information. Laurent is in a way right too, when he states that "the music itself doesn't sound 1961, but is clearly 1977". If one is as acquainted with Morricone's work as Laurent (and has the musical ability), he clearly can identify according to the orchestration and arrangement-style, from when the music must derive. (He may not have been polite, but he has a point.)