….Must Have Been the Best!
So many shoot ’em up westerners occupied our television screens throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s – some of the Saturday morning young audience type and many throughout the week for the enjoyment of all ages.
Those days are mostly gone. Seems that about only one or two motion picture westerns come along each year (if that many) on the big screen – and when did a weekly TV western last grace our flat screens?
Following is a selective discography of TV westerns which found their way in some form onto vinyl during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Not many of the western TV program themes managed to reach the charts – the big exception being “The Ballad of Davy Crocket” as well as a late era release by War “The Cisco Kid”. “Bonanza” crackes the charts but that was about it. One common thread to every western on TV was the resulting comic books – We bought as fast as they came out and traded them just as quickly!
The Lone Ranger – 1949/1957
Clayton Moore & Jay Silverheels – Lead Actors
Hopalong Cassidy – 1949/1954
William Boyd – Lead Actor
The Cisco Kid – 1950/1956
Duncan Renaldo & Leo Carrillo – Lead Actors
“The Cisco Kid” by War charted in 1973 peaking at number 2!
The Roy Rogers Show – 1951/1957
Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Pat Brady – Lead Actors – Brady – like Ken Curtis of Gunsmoke – was a member of the Sons of the Pioneers as was Roy Rogers an original member
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok – 1951/1958
Guy Madison and Andy Devine – Lead Actors
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin – 1954/1959
Lee Aaker (Corporal Rusty) – James Brown (Lt. Rip Masters) & ‘Private’ Rin Tin Tin (“Rinty) – Lead Actors
Rin Tin Tin started off as a series of Hollywood movies – first one coming in 1922 – The original Rinty was born in 1918 and died in 1932 – On the Television show most episodes starred one dog named “Flamed Jr.” Another German Shepherd who had suffered from an eye injury while very young – filled in to perform fight scenes and to do the more difficult stunts.
The First Rin Tin Tin
Davy Crockett – 1954/1955
Fess Parker and Buddy Ebsen – Lead Actors
Bill Hayes charted number 1 for 5 weeks in 1955 – Tennessee Ernie Ford charted number 5 in 1955 – Fess Parker charted number 5 in 1955 and Walter Schumann charted number 14 in 1955
During the peak years of the coonskin cap made famous by Crockett – 5,000 caps were being ripped from the retail shops a day!
Annie Oakley – 1954/1957
Gail Davis – Lead Actor
Gunsmoke – 1955/1975
James Arness, Milburn Stone, Amanda Blake, Buck Taylor, Ken Curtis & Dennis Weaver – Lead Actors
Gunsmoke ran longer on TV than any other series in the history of prime time television. Ken Curtis (Festus) was a member of the Sons of the Pioneers”.
Cheyenne – 1955/1963
Clint Walker – Lead Actor
Judge Roy Bean – 1955/1956
Edgar Buchanan – Lead Actor
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon – 1955/1958
Dick Simmons – Lead Actor
The Life & Times of Wyatt Earp – 1955/1961
Hugh O’Brian – Lead Actor
The Adventures of Jim Bowie – 1956/1958
Scott Forbes – Lead Actor
The Sheriff of Cochise – 1956/1958
John Bromfield and Stan Jones – Lead Actors
Wagon Train – 1957/1965
Ward Bon, Robert Horton, John McIntire and Robert Fuller – Lead Actors
Zorro – 1957/1961
Guy Williams & Gene Sheldon – Lead Actors
Charted Number 17 by the Chordettes in May of 1958
Maverick – 1957/1962
James Garner, Jack Kelly, Roger Moore and Robert Colbert – Lead Actors
Tales of the Texas Rangers – 1955/1958
Willard Parker & Harry Lauter – Lead Actors
Have Gun, Will Travel – 1957/1963
Richard Boone – Lead Actor
Sugarfoot – 1957/1961
Will Hutchins – Lead Actor
Tales of Wells Fargo – 1957/1962
Dale Robertson – Lead Actor
Bat Masterson – 1958/1961
Gene Garry – Lead Actor
The Rifleman – 1958-1963
Johnny Crawford and Chuck Connors – Lead Actors
While not a “Rifleman” release this Johnny Crawford single has him decked out as “Mark McCain”
Bonanza – 1959/1973
Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker & Michael Landon – Lead Actors
Al Caiola charted number 19 in 1961 and Johnny Cash charted number 94 in 1962.
Rawhide – 1959/1966
Eric Fleming, Clint Eastwood, Sheb Wooley, John Ireland – Lead Actors
Rawhide by Frankie Laine failed to make the Billboard Charts – Link Wray’s “Raw-Hide” was a different recording
The Rebel – 1959/1961
Nick Adams – Lead Actor
The Virginian – 1962/1971
James Drury & Doug McClure – Lead Actors
Daniel Boone – 1964/1970
Fess Parker – Lead Actor
The Big Valley – 1965/1969
Barbara Stanwick & Lee Majors – Lead Actors
F Troop – 1965/1967
Forrest Tucker – Lead Actor
The Legend of Jesse James – 1965/1966
Christopher Jones – Lead Actor
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