3/19/2023 0 Comments Andy griffith songThe prolific composer received three Emmy Award nominations for outstanding achievement in musical composition for I Spy, and won the award in 1968. He scored dozens of television shows, including Make Room for Daddy, The Mod Squad, Eight Is Enough and The Dukes of Hazzard.Īt his peak, Earle Hagen was known to work 16-hour shifts, seven days a week, for 40 weeks a year. Though perhaps best known for The Andy Griffith Show, Earle Hagen wrote memorable opening themes for a number of other television shows, including The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Spy, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Mod Squad, That Girl, and Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer. At one point in his busy career, Earle Hagen worked on as many as six different television shows at one time. Television production superstars Danny Thomas and Sheldon Leonard depended on Earle Hagen to create original and distinctive music for their shows. Memoirs of a Famous Composer-Nobody Ever Heard Of by Earle Hagen Advanced Techniques for Film Scoring: Book and CD by Earle Hagen Composer Earle HagenĮarle Hagen jokingly referred to himself as “a famous composer nobody ever heard of,” but that was hardly the case. With that in mind, it took me about an hour to write the Andy Griffith theme. While sitting at home wracking my brain for an idea for a theme for the Griffith show, it finally occurred to me that it should be something simple, something you could whistle. The concept was a winner! Sheldon Leonard loved the theme and suggested the now famous (and much parodied) opening sequence where Andy and Opie Taylor walk along a country road with their fishing poles. The idea was presented to the show’s executive producer, Sheldon Leonard, the following morning. The composer ultimately decided to create something simple, something that could be whistled.Ī demo of the show’s opening theme was recorded, with Earle Hagen whistling the tune and his 11-year-old son Deane snapping his fingers. However, creating a theme song for The Andy Griffith Show proved somewhat challenging. As a composer, Earle Hagen was a master at capturing the tone of each show he worked on. Until Earle Hagen’s passing in 2008, very few fans of The Andy Griffith Show realized it was the composer himself who whistled the famous tune at the top of each episode. The theme song, called “The Fishin’ Hole,” is unquestionably one of the most recognizable tunes of all time. The legendary Earle Hagen composed music for over 3,000 television series episodes during his long career, and will surely be remembered for the theme from The Andy Griffith Show. The Andy Griffith Show Theme Song Composer The Andy Griffith Show Poster Composer Earle Hagen Spencerīut don’t you rush away … Starring Andy Griffith as Sheriff Taylor You will be missed.Composed by: Earle Hagen & Herbert W. Thanks for all them memories, smiles and whistles. I whistled the tune myself.”įarewell, Andy. I called my bass player and drummer, and we recorded it in a little studio in Hollywood. He said of the whistled melody, aka “The Fishin’ Hole,” “I realized what the show needed was a simple tune. Hagen- who also composed themes for The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Spy, The Mod Squad and That Girl-wrote what he considered his most tossed-off for this one. The Andy Griffith Show‘s theme was written by Earle Hagen and Herbert Spencer with (rarely heard) lyrics by Everett Sloane. With scores of roles to his credit-from Broadway to the Silver Screen to Matlock-the character that he is, of course, best known for is that of Sheriff Andy Taylor, the loveably laid-back peacekeeper of the fictional town of Mayberry.Īnyone who grew up watching 60s television knows that a show’s theme song was as important as the actors or the script-the first and last thing the audience heard. Andy Griffith passed away this morning at the age of 86.
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