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I grew up during the heyday of the TV western. What endeared me to many of them were the great music themes you heard week after week. If you did not necessarily remember the particular score for certain episodes, you at least caught yourself humming those tunes that played during the credits.
Some of my favorites? Certainly Percy Faith's "The Virginian". What a great tune for the first 90-minute TV western. For its last season it became the "Men From Shiloh" with a very different theme, that composed by Ennio Morricone. American TV audiences never heard the likes of that tune before, certainly drawn from Morricone's spaghetti western days.
George Duning's "The Big Valley" was also a winner with me. I do remember seeing a rerun with Elmer Bernstein credited with an episode score.
And there were many more. Vocal themes were also a hit, with Frankie Laine's deep voice booming out "Rawhide" or Johnny Western singing about Paladin. And then there were those bouncy tunes like "Maverick", "Bronco" and "Sugarfoot" among others.
And in addition to the above mentioned composers, you had the likes of Jay Livingston, David Buttolph, Richard Markowitz, David Rose, Maurice Jarre, Dominic Frontiere and many others contributing to those themes.
I know there are other "old timers" out there who remember these tunes. And even younger fans who are familiar with them through reruns or just your love interest in filmscores. Anyone like to share their favorites or memories concerning particular themes?
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