1968
Death of The Rebel
There was a day when every self-respecting tv series had a catchy theme song, particularly westerns. To this day I sing the lyrics of the Disney oater “Texas John Slaughter” — “Texas John Slaughter made ’em do what they oughter/ And if they didn’t they died.” And how about Bonanza? “We chased lady luck, ’til we finally struck Bonanza!/ With a gun and a rope and a hat full of hope, planted a family tree. /We got hold of a pot full of gold, Bonanza!”One of the catchiest of these ditties was the theme for “The Rebel”
Johnny Yuma, was a rebel,
He roamed, through the west.
And Johnny Yuma, was a rebel,
He wandered alone.
He got fightin’ mad,
This rebel lad,
He packed his star as he wandered far
Where the only law was a hook and a draw, the rebel.
On this day in 1968 died Nick Adams, the eponymous rebel who, as you may have heard, roamed through the west. Adams was a relentlessly self-promoting actor known for such classics as Invasion of Astro-Monster and Frankenstein Conquers the World before landing the lead role in The Rebel which ran from 1959-1961. His death was the result of a drug overdose.
The amazing how many Westerns of this era were really quite terrific.
Johnny Yuma was actually a good show; Have Gun Will Travel maintained a high standard of excellence; Rawhide was very good (though often surprisingly macabre); Bat Masterson is great fun (and probably my favorite); The Rifleman is a top-notch morality place disguised as a family show.
I miss Westerns!
I loved “Have Gun Will Travel” and made my parents buy me a toy derringer just like Paladin’s.
The theme song was quite catchy:
Have Gun Will Travel reads the card of a man.
A knight without armor in a savage land.
His fast gun for hire heeds the calling wind.
A soldier of fortune is the man called Paladin.
Paladin, Paladin
Where do you roam?
Paladin, Paladin,
Far, far from home.
“His fast gun for hire heeds the calling wind” was unintelligible to me for years. I thought it went “His fast gun for hire reads the calling wain” which made no sense.
What a role model in Paladin!
A man of remarkable erudition. A dandy and aesthete, but a skilled warrior and fighter. A student of history, but a modern man in every way. A healthy respect for the power of money, but not a slave to it. And someone who understands that life is … complex.
It was a high water mark in television westerns.
I quite agree and a moustache to envy. Richard Boone was the perfect choice for the role, with just a touch of menace. John Behner was the radio voice for years.