Andy Griffith had a master’s degree in music from UNC Chapel Hill. After this and seeing the two folks posted for other shows, we are wondering what other shows had lyrics to their theme music. We know an episode of «I Love Lucy» actually featured Ricky singing the theme song.
Now this is what you call music, not the heavily processed blender noises of today’s music. This makes me wish I was living in the 50’s, 60’s or 70’s. Anyone can whistle along to the theme song to The Andy Griffith Show, but can you sing along to it? Or better yet, did you know the song even had lyrics to begin with?
Superstar Magazine pointed our attention to a video of Andy Griffith singing the theme song to his classic ’60s TV sitcom. Although you don’t see him in the video, you can tell the distinctive voice is his.
In 1961, the sitcom star released an album called Themes And Laughs From The Andy Griffith Show. The first song on the Side B, called «The Fishin’ Hole,» was composed by Herbert Spencer and Earle Hagen, with Everett Sloane writing the lyrics. Hagen whistled the tune for its primetime version, and Sloane appeared in one episode of the series.
Before producers of The Andy Griffith Show decided that whistling set the tone for the show, Sheriff Taylor himself recorded a version of the song with lyrics. That’s not him whistling, by the way — that was composer Earle H. Hagen. Here’s Andy singing «The Fishing Hole.»
