MovieChat Forums > The Rebel (1959) Discussion > theme song- Frankie Laine

theme song- Frankie Laine


I thought Frankie Laine sang the song for the show and Johnnny Cash recorded it afterwards. I could be wrong

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Johnny Cash is credited in the tv shows credits.

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Frankie Laine sang the " Rawhide " theme song...Johnny Cash sang " The Rebel "

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I was a kid when this show was on the air. I don't remember any of the episodes. I must have been seven or eight at the time but I do remember the theme song. I did not realize it was sang by Johnny Cash. It's been years upon years since I've heard it.

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I wonder if there are copyright issues with the vocal intro tune.
On METV, the main theme is the orchestral version only, no vocals.
Odd, very odd.

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No, METV does not play the "Johnny Yuma" theme, it plays some other orchestual music. I really wanted to hear the song!

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Yes, correct and that was my point.

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Yeah, I miss the opening vocals too. METV is a rather low-budget operation, so I'm guessing they didn't want to pay a song license fee to the estate of Johnny Cash and/or the owners of the TV series.

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"Low budget"? More like NO budget!
Granted, that makes sense.
Sadly, as usual, they're the only game in town...

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Yeah, I guess we should be grateful that at least someone is willing to air retro TV. Although I must say, some of the stuff I liked in its first run in the '50s/'60s no longer seems as interesting to me when I see it on METV.

I'm glad that Netflix is showing some old stuff now, but I hate paying for it. I did find some free/public-domain programming on the Web, but one has to spend some time searching around to find the better material:

http://www.reruncentury.com/ia/

http://archive.org/details/classic_tv

When I was living in MA, there were a couple of local stations that carried shows like Highway Patrol and Sea Hunt, etc., as well as some of the same things that are on METV and some different ones. I'm hoping that METV will eventually dump some of their current crop of shows and add some better ones.

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Yes I agree.
The main problems I currently have with ME are their technical glitches and the fact that a lot of programs I like are on after midnight.

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Yes, they've had some weird glitches lately--or maybe the problem is with the local affiliate in my area (Spokane, WA). E.g., they kept scheduling Perry Mason at 10 a.m. and 11:30 p.m., but instead would air Mod Squad at 10 a.m. and Mission Impossible at 11:30 p.m.

The strangest thing is that sometimes Perry Mason would actually start and run for between about one second and one minute before stopping and being replaced by the other shows. The local affiliate finally explained to me that they are not sticking to the network schedule, and they won't run Perry Mason until early in 2013. The fact that they would occasionally start showing Perry Mason before replacing it quickly w/something else was, they said, a technical issue that they would try to fix.

I don't mind that programs are on late, because I have a DVR (actually several of them) and can time-shift. If you can afford it, you might consider buying a cheapo/used VCR (probably a lot cheaper than a DVR) and do some time-shifting.

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You can find both opening and closing credits here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXzbmPARO9k

Now, bring me that horizon!

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The cost of music rights have gone up a LOT. In some situations, syndicators have to substitute music, or the project is a no-go. You may have seen "Bosom Buddies" without the Billy Joel theme.

Newer syndication packages of "WKRP" have different music in most instances. This caused some problems because some humor dealt with the music which was playing. Often, the actors talked over the music. Years later, voice actors imitated the original cast, talking over the replacement music.

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METV had nothing to do with the change in the song. The song was changed when the show went into syndication because the syndicators did not want to pay Cash royalities. Richard Markowitz wrote both theme songs. There is also a version of this Ballad of Johnny Yumma that Nick recorded in March 1960. Cash did not release his recording of the theme song until 1961 a short time before the show went off the air.

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I just finished watching the complete 76 episode collection that I purchased from a collector. As reported by others, a completely different instrumental music was played in place of the Johnny Cash song theme song during the opening and closing credits for every episode during syndication airing of the series (even though the closing credits say the theme is song by Johnny Cash) EXCEPT one episode! At the end of the 69th episode (Season 2, Episode 33) entitled "Helping Hand" (original air date of Apr. 30, 1961), Johnny Cash sings the closing theme song! I was shocked (and happily surprised!) to hear it.

There were no call letters on the screen so I do not know the source for that episode.

Does anybody have any theories as to why Johnny Cash singing the closing "Ballad of Johnny Yuma" theme somehow was played at the end of that episode only?

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Thanks for the clarification.
I thought it was something like that.

Still, I think (maybe) the Johnny Cash "bank" would have been ultimately richer with more people being exposed to or reminded of his amazing voice.

As a kid, I vaguely remember the Cash version of the theme song when I watched the series - it was awesome and later feeling cheated - when we were left with this uninspired jingle.

The current theme must have been intended as a temp - while someone came up with a more memorable one. Sadly they never did.

I think that is the only criticism I have of this show - the bland theme.

If you play the themes to Bonanza, Rawhide, Gunsmoke and others - the listener is instantly transported by those iconic themes, where-as the theme to Rebel - goes no where.

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That's absolutely right. I'm old enough to remember the original airings of the show, and I can tell you that, as a kid, basically the main reason you watched westerns was the theme songs. "The Rebel" by Johnny Cash was my personal favorite.

It was a very good show, however. Nick Adams was outstanding in the role and they had many fine actors as guest stars.

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METV had nothing to do with the change in the song. The song was changed when the show went into syndication because the syndicators did not want to pay Cash royalities. Richard Markowitz wrote both theme songs. There is also a version of this Ballad of Johnny Yumma that Nick recorded in March 1960. Cash did not release his recording of the theme song until 1961 a short time before the show went off the air.


Correct. I recall seeing the show for the first time a little over 30 years ago and the instrumental theme was also used instead of Johnny Cash's great original.

No blah, blah, blah!

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Watching Return to the 36th Chamber martial arts movie and its theme song is the exact instrumental song played for The Rebel on metv

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Whoever you bought the shows from must have had access to an original
print of the one show.

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You may be right. I recall only the Johnny Cash opening from my childhood. Since then the musical openings seem to bounce about as to who the singer is, and lately it's been mostly Cash, second season thus far. The singer of the opening song matters to me (and I suspect most viewers) as of less importance than the quality of the episode it introduces. I like Frankie Laine, who owns Rawhide's opening, prefer Cash for The Rebel, a gloomier show than most; westerns, I mean. A wonderful, sensitive, well thought out TV series The Rebel was.

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