Cowboy Songs Corral Series

Howdy, friends!

Welcome to

Hopalong Cassidy Music

 

 


Roger Hall standing next to
an original Hopalong Cassidy shirt
and wearing Hoppy's original white hat
(courtesy of Susie C)


All the information on this page was compiled by Roger Hall, a singer and songwriter who met William Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy) when he was a child model at a Look magazine cover photo shoot in 1950.

To celebrate the meeting of Hopalong Cassidy in New York City, Roger has compiled a special illustrated book of Hoppy memories including pictures from Hopalong Cassidy Festivals
in Cambridge, Ohio.

 

3rd edition of this book now available!

"Following the Stars" - Music and Memories of Hopalong Cassidy (PineTree Press)

To get your copy of this PDF book by Roger Hall with over 100 pictures -- click here

 

 

 

 

A song about Mr. and Mrs. Hopalong Cassidy
(William and Grace Boyd)

 

"The Angels handed me a rose"
with music by Roger Hall and lyrics by Susie Coffman
is dedicated in loving memory of


Grace Bradley Boyd
(Mrs. Hopalong Cassidy)

 

 

 

Music in Hopalong Cassidy Films

 

 

Most B-western fans know about the singing cowboys of the 1930s and 1940s, such as Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter and others.

Maybe you assume that because Hopalong Cassidy wasn't a singing cowboy there were no songs in his westerns. Wrong!

There were actually 42 songs featured in 26 of the Hoppy films.

There were talented music directors, such as Boris Moross, who worked for many years on Hoppy films at Paramount. Highly skilled composers were also employed to write the background scores.

These composers included:
John Leipold (who did 8 Hopalong Cassidy scores), and Victor Young (who did 4 of them).

Both these composers received Oscars for other films:

John Leipold received an Oscar for John Ford's STAGECOACH western film in 1939.

Victor Young received an Oscar posthumously for Mike Todd's Oscar-winning film,
AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS in 1956.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Alan Livingston
and
The Capitol Record Readers

 

 

Beginning in 1946, there was a series of children's records produced under the Bozo the Clown logo.

They were released by Capitol Records and were the idea of this creative record producer...

Alan W. Livingston (1917-2009)

 

The first record produced by Livingston in the series was Bozo at the Circus and it became a million seller.

He produced several sets known as "Record-Readers
," which included an illustrated picture book.

These record sets became popular with kids everywhere, especially the ones for Hopalong Cassidy, who was at his peak in 1950.


This was the first children's record set to make it
to the Top Ten on the pop charts...

HOPALONG CASSIDY AND THE SINGING BANDIT
was available with two 78 rpm or 45 rpm records.

The cast of characters for this record set:

Bill Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy
Andy Clyde as California
Rand Brooks as Lucky
and Topper as "Himself"


There was also an 18 page illustrated story booklet which accompanied the records. This set includes a simple song about Hopalong Cassidy with lyrics by Alan Livingston and music by Billy May, an accomplished arranger and conductor who worked with many great singers, including Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Peggy Lee. The singer of the Hopalong Cassidy song is not identified on the record.

 

There was another Record-Reader released by Capitol Records in 1950,
HOPALONG CASSIDY AND THE SQUARE DANCE HOL
DUP

It featured the same cast of characters and was again written and produced by Alan Livingston, with music provided by Billy May.

Later on, Alan Livingston became the President of Capitol Records where he signed up Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, and The Beatles among others. To read about his distinquished career -- click here

Other Hopalong Cassidy stories by different writers were also released on Capitol records, such as these titles:

"Hoppy's Good Luck Coin" by Hamilton Richards
"The Legend of Phantom Scout Pass" by Steve Graham


"Hopalong Cassidy and The Two-Legged Wolf" by Charles Shows

 

 

 



 


 

 

 

 

 



Between 1949 and 1952, William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy appeared with his friend,
Bing Crosby on his radio show
, as well as on the George Burns & Grace Allen Show,
and the Dean Martin& Jerry Lewis radio programs.

 

Hopalong Cassidy, Peggy Lee and Bing Crosby

 

 

 

 

Hopalong Cassidy Radio and Television Programs

The Hopalong Cassidy TV shows began in 1949. The next year the radio series started and ran from 1950 to 1952 for 104 episodes on the Mutual and CBS Radio Networks. The programs were recorded between 1948 and 1950 and featured primarily Andy Clyde as California and later Joe DuVal also as California. The theme music for this radio series was by Albert Glasser, who composed over 150 film scores in his long career. Here is what he said about the Hopalong Cassidy radio series music:

Walter White,  who had been in charge of Radio Free Europe broadcasts for which I had written some stuff, asked me if I would like to write the music for a new radio show he was producing with William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy. Well, of course, I jumped at the opportunity. This was around December of 1948, and James Petrillo, head of the musicians union, had called a strike for January 1st, 1949.

So, everybody was scrambling to get their music recorded before the deadline, and I had to look all over town to find a studio that was not already booked. I finally found a place on Highland Avenue - upstairs, but we had to be out of there by midnight to beat the strike deadline. So, I wrote the cues, had them copied, and called the seven (7) men for the orchestra - all top men. We got there at 10:00, and everything went well. I wrote a real slow, walking horse theme for when the announcer says, "It's Hopalong Cassidy time..."

We left the studio at midnight New Year's eve, and, it was snowing outside! Snowing in Los Angeles!! That was for the sample show. Once the show was sold, and they needed more music, with the strike on, everybody was going out of the country to record - England, Germany, France, Mexico.

My buddy Elias Breeskin was in Mexico, and he told me that he could set me up there at Cherabusco Studios, so I went to Mexico. He took care of everything - all I had to bring was the music, my baton and the money!

So, the show was a hit, and after the strike, I continued to hire the same seven musicians who had recorded the sample show with me for all the other Hoppalong Cassidy music sessions.

 

-- quote courtesy of David L. Fuller

 

Record Producer, David L Fuller, with Albert Glasser (seated) in 1986

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Hopalong Cassidy Radio Program

 

Book review of this recommended book at this link:

Jingle of the Silver Spurs:
The Hopalong Cassidy Radio Program, 1950-1952

 

 

 

Hopalong Cassidy Ultimate Collector's Edition

 

Hopalong Cassidy
Ultimate Collector's Edition
(all 66 movies on 14 discs)

 

 

Hopalong Cassidy Ultimate Collector's Edition

All 66 films were formerly released in an attractive lunch box


 

 

 

Music from the Television Series

 

Here he comes,
Here he comes,
There's the trumpets,
There's the drums,
Here he comes,
Hopalong Cassidy,
Here he comes!

These lyrics are from the television theme song,
bb L. Wolfe Gilbert (1886-1970)
with music by Nacio Herb Brown (1896-1964)

Though some of the Hopalong Cassidy movies were shown earlier in Los Angeles and New York, the first NBC TV network showing was on June 24, 1949.

Entertainment writer, Susan Sackett wrote that William Boyd was -

"a gambling man, he hocked everything to purchase the TV rights to the films and his character...he sold the first package of Hopalong Cassidy television episodes - edited down versions of his films - to New York's local station WNBT. They were an overnight success, and by 1950 his show ranked in the top 10...children worshipped Hoppy, and the character became the first merchandising phenomenon."

-- quoted in "Following the Stars" - Music & Memories of Hopalong Cassidy

All of his TV shows, including 10 full length feature films, are now available on this DVD collection:

Hopalong Cassidy: Complete Collection

Hopalong Cassidy: The Complete Television Collection

The Hopalong Cassidy opening and closing
TV theme is included on this wonderful nostalgic CD collection:

Television's Greatest Hits, Volume 4:
65 TV themes from the '50s and '60s

The complete TV theme, titled "Hopalong Cassidy March,"
as recorded by Frank DeVol in 1952 is on this excellent 2 CD set with many popular themes and songs, including
"Hoppy, Gene And Me" sung by Roy Rogers:

 

Treasury of the West, Volume 2

Books about Hopalong Cassidy

 

Former President Bill Clinton has written
the Preface to this lavishly illustrated book
by Grace Bradley Boyd and Michael Cochran titled,


Hopalong Cassidy: An American Legend

To read the book review

click here

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To read the book review

click here

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Hopalong Cassidy in Magazines

 

Get your copy of Roger Hall's fascinating article
on the first movie, HOP-A-LONG CASSIDY (1935)
from Films of the Golden Age (No. 42, 2005)

It is included on this computer disc:
"Following the Stars" - Music & Memories of Hopalong Cassidy.

 

There were many articles written about Hopalong Cassidy, especially in 1950 in Time, Life and Look magazines,
when he was at the peak of his popularity.

 

 

 

August 29, 1950

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most interesting was a Christmas issue of Coronet magazine (December 1950) with an article titled, "The Inside Story of Hopalong Cassidy" by Dwight Whitney.

 

This is an excerpt:

His [Hopalong Cassidy's] Saturday radio program, sponsored by General Foods, is heard on 151 CBS stations from coast to coast. His movies, the cause for all the furor, are televised from 60 stations. Last summer his second record album, Hopalong Cassidy and the Singing Bandit, sold 200,000 before issuance. During his personal appearance tour with the Cole Bros. Circus, the crowds broke all attendance records. From these various sources, Boyd stands to make well over $1,000,000 this year.

 

 

 

 

Also included in this 1950 Coronet magazine issue is the ...

 

 

 

 

 

Mrs. Hopalong Cassidy

A Tribute to Grace Bradley Boyd (1913-2010)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopalong Cassidy Song Series

This series was written by songwriter, Roger Hall,
and featured in each issue of HOPPY TALK,
the official publication of Friends of Hopalong Cassidy,
Laura Bates, Editor and Fred Romary, Associate Editor.
All 10 of them are included on the disc titled,
Music and Memories of Hopalong Cassidy



No. 1: "HILLS OF OLD WYOMING" (1937)
HOPPY TALK, Vol. 19, No. 3 (2012)

 

No. 2: "TWILIGHT ON THE TRAIL" (1941)
sung by Brad King with The Jimmy Wakely Trio
HOPPY TALK, Vol. 19, No. 4 (2012-2013)

 

 

No. 3: "THE FUNNY OLD HILLS"
from TWILIGHT ON THE TRAIL (1941)
sung by Brad King with The Jimmy Wakely Trio
HOPPY TALK, Vol. 20, No. 1 (2013)

 

No. 4: "TAKE ME BACK TO THOSE WIDE OPEN SPACES"
from TRAIL DUST (1936)
HOPPY TALK, Vol. 20, No. 2 (2013)

 

No. 5: "LAZY ROLLS THE RIO GRANDE"
from RENEGADE TRAIL (1939)
sung by Eddie Dean and The King's Men
HOPPY TALK, Vol. 20, No. 3 (2014)

 

No. 6: "JINGLE, JANGLE, JINGLE"
from LOST CANYON (1943)
sung by The Sportsmen Quartet
HOPPY TALK, Vol. 20, No. 4 (2014)

 

 

 

 

In celebration of the Jimmy Wakley Centennial

Jimmy Wakely (1914-1982)

No. 7: "MY KIND OF COUNTRY"
(words by Frank Loesser/ music by Jimmy McHugh)
sung by The Jimmy Wakely Trio
in STICK TO YOUR GUNS (1941)
HOPPY TALK, Vol. 21, No. 1 (2014)

 

 

In memory of Dick Jones (1927-2014)

No. 8: "HOME ON THE RANGE"
(words by Dr. Brewster Higley/music by Daniel E. Kelley)
sung by St. Brendan's Boy Choir
in THE FRONTIERSMEN (1938)
in HOPPY TALK (Vol. 21, No. 2, Winter 2015)

 

 

No. 9: "WHEN THE MOON HANGS HIGH"
from BAR 20 RIDES AGAIN (1935)
words by Dave Franklin/music by Sam H. Stept)
sung by Chill Wills and His Avalon Boys
HOPPY TALK (Vol. 21, No. 3, Spring 2015)

 

 

 


Final song in this series

No. 10: "HERE HE COMES, HOPALONG CASSIDY!"
(Television Theme Song)
words by L. Wolfe Gilbert/music by Nacio Herb Brown)
sung by Studio Chorus
HOPPY TALK (Vol. 21, No. 4, Summer 2015)

 

 

 

 

 

Hopalong Cassidy Festivals
in Cambridge, Ohio


Songwriter Roger Hall first attended this Festival in 1995
for the 100th birthday celebration of William Boyd where he met...

left to right: former actor, Junior Coghlan, actress Grace Bradley Boyd (Mrs. Hopalong Cassidy), and Roger Hall

© Picture copyright by PineTree Press

Picture taken at the Hopalong Cassidy Festival
in Cambridge, Ohio in 1995.



Roger also attended again in 2000 for the 50th anniversary

of his meeting Hopalong Cassidy in 1950 for a Look magazine photo cover.



He sang two songs at the Festival in 2000:

"Hopalong Cassidy Clippity-Clippity Clop" (1954)

"Following the Stars" (1935)

See pictures from several Hopalong Cassidy Festivals in

"Following the Stars" - Music & Memories of Hopalong Cassidy


2009 Hopalong Cassidy Festival
in Cambridge, Ohio

© All pictures shown below copyright by PineTree Press

With Lone Ranger and Tonto Look-A-Likes


Little Buckaroo Costume Contest

Beautiful Hopalong Cassidy mural in Cambridge, Ohio:

"Hendrysburg to Hollywood" wall mural by artist, Sue Dodd

 

 

Recommended Links

 

 

Cowboy Songs Corral Round-Up - hosted by Roger Hall, Ranch Foreman

"Following the Stars" - Memories and Music of Hopalong Cassidy --
illustrated book with music, pictures and stories, including "The Day I Met Hoppy."

Hopalong Cassidy Songs - songs from the movies and about Hoplaong Cassidy sung by
Roy Rogers ("Hoppy, Gene and Me"), Roger Miller ("Hoppy's Gone") and others.

The Old Corral -- Chuck Anderson's website dedicated to B-western stars, including Hoppy.

The Silver Screen Cowboy Project -- new songs about past cowboy stars, including a new one about Hoppy.

Western Clippings -- latest cowboy news and info by author, Boyd Magers.

William Boyd -- Wikipedia article. He was married five times:

Laura Maynes in 1917

Ruth Yeager Miller in 1921

Elinor Virginia Crow in 1926

Dorothy Sebastian in 1930

Grace Bradley on June 5th, 1937 -- she married William Boyd on his 42nd birthday. They remained married until his death in 1972. Later, this beautiful lady became known and beloved as "Mrs. Hopalong Cassidy." She has written her memories about her life with her late husband in the handsome illustrated book -- Hopalong Cassidy: An American Legend

 

 

 

Please remember to credit this page!





If you copy any text or pictures from this page

please give credit to

Hopalong Cassidy Music

at

American Music Preservation.com


 

 

 


 

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