The Andy Griffith Show Theme

Well, now, take down your fishin' pole and meet me at The Fishin' Hole,
We may not get a bite all day, but don't you rush away.

What a great place to rest your bones and mighty fine for skippin' stones,
You'll feel fresh as a lemonade, a-settin' in the shade.

Whether it's hot, whether it's cool, oh what a spot for whistlin' like a fool.

What a fine day to take a stroll and wander by The Fishin' Hole,
I can't think of a better way to pass the time o' day.

We'll have no need to call the roll when we get to The Fishin' Hole,
There'll be you, me, and Old Dog Trey, to doodle time away.

If we don't hook a perch or bass, we'll cool our toes in dewy grass,
Or else pull up a weed to chaw, and maybe set and jaw.

Hangin' around, takin' our ease, watchin' that hound a-scratchin' at his fleas.

Come on, take down your fishin' pole and meet me at The Fishin' Hole,
I can't think of a better way to pass the time o' day.

Music by Earle Hagen & Herbert W. Spencer
Words by Everett Sloane

Earle Harry Hagen (July 9, 1919 - May 26, 2008) was an American composer who created music for movies and television. He is remembered for co-writing and whistling "The Fishin' Hole," the melody of the main theme to The Andy Griffith Show.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, as a boy he moved with his family to Los Angeles, California, where he learned to play the trombone in junior high school, and graduated from Hollywood High School. He left home to join traveling big bands, at age 16, and played with Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Ray Noble. While with Noble he wrote "Harlem Nocturne", on the road in 1939, as a tribute to Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges. The piece was recorded by several artists, including Earl Bostic, The Viscounts, Sam Taylor, Herbie Fields, Randy Brooks, and The Lounge Lizards, and was later used as the theme to television's Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer.

In order to make extra money he began teaching trombone in the 1930s. He went to work for CBS in 1940, as a staff musician, but then enlisted in the military in 1941. Hagen was an orchestrator and arranger for motion picture studio 20th Century Fox in 1940s and early 1950s, and worked on films like Call Me Madam and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. He began writing for television when he left Fox in 1952 with partner Herbert Spencer. Hagen met television show producer Sheldon Leonard when he scored the Danny Thomas series Make Room for Daddy.

Hagen's most ambitious body of work, however, came from his work on I Spy, for which he won an Emmy in 1968. Sheldon Leonard, the producer and creator of I Spy, bucked the trend of using canned music for television shows and instead decided to create original soundtracks for every episode. Since every episode of I Spy was set in a different location, Hagen made liberal use of world music in his soundtracks which were mostly written and performed within the West coast jazz genre. (Hagen did not claim the West coast jazz affiliation for himself, instead inventing the term "semi-jazz," which he defined as a union of global themes with American jazz.)

Earle Hagen was the composer of choice for television production giants Danny Thomas and Sheldon Leonard. At one point in his busy career, he could be working on as many as six different productions simultaneously. He wrote distinctive opening themes for a number of shows, such as The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Spy, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Mod Squad, That Girl, and Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. He scored dozens of television shows, including Make Room for Daddy, The Mod Squad, Eight Is Enough and The Dukes of Hazzard. The steadfast composer was known to put in 16-hour workdays, seven days a week, for 40 weeks a year. For his work on I Spy, Earle Hagen received three Emmy Award nominations for outstanding achievement in musical composition. He won the award in 1968.

Buy at AllPosters.com

The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in a fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife (Don Knotts), a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier), and a young son, Opie (Ron Howard). Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life.

Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The series was a hit, never placing lower than seventh in the Nielsen Ratings and ending its run at number one. The show spawned a spinoff series Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1964), a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D. (1968), and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry (1986). The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air across the United States, and the complete series is available on DVD.

A Fan Salute to Earle Hagen
BoingBoing ~ Earle Hagen RIP
Guitar Pen by GuitarGifts.com
The Andy Griffith Show Website
TV Land ~ The Andy Griffith Show
Etch A Sketch Art by George Vlosich III
Internet Movie Database ~ Earle H. Hagen
CNN ~ 'Andy Griffith' Composer Dies at 88
TV Theme Composer Hagen Dies At Age 88
Internet Movie Database: The Andy Griffith Show

© 2009 Kim Giancaterino

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