The "Hill Street Blues" theme is from 1981, but otherwise everything on this compilation is from the '50s and '60s, the period that produced the television themes that are remembered the most fondly. A few of the most popular items in this mini-genre are here, including
Flatt & Scruggs' "Ballad of Jed Clampett" (from The Beverly Hillbillies),
Frankie Laine's "Rawhide,"
Desi Arnaz's "I Love Lucy," and "Green Acres" (sung here by
Eddie Albert). Not all of these are the versions commonly associated with television broadcast: the "Get Smart" theme, for instance, is heard in a version by drummer
Bob Crane. Yes, that's the same
Bob Crane who starred in Hogan's Heroes, and in fact he also plays on the theme for that series, which is found elsewhere on the disc. The musical highlight is one of the more obscure themes, "The Rebel," recorded by
Johnny Cash in 1959. ~ Richie Unterberger