Lassie (children's adventure)
(CBS Primetime, 1954 - 1971;
Additional episodes produced in syndication, 1971 - 1974)
[Reruns of original CBS series were syndicated under the titles:
"Jeff's Collie" with Tommy Rettig; and
"Timmy and Lassie" with Jon Provost playing Lassie's master;
Later episodes during the mid-1960s featured a team of adult
Forest Rangers that had adopted Lassie;
During the 1970s a cartoon version was produced, called
"Lassie's Rescue Rangers";
Latter-day reruns have turned up on various cable TV
networks including "TVLand" and "Animal Planet"]
Theme 1: "Secret of the Silent Hills
(Theme from the Lassie TV Series)"
[aka: "Lassie Main & End Title", and aka: "Lassie Theme";
Original title: "Presenting The Doctor" from the 1940
RKO Radio film, "The Courageous Dr. Christian";
This was the original broad sweeping orchestral theme
used during the very FIRST season of the series;
According to vocalist Charlotte Erwine and library
music expert Paul Mandell, this melody was originally
written for "The Courageous Dr. Christian", a 1940
RKO Radio Picture, scored by William Lava.
Paul Mandell identified it specifically as the cue called
"Presenting the Doctor" heard during the Main Title, but
this melody is used as a motif throughout the film.
RKO must have also made this track available for licensing
for other purposes many years after its first use in the "Dr.
Christian" films, since contributor Eli Segal reports this
melody was also heard in the underscore of Ed Wood's
infamous 1953 documentary "Glen or Glenda" a year before
the Lassie series began airing.
Lassie Music Director Raoul Kraushaar had worked at RKO as
a writer and Music Editor for their "B-Pictures", and
like David Chudnow of MUTEL and David Gordon of Gordon Music,
decided he could make money by licensing music tracks from
RKO and other low-budget studios to re-use them in television.
Chudnow's MUTEL stood for "MUsic for TELevision."
This practice which has been called "Music Packaging" had a
shaky legal foundation the way some did it; Although recordings
of tracks made for theatrical films were the property of studios,
the compositions on which they were based had not been licensed
specifically for use in any other medium like TV, only for films.
And music has several kinds of rights and royalties --
those for the composition, those that are for the recordings,
and those for synchronization of compositions and recordings
with a particular project -- either on film or video.
So there was a "gray area" which Chudnow, Gordon, Kraushaar
and a few other Music Packagers of the 1950s successfully
exploited. Representing their skill as music editors and their
"library" of tracks, Music Packagers edited "B-picture"
music tracks into episodes of TV series, and if the writer
discovered the extra use and complained to ASCAP, to feign
ignorance and pay him a fee or "buy out" his rights.
If the Musician's Union complained about re-using recordings
made for a motion picture, Music Packagers would actually hire
the original author, and tell him to "change a few notes",
then send the scores to Europe, Japan or even Mexico where low-
cost orchestras would re-record the cues as if they were a
different composition with a different title for ASCAP royalties.
During the 1950s, foreign recordings of re-cycled cues were made
for many TV series including "The Lone Ranger", "The Cisco Kid",
"Death Valley Days", "Blondie", "Lassie", "Superman", and others.
Even original cues for "Ozzie and Harriet" and CBS Westerns were
recorded for first-run use by foreign orchestras because of the
U.S. Musicians Union policies on "tracking."
But getting back to re-cycled cues: there was the matter of the
publisher's share of royalties. Performance royalties such as those
collected by ASCAP and BMI have two parts: the writer's share and
the publisher's share (split equally in most cases.)
These Music Packagers were shrewd enough to realize that there
was also a void in determining who published the music for TV.
If the motion picture studio didn't claim the music publishing,
(and the low-budget studios hadn't wized up to any benefit from
that yet) the Music Packager would go ahead and claim themselves
as publishers inventing a name for claiming royalties on cue sheets.
The name Kraushaar chose for his "publishing company" was
Omar Music. And it was under this name that several Lassie cues
and THEMEs were originally listed on ASCAP cue sheets.
So here again, the rights that the original author should have under
his control were being usurped unless they complained and/or filed a
legal action to get back the publishing rights for themselves.
A few authors such as Irving Gertz did so, but several others
wanted to still get work from such Music Directors in the future
and were reluctant to fight.
Over the years, some authors finally succeeded in reclaiming
their rights, and ASCAP made changes in its credits, but in
some cases the credits were corrected years after most royalties
had been paid.
But in 1960-61 the success in recycling this nostalgic old
tune for the Lassie TV series inspired sheet music publication in
several forms, including an arrangement for school orchestras
and bands as well as a commission of new lyrics for the tune
written by Charles Newman and a new title "Secret of the
Silent Hills." This was one way the original writer William
Lava could have in obtaining some benefit from the use of his
music on television; the publisher he chose was the least
egregious of the Music Packagers -- David Gordon of Marlen
Music -- who did seem to try to be fair with authors even
though re-cycling of cues went on through him also.
For awhile, music packager Raoul Kraushaar of Omar Music
Service which supplied cues for the show, claimed credit as
the writer of this THEME. But it was actually William Lava
who really wrote this tune, a fact which was later corrected
when printed music was published.
However, see the next THEME below which Kraushaar adapted from
this one, with only a slight variation in notes of the melody,
using the same chord progression.]
Composer: music by William ("Bill") Lava (ASCAP), with
lyrics added by Charles Newman (ASCAP)
Original Publisher: Marlen Music (ASCAP),
sole selling agent Gordon Music Co.
1997 Publisher: Gordon Music Company (ASCAP)
Copyright Date: 1961, as seen on band arrangement
1940, concurrent with the film
Recordings:
Theme 2: "Lassie Main & End
Title"
[Verified as the THEME in TV Guide article "It Seems To Me
I've Heard That Theme Before" July 28, 1956, pp. 12-13,
with Kraushaar's name misspelled "Krenshaar";
This theme is a slight variation on the preceding William
Lava theme, which music packager Kraushaar may have made,
in order to claim copyright ownership of the THEME. It only
has a few notes difference, uses the same chord progression,
and to the untrained ear may sound the same.
"Superman" CD producer/expert Paul Mandell caught this melodic
variation, and documented it as a different THEME. Although
it was different, the ruse fooled no one -- especially the
author William Lava who heard this "soundalike" on the air.
Music Director Kraushaar began to have problems when
authors complained to ASCAP that although he may have
licensed the rights to various RECORDINGS done for film
studios, he failed to license the rights to use their
COMPOSITIONS for which he claimed himself as the
"publisher" for purpose of collecting the publisher's
share of royalties after splicing them into TV series;
What resulted was a hassle for the TV producers, since cue
sheets had to be corrected, and royalty payments had to
be redistributed after ASCAP determined a breach had
occurred.
"Lassie" fan and contributor Bryon Young tells us
this THEME was used for the SECOND SEASON ONLY, yet
researcher P. Mandell said it was used through the end of
Tommy Rettig's appearance as Jeff -- which would have
taken it through the THIRD SEASON at least. At any rate,
it was the second THEME used on the series after "Secret
of the Silent Hills", and it sounded very much like the
former, so most people wouldn't have noticed the change.]
Composer: credited to Raoul Kraushaar (ASCAP)
Original Publisher: Omar Music Service (ASCAP)
1997 Publisher: Gordon Music Company (ASCAP)
Copyright Date:
Renewal Date:
Recordings:
Theme 3: Dio Possente (Even
Bravest Hearts May Swell), from
the opera
"Faust"
[aka: "Dio Possente Dio D'Amor";
aka: "Dio possente" (To Thee, 0 Father!);
aka: "A Toi, Seigneur et Roi des Cieux";
aka: "To Thee, 0 God, and King of Heaven";
aka: "Avant de Quitter ces Lieux";
Contributor Bryon Young claims from an analysis of syndicated episodes
he has collected on video and audio over the years, that this theme
was used for both seasons THREE and FOUR; We are not sure about that,
and Craig Patillo's "TV Theme Soundtrack Directory" makes no mention
of it at all...but Mr. Young is sure he remembers hearing it as a child
during the CBS run of the series and has it on audio tape recorded off
the air on an old tape recorder, so we'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
This arrangement of an opera aria aired may indeed have been used
during Lassie's master change from Jeff (played by Tommy Rettig) to
Timmy (played by Jon Provost.) That would have coincided with the change
of ownership of the series to The Wrather Corporation, whose producer-
owner Jack Wrather was married to actress Bonita Granville; she was
said to have influenced him in certain decisions (perhaps even this
casting change...and may have even liked certain opera arias, for
example...)
Since former music director Raoul Kraushaar had created problems
by tracking in cues from other writers and claiming publisher
royalties, the arranger of this aria was most likely someone else,
perhaps the Wrather Corporation's Music Director at the time, who
was Les Baxter (who composed the next THEME with its melody whistled
by Muzzy Marcelino.)
This melody appears in an aria from the famous 19th-century
opera "Faust", arranged as an instrumental;
In the original opera, the aria is sung by a young soldier named
Valentine as he prepares to go off to war in the second Act of
this five-act opera written by the French author; it became
one of Gounod's more well-known lyrical melodies, and "Faust"
firmly established his reputation throughout Europe and
later the world;
Gounod was also the author of "Funeral March of a Marionette",
used as a TV theme for "Alfred Hitchcock Presents."
A little-known fact about this cavatina is that it did not
appear in the original 1859 version of "Faust" for its
French premiere, but was added for the 1863 London premiere,
sung in Italian, and later translated into French; hence
there are multiple lyric versions and titles, including
translations of those variant titles into English.
Whether this THEME originally aired on the CBS network for
ONE or TWO seasons, we do agree that it came after the
Raoul Kraushaar variation of Lava's original THEME. And
it also was identified by contributor Carolyn Fix as a
THEME she recognized during Cable TV reruns in the 2002 -
2003 season, so it was used for the Lassie series.]
Composer: Charles Gounod (predates ASCAP & BMI)
Original Publisher:
2001 Publisher: In the Public Domain.
Composition Date: 1863
Copyright Date:
Renewal Date:
Recordings:
Theme 4 (circa 1958 - 1964): "Lassie Theme: Goodbye My Love"
[aka: Lassie Main & End Title;
aka: Lassie (Sig[nature])
aka: New Lassie Theme
aka: New Lassie 01
This was arguably the most recognizable THEME associated with the
series. It featured a Scottish-highlands style melody whistled by
Muzzy Marcellino -- with a light string orchestra accompaniment
playing tremelando at first and then legato later;
Craig W. Patillo's 1990 book "TV Theme Soundtrack Directory" calls
this THEME "Whistle", although no other source can be found for
that title.
The sub-title "Goodbye My Love" is on the lead-sheet manuscript
filed for copyright with the Library of Congress on January 11, 1962,
and listed in the Worldcat.org online library catalog. This theme
was probably used beginning with SEASON FIVE in 1958.]
Composer: Les Baxter (ASCAP/BMI)
[professional name of Leslie Baxter]
Original Publisher: [no publisher credit in ASCAP Index 1978,
citation in ASCAP Repetoire says "a BMI publisher"...
may have been originally Granson Music (BMI)]
1997 Publisher: Lone Ranger Music Inc. (ASCAP)
c/o Broadway Video Inc.
2013 Publisher: Little Lotta Music, Inc. (BMI)
New York, NY
http://ClassicMedia.tv
div. of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.
Copyright Date: January 11, 1962; Eu 701 869.
Renewal Date:
Recordings:
[ReIssue]
CD: "Television's Greatest Hits:
Black & White Classics (Vol. 4)" (1996)
TVT Records TVT 1600-2
Studio Orchestra conducted by Les Baxter
Theme 5 (circa 1964 - 1966): "Greensleeves"
[aka: "Lassie (Signature)(M & E)", the theme which was used
as Main & End Titles during the eleventh and twelfth seasons
after Lassie had been adopted into the service of Park Rangers; and
later during certain syndicated rerun packages;
Nathan Scott (father of studio and studio saxophonist Tom Scott
adapted it, and made the arrangement heard on the air (this was
verified by his son Tom Scott.)]
Composer: *Traditional* [English tune], and
Arranger: Nathan G. Scott (ASCAP)
[For publication of the arrangement]:
Orig. Publisher: Arch Lassie Account,
c/o Arch Music Co., Inc. (ASCAP)
[For publication of the arrangement]:
1997 Publisher: Lone Ranger Music, Inc. (ASCAP)
c/o Broadway Video Inc.
Copyright Date:
Renewal Date:
Recordings:
Theme 6 (circa 1966 - 1971): "Lassie Main & End
Title"
[aka: "Lassie Theme";
aka: Lassie (Sig[nature])
aka: New Lassie Theme
aka: New Lassie 01
After a two-year hiatus, this familiar Lassie THEME that featured
a Scottish highlands-style melody whistled by Muzzy Marcellino
made return appearances during seasons thirteen and fourteen,
and may have been re-instated as the Main Theme from that point on;
Acording to ASCAP records, the return of this THEME occurred
during the 3-episode arc called "Lassie, The Voyager" in season
thirteen (1966 - 67); It also was credited in ASCAP for a couple
of later 3-episode arcs or compilations -- "Lassie at Hanford
Point" during season fourteen and "Flight of the Cougar" -- a
film compilation of three episodes taken from season fourteen.
There is little direct evidence that we can use to confirm it, but
these uses during 3-episode arcs and the film compilation leads us
to believe that at some point during 1966 or even as late as 1967,
"Lassie" TV producers restored this as the Main Title and End Credits
THEME again for the remaining seasons of the TV series;
Supporting this conclusion is Craig W. Patillo's 1990 book called
"TV Theme Soundtrack Directory." It mentions the Baxter THEME as
being used up until the end of the series (although the book makes
no mention of the use of "Greensleeves" or the "Faust" aria THEMEs.)
Patillo's book also refers to this THEME as "Whistle", although
no other source can be found for that title.]
Composer: Les Baxter (ASCAP/BMI)
[professional name of Leslie Baxter]
Original Publisher: [no publisher credit in ASCAP Index 1978,
citation in ASCAP Rep says "a BMI publisher"...
may have been originally Granson Music (BMI)]
1997 Publisher: Lone Ranger Music Inc. (ASCAP)
c/o Broadway Video Inc.
Copyright Date: January 11, 1962; Eu 701 869.
Renewal Date:
Recordings:
[ReIssue]
CD: "Television's Greatest Hits:
Black & White Classics (Vol. 4)" (1996)
TVT Records TVT 1600-2
Studio Orchestra conducted by Les Baxter
Copyright 1960 - 2018 by The Media
Management Group. All Rights Reserved