It is on every Saturday morning on Channel 55 AMC here in Toronto, Canada. Four or five episodes each week. Sure brings back a lot of memories. The big question always was. "How many times does he shoot the rifle in the opening credits?"
The rifleman western along with the rest of the westerns that were on the air back in the 60's and seventies and before are still more popular then most shows that are on tv now these days
Thank you for posting the theme music of the Rifleman. It is short but very uplifting orchestra music that I heard as a kid watching the show and still love to hear. And yes, it was very aggravating for the TV station airing the show to voice over this short enjoyable music with a stupid announcement. Thanks again !
The Rifleman will be coming on MeTV. Maaann, nostalgia -- remember this as a kid and it just reminds me of innocence and a time when kids acted like the children they were.
A very memorable TV western theme. It's wonderful to see the final credits intact; American Movie Channel (AMC) shows three hours of "The Rifleman" every Saturday morning, but they speed up the final credits to accomodate more commercials. This particular ending is from "Day of the Hunter," broadcast on January 5, 1960. Thank you for your posting...
I will never forget when Nikkita Cruzchev bear hugged Chuck Conners, the champion of Stalingrad and president of the USSR was so overcome he bear hugged Chuck Conners and lifted him off his feet. That was the kind of star power Chuck Conners had and he had the ear of the Russian bear. RIP Chuck you were the greatest
@enahs55 I have the film of him hugging him and its NIkkita Krutchev, who do you think was the leader in the 60s, it wasnt Brezhnev it was Kruchev, he came after the cuban missle crisis and thats when he met Chuck Conners and bear hugged him.
I can still hear Johnny "Mark McCain" Crawford ......"Paw! Paw!" So how many rounds of ammo you figure Lucas would shoot out of that Winchester in the show's opening?? 30, 40, 75?
This is fine, thanks for posting, but the whole point of The Rifleman was the opening scene where he shoots his rifle really fast. Guess I'll have to look elsewhere for that.
Now *this* was a theme! I've heard it a thousand times because my dad is a big Rifleman fan, and I still think it's a great piece of music. I'm even arranging it for the piano.
I don't know how anyone can think such a majestic theme is anything but a great piece of music. It's got perfect harmony, melody, and concludes beautifully. If I ever hear it live played by a professional orchestra, I can die happy.
@millenniumf1138 It is almost disappointing that this majestic theme that I still love to hear is so short. It is the best short piece of orchestra theme music I ever heard.
@100hm43700 I agree, though I hesitate to say it's the best (I love almost all music, so I don't really have a favorite). I've considered writing my own version of this tune, using it as a springboard to create a longer version, with hints of other themes from the show. They basically used the same theme with simple variations (turning it minor for bad situations, etc.), so it would be easy.
I have also given the thought or have wished to compose a longer version as well ... however I am not blessed with the musical talent of writing or composing music. If you have the talent, I would encourage you to do so. Perhaps someday you can post your recording of a longer version.
Chuck Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer, professional basketball, and baseball player. His best known role from his forty-year film career was Lucas McCain in the 1960's ABC hit Western series "The Rifleman."
I love this show, my 2 year old son and I watch it everyday on WHT at 4 and 4:30 and he always marches in place when this music comes on at the end. Last night I was watching Rifleman clips online and I looked over at the tv for a little bit in between clips and a stripper was getting arrested with her boyfriend/cousin on TRUtv. How did tv go from being great back then to the point that my generation has taken it too?
@TerrellGuell To answer your question: I think in the beginning of our fall away from moralsour society has thought you could be a 'good person' without being answerable to God. Remember the big black headlines in the late fifties or early sixties that said "God is Dead"? Once a society leaves the Ten Commandments AND ITS AUTHOR out of its daily living, you get sleaze tv, horrific mass murders and a younger generation who thinks Paris Hilton, Lady Gaga, Angelina Jolie and other sleaze is ok
You have to face a Holy God on Judgment Day(Hebrews 9:27). He counts lust as adultery(Matthew 5:28) and hatred as murder(1 John 3:15). All liars will have their part in the Lake of Fire(Revelation 21:8). No thief will inherit the kingdom of God(1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved(John 14:6). YOU MUST REPENT OF YOUR SINS AND SUBMIT TO THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST TO BE SAVED! THERE'S NO OTHER WAY! There's no second chance after death, so repent NOW! Proverbs 29:1
I so much enjoyed this show growing up. I appreciate it still! The theme music I always assumed was some sort of cool classical piece. It was great, and equally matched to a great show. I remember hearing that even as The Rifleman went into reruns, it was the most popular show in China, and Chuck Conners was revered there. It was a story of a man who lived by an honorable code and who ably struggled to stick to it , all the while as a loving father teaching his son to to do the same.
I have a number of episodes of this show on dvd. I love watching each of them because it's like watching a more realistic version of the Andy Griffith show with guns! XD
" Now killin's wrong Mark..."....." okay, Pa but you've personally gunned down 'bout 200 people in the last two season's so is this a 'do as I say' moment ?
@ShockDoc Ironic that both those songs are available on the compilation "Television's Greatest Hits". Big seller that was originally available in 1985 only through mail order, but through popular demand was released to retail a year later. There are now 7 volumes, plus one of old TV commercials.
My friends and I were big fans of Rifleman. We would wonder, from week to week , how it was that Sheriff Micah could always get Luke McCain to do his job for him.
@JKHcoasters YES SIR! I have always believed it. Hershal Gilbert was coaxed out of Germany @ the time Sam (Peckinpah) Chuck, Jules, Arthur & Arnold were putting the final touches on this wonderful saga to create a fantastic score throughout each episode. Too bad you can't get any of it on hard copy. I dig anyone who talks RIFLEMAN!
Oh, yeah, I remember it well. The music was unherald, I guess, but nevertheless marvelous. So many great musicians are hidden in the musical backdrop of many old TV shows. Wasn't Boz Scaggs the creator of the music for the My Three Sons series?
you can watch the rifleman on wht-ch 367 on direct tv -mon thru fri- 4- 5 pm central time. It comes on sat. same time. It comes on -6-7 central time on me tv-channel 26.3 chicago-mon-sat.
The Rifleman and Bonanza were favorite Western shows of all time. Both were family oriented dramas about a widower raising a son or family. Wonderful work!
@rolex452 Crap! Chuck launched the careeers of Little Joe & Hoss in the first half of the 1st season. Only to be knocked out of 1st place by Bonanza. I don't know what happened but The Rifleman was not even in the top 20 after season 3.
This was the first show I ever saw on tv. My dad bought a set back in 1958 and this was on when he turned it on and got it ready. The scene of the gun going rapid fire was what I remember most.
There are three versions of The Rifleman theme song; I suppose they morphed over the 5 years that the series was on the air. I like this the best because it has a more "heroic theme" arrangement to it with the lush strings and brass versus the later version that had more production but thinner orchestration. Thanks for posting!
I watchced the Rifleman all the the time and when we go to Northen MI we take a tin can, get the BB gun and aim with 1 hand to hit it and pretend were Chuck Conners. Winner gets 10$!!! My kids always win.
Here comes The Rifleman! Call him "sodbuster" at your own risk---he makes impossible shots with infallible ease! The Alamo would have stood 12 more hours if McCain had been there!
Simply the best! We need shows like that today!, My whole family would watch this and all the other westerns in the 60s and they did have a moral conduct and what was right and wrong and the right to choose and the consequences of each.
What a great all time western The humanity on that show stands the test of time... friendships- father- son relationship-a mix of right -wrong -ethics moral conduct- righteousness ..All themes featured every week on that show One of the most easily watchable shows ever!! The Rifleman never dragged ..That show would end as good as it started!~ Show moved quicklyI. Might say it was the Andy Griffith of Westerns
Another wonderful '50s theme song. Herschel Burke Gilbert's composition truly evokes the classic Western drama. I really like the clopping horse rythym in the background. Nothing written for current television can even come close to this.
A great theme. You can describe it as musical, majestic, and moving.
I'm always struck by the affection expressed between father and son in this show. That can't be found in a TV show in the late 50's/ early 60's as far as I know. The world wasn't ready for it back then.
@rblaunch You are right I am 30 and just discovered the Rifleman in the last year or two.It is a great show and it just makes you feel good.I wish I would have discovered Chuck Connors years ago.My favorite show for sure!
Sadly Arnold Laven has died within the past few days. Laven's name can be seen in the credits on this video. He along with partners Arthur Gardner and Jules Levy produced the show and the relationship between the Rifleman and his son was based on the one Laven had with his own son.
My mother LOVED Chuck Connors in the Rifleman. She ran to the TV just to see the opening sequence (which was very phallic BTW). The after 'Roots', she hated him and I could never convince her it was acting! I have several episode so the Rifleman...$5 bin in Wal-Mart.
I think I read somewhere that an extra shot was dubbed in to be in synch with the opening music. The gun sound was actually dubbed in.
I know that at least 2 guns were used on the show: a Winchester Model 92 .44/.40 rifle for posing shots and a Latin American copy rifle called an El Tigre for rough and tumble shots. But it was Connors doing the opening shots, not a stand in.
I think they used the original one in the When the west was fun tv special when glenn ford had this trivia question how many times did the rifleman shoot his winchester .
It has chuck conners ,johnny crawford ,dewey martin[ he was in the thing] ,clayton moore,michael ansara glenn ford was the host [ he did an interview in recent years where he came across as being very sincere.
This is one of my favorites. I loved the Rifleman: a peace-loving man who had a weapon that he could shoot faster than a Gatling gun...and shoot the pom-poms off of anyone.
The credits show music by Herschel Burke Gilbert. Did he write the theme?
Before you say that's a dumb question, there are many shows that get a famous composer for the main theme and then someone else for the music in each episode. Usually both are credited but sometimes one or the other is not.
Yes ,he wrote the theme and all the episodes music they recorded it in germany ,they gave him an rca 440 ribbon microphone which is worth $5,ooo today.
Herschel Burke Gilbert was the music director for Four Star Television from 1958 to 1964. He then went to C.B.S., where he became their Executive Music Director for one year (he left due to corporate meddling). His estate owns most of his music, and his son John (who now runs his father's classical music label Laurel Records) has been beseiged with requests to put out a "Rifleman" C.D.. Are you one of them?
One of the things that interested me about both "The Rifleman" and the first season of "Gilligan's Island" was the powerful strangeness of Gilbert''s background scores. The background music in "Gilligan's" Season One definitely sounds more somber than that of following seasons.
Interesting that Gilbert left Four Star in 1964...the "patriotic" Four Star Banner theme attributed to him didn't appear until years after he'd gone, I guess.
Actually, Gilbert did compose some library music for "Gilligan's Island" (which was coowned by C.B.S. and is now owned by Time Warner), but was credited not as composer, but only with "Musical Supervision". Most of the music for Season 1 of "Gilligan's Island" was composed by John(ny) Williams and Gerald Fried. Morton Stevens replaced Gilbert as C.B.S.' Executive Music Director, and was credited in the same capacity.
Thank you for this info. Years after I watched this show as a kid, I studied music academically, and when I was exposed to Aaron Copeland I was immediately struck by how similar a lot of his stuff was to "Rifleman" soundtracks. (Of course, Copeland came first, but obviously Gilbert knew where to get inspiration for music evocative of the Old West.)
Tuxguys, you might be interested that Gilbert attended Tanglewood (the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra), studied composition with Leonard Bernstein, and sat in the composition classes of Aaron Coplan (but didn't study with him). Some of the music from "the Rifleman" was tracked from some of Gilbert's scores (e.g., "Witness To Murder", "Comanche"), but my favorite theme from the "The Rifleman" was the moaning, 6-note motif for the villains.
Glorious to have grown up then and have all those wonderful memories of this show and its wonderful theme song. I agree -- the best western ever and the best theme song! Thanks so much!
If memory serves this is actually the SECOND arrangement to the Rifleman theme song. Always loved it -- it one of the few B&W shows that I STILL like to watch -- and the theme song at the end is just a nice little bonus. Thanks for posting this.
Absolutely LOVED this show as a kid and never missed it!! Then I turned my own kids on to it 25 years later and they loved it too.... Classic family TV show with NO foul language or sexual inuendoes. What ever happened to GOOD family television??? I believe Chuck Conners was a pro (baseball?) player before becoming an actor.
Connors played two or three seasons as a utility player with the Cubs. Injuries hurt his career because he was by all accounts a great athlete. I seem also to remember that he was an imposing 6'5", just a bit shorter than Clint Walker.
I wish Hollywood would have given us a big western movie with a who's who of the Western TV stars such as Clint Walker, Chuck Connors and James Arness.
Thanks for posting this, one of the best themes ever. It is so true, so many shows--you'd stay with 'em til the end credits were done! In today's times, it's a pity those great theme songs are in many ways just a memory.
Thank you!!! My all-time favorite (U.S.) TV theme. I've owned it as an mp3 for some time now, but seeing those B/W closing credits again with all the music really takes me back. You're my hero. :)
The original production company, Levy-Gardner-Laven, owns the show and is attempting to release the full series on DVD, according to the riflemanconners site. No logo appears after the Encore Westerns reruns of The Rifleman, presumably because L-G-L owns the episodes and doesn't have a logo. Fox may very well own the rest of the Four Star series (e.g., the Four Star and Fox logos follow The Big Valley end credits on Encore Westerns), but they don't control The Rifleman.
The Big Valley was a "Four Star-Margate" production, even though L-G-L was involved, and the rights must have somehow gone to Fox along with other Four Star series.
What was scary about it? To me, what was scary was the look on Lucas McCain/Chuck Connor's face at the beginning when he was shooting rifle rounds. I hear this now and the name Herschel Burke Gilbert sticks in my mind. Don't know why.
Thanks for posting. I agree with you comments above. It's funny, that I never forgot this theme. I was in the 8th grade in 1958 but this theme song just stuck in my mind over all these years. Again thanks!!
That is a great piece of music - haven't heard it in 40 years. We got the show in Australia in the early 60's. I used to make sure I always watched it.
Those comments about the "voiceover crap" at the end of shows today are right on. Now I just turn to another channel or turn it off. When they showed credits and played theme songs, I watched.
All you need to do is listen to this one minute over-the-credits theme - one of dozens of such of quality music from the era - to realize just how great the production elements for a show like this were. I really hate to sound crochety - but damn! -television really WAS a light year better back then. Great series, great theme - up there with the film music of Korngold and Max Steiner.
Interestingly, Gilbert orchestrated Dimitri Tiomkin's score for "Duel In The Sun", and was rumored to orchestrate part of Tiomkin's score for "Red River".
It is on every Saturday morning on Channel 55 AMC here in Toronto, Canada. Four or five episodes each week. Sure brings back a lot of memories. The big question always was. "How many times does he shoot the rifle in the opening credits?"
boblynrain 1 week ago
The rifleman western along with the rest of the westerns that were on the air back in the 60's and seventies and before are still more popular then most shows that are on tv now these days
videogames82 2 months ago
Thank you for posting the theme music of the Rifleman. It is short but very uplifting orchestra music that I heard as a kid watching the show and still love to hear. And yes, it was very aggravating for the TV station airing the show to voice over this short enjoyable music with a stupid announcement. Thanks again !
100hm43700 2 months ago
The Rifleman will be coming on MeTV. Maaann, nostalgia -- remember this as a kid and it just reminds me of innocence and a time when kids acted like the children they were.
kariebeez 4 months ago
A very memorable TV western theme. It's wonderful to see the final credits intact; American Movie Channel (AMC) shows three hours of "The Rifleman" every Saturday morning, but they speed up the final credits to accomodate more commercials. This particular ending is from "Day of the Hunter," broadcast on January 5, 1960. Thank you for your posting...
nickellicker 4 months ago
I will never forget when Nikkita Cruzchev bear hugged Chuck Conners, the champion of Stalingrad and president of the USSR was so overcome he bear hugged Chuck Conners and lifted him off his feet. That was the kind of star power Chuck Conners had and he had the ear of the Russian bear. RIP Chuck you were the greatest
Krylogenic 4 months ago
@Krylogenic That was Leonid Brezhnev, not Khruschev.
enahs55 4 months ago
@enahs55 I have the film of him hugging him and its NIkkita Krutchev, who do you think was the leader in the 60s, it wasnt Brezhnev it was Kruchev, he came after the cuban missle crisis and thats when he met Chuck Conners and bear hugged him.
Krylogenic 4 months ago
I can still hear Johnny "Mark McCain" Crawford ......"Paw! Paw!" So how many rounds of ammo you figure Lucas would shoot out of that Winchester in the show's opening?? 30, 40, 75?
MrRonnieG 5 months ago
Sure could use some of these old time TV shows now; but we'd probably have CSI Dodge City, or something like that.
GourmetDad 6 months ago
I always expected to hear Roy Rodgers break out in song during this music. Classic cowboy theme.
TrekToons 7 months ago
Great show.
thedetectivebm 7 months ago
I must have watched every episode 3 or 4 times. Great show.
Quickstar99 7 months ago
I think it's really cool that AMC runs a marathon of "Rifleman" episodes every Saturday morning. Watching one right now as I write this!
eagle31969 7 months ago
Great theme..my dad idolized Lucas Mc Caine, and when he told his son off , I usually got the same treatment afterwards...
hibernianish 8 months ago
This is fine, thanks for posting, but the whole point of The Rifleman was the opening scene where he shoots his rifle really fast. Guess I'll have to look elsewhere for that.
thishereguitar 8 months ago
Best song ever
alex5000an 8 months ago
CHUCK CONNERS WAS MY COUSIN
Kaurenrules 8 months ago
Now *this* was a theme! I've heard it a thousand times because my dad is a big Rifleman fan, and I still think it's a great piece of music. I'm even arranging it for the piano.
I don't know how anyone can think such a majestic theme is anything but a great piece of music. It's got perfect harmony, melody, and concludes beautifully. If I ever hear it live played by a professional orchestra, I can die happy.
millenniumf1138 9 months ago
@millenniumf1138 It is almost disappointing that this majestic theme that I still love to hear is so short. It is the best short piece of orchestra theme music I ever heard.
100hm43700 2 months ago
@100hm43700 I agree, though I hesitate to say it's the best (I love almost all music, so I don't really have a favorite). I've considered writing my own version of this tune, using it as a springboard to create a longer version, with hints of other themes from the show. They basically used the same theme with simple variations (turning it minor for bad situations, etc.), so it would be easy.
millenniumf1138 2 months ago
@millenniumf1138
I have also given the thought or have wished to compose a longer version as well ... however I am not blessed with the musical talent of writing or composing music. If you have the talent, I would encourage you to do so. Perhaps someday you can post your recording of a longer version.
100hm43700 2 months ago
Chuck Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer, professional basketball, and baseball player. His best known role from his forty-year film career was Lucas McCain in the 1960's ABC hit Western series "The Rifleman."
mkworkman 9 months ago
Martha C & Self-Offspring
PoppySandals 11 months ago
The best theme song ever
MrRanwolfe 11 months ago
Great tune I remember as a kid!
405fooman 1 year ago
I loved that rifle. actualy when I was a kid they had a toy rile like that
thenegas2008 1 year ago 4
I thought this show was about child abuse. They used to promo it as " Watch the rifleman hit the Mark every week on ABC.
WILTALK 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Who the fu.ck listen to this shit, only old thugs and fugitive twats
liljaaa 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
how old is this shit ? and who the fuck would like that music,but also hate rap
robodudeable 1 year ago
How could any one dislike this i thank you very much for uploading this....
DJxSGGxNeo 1 year ago
i remember him shooting off his rifle at the beginning of the show. OMG i am sooo friggin old. sigh
ThePraetoriansGuard 1 year ago
Great theme, great show, still my favourite.
hankedful 1 year ago
Encore Western channel dropped the series from its lineup a while ago, 'Sheri'.
fromthesidelines 1 year ago
somehow these 50's shows all seem relevant today...60 years later...how is that?
willalwaysbe 1 year ago
@ ariverofflowingshite - take your poncy religious waffling to a blog, you fucktard.
CJOKUSAP 1 year ago
Me Tv does not have voice overs.
britfrenir 1 year ago
Don't they show this on Encore Westerns?
Sheri451 1 year ago
I love this show, my 2 year old son and I watch it everyday on WHT at 4 and 4:30 and he always marches in place when this music comes on at the end. Last night I was watching Rifleman clips online and I looked over at the tv for a little bit in between clips and a stripper was getting arrested with her boyfriend/cousin on TRUtv. How did tv go from being great back then to the point that my generation has taken it too?
TerrellGuell 1 year ago
@TerrellGuell To answer your question: I think in the beginning of our fall away from moralsour society has thought you could be a 'good person' without being answerable to God. Remember the big black headlines in the late fifties or early sixties that said "God is Dead"? Once a society leaves the Ten Commandments AND ITS AUTHOR out of its daily living, you get sleaze tv, horrific mass murders and a younger generation who thinks Paris Hilton, Lady Gaga, Angelina Jolie and other sleaze is ok
Ariverflowing 1 year ago
@Ariverflowing I agree, but I am a bit young to remember stuff from the 50's and 60's since I am only in my 20's
TerrellGuell 1 year ago
@Ariverflowing i'm with You.
youngmindedman 1 year ago
When i was young this was my FAVORITE western still is.
wgr88 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
You have to face a Holy God on Judgment Day(Hebrews 9:27). He counts lust as adultery(Matthew 5:28) and hatred as murder(1 John 3:15). All liars will have their part in the Lake of Fire(Revelation 21:8). No thief will inherit the kingdom of God(1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved(John 14:6). YOU MUST REPENT OF YOUR SINS AND SUBMIT TO THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST TO BE SAVED! THERE'S NO OTHER WAY! There's no second chance after death, so repent NOW! Proverbs 29:1
9001tank 1 year ago
I so much enjoyed this show growing up. I appreciate it still! The theme music I always assumed was some sort of cool classical piece. It was great, and equally matched to a great show. I remember hearing that even as The Rifleman went into reruns, it was the most popular show in China, and Chuck Conners was revered there. It was a story of a man who lived by an honorable code and who ably struggled to stick to it , all the while as a loving father teaching his son to to do the same.
mileafaye 1 year ago
fyi This theme is real close to "Wait for the Wagon"...I gotta research that....
jefferzone61 1 year ago
♪ど～こからや～ってき～たのやら～
♪い～かついかお～にや～さしいめ～
♪わ～らうとだ～れどもな～つくけど～
♪あ～くにんども～にわ～
♪お～によりこ～わ～い～
ってのと、ちょっと違うな？
kurotanuki1021 1 year ago
im 14 and every morning i would get up and watch the rifleman but they stoped showing it on the western channel
johneverett12345 1 year ago
God I haven't heard that since about 1965! Thanks for posting it!!
flyboy712 1 year ago
the first theme sounds like a?square dance" the 2nd one sounds sucky though ..but both sounds great .. thanks for the songs there..
coloradostar50 1 year ago
Oh yeah...these were the shows that didn't make fools of fathers. Strong male
role models. Not today.
MickeyT54 1 year ago 2
@MickeyT54 What I most remember was the relationship between the father and son. and the gun was cool too.
fred5399 2 weeks ago
Is this the ending. I remember "the Rifleman" walking down the street and shooting his gun at the bigging of the show.
dahsuerk 1 year ago
@dahsuerk This was the opening theme, there were two different ones.
compactct1 1 year ago
But the greatest show of all time is not a western. It is my all time favorite "The Andy Griffith Show". It cannot be topped........
classic287 1 year ago
The second is "Bonanza"..........
classic287 1 year ago
This is my favorite western theme and show
classic287 1 year ago
You got to love these old westerns, they wouldn't survive in today's world, I loved the series and watched it in sindication,
belair55zz56 1 year ago
another gem from the past,how did we let those times slip away.
mark17044 1 year ago
I have a number of episodes of this show on dvd. I love watching each of them because it's like watching a more realistic version of the Andy Griffith show with guns! XD
GojyotheFeared 1 year ago
" Now killin's wrong Mark..."....." okay, Pa but you've personally gunned down 'bout 200 people in the last two season's so is this a 'do as I say' moment ?
bellcord 1 year ago
This wonderful theme always reminded me of Leroy Anderson's light classical songs like 'The Clock', etc..
ShockDoc 1 year ago
@ShockDoc Ironic that both those songs are available on the compilation "Television's Greatest Hits". Big seller that was originally available in 1985 only through mail order, but through popular demand was released to retail a year later. There are now 7 volumes, plus one of old TV commercials.
elc1960 1 year ago
My friends and I were big fans of Rifleman. We would wonder, from week to week , how it was that Sheriff Micah could always get Luke McCain to do his job for him.
slightofffist 1 year ago
greatest western theme song of all time
JKHcoasters 1 year ago
@JKHcoasters YES SIR! I have always believed it. Hershal Gilbert was coaxed out of Germany @ the time Sam (Peckinpah) Chuck, Jules, Arthur & Arnold were putting the final touches on this wonderful saga to create a fantastic score throughout each episode. Too bad you can't get any of it on hard copy. I dig anyone who talks RIFLEMAN!
upperdarbybill 1 year ago
@upperdarbybill
Maybe not by itself, but I have a few episodes of the Rifleman on dvd along with a score of other oldies like Judge Roy Bean and even Dusty's Trail.
GojyotheFeared 1 year ago
On second thought, maybe the theme song to My Three Sons was performed by Gerry Rafferty...a good trivia question to pursue.
destroyer820 1 year ago
Oh, yeah, I remember it well. The music was unherald, I guess, but nevertheless marvelous. So many great musicians are hidden in the musical backdrop of many old TV shows. Wasn't Boz Scaggs the creator of the music for the My Three Sons series?
destroyer820 1 year ago
you can watch the rifleman on wht-ch 367 on direct tv -mon thru fri- 4- 5 pm central time. It comes on sat. same time. It comes on -6-7 central time on me tv-channel 26.3 chicago-mon-sat.
emtschoolteacher 2 years ago
The Rifleman and Bonanza were favorite Western shows of all time. Both were family oriented dramas about a widower raising a son or family. Wonderful work!
rolex452 2 years ago 8
@rolex452 Crap! Chuck launched the careeers of Little Joe & Hoss in the first half of the 1st season. Only to be knocked out of 1st place by Bonanza. I don't know what happened but The Rifleman was not even in the top 20 after season 3.
upperdarbybill 1 year ago
Awesome!
maynardgkrebsiii 2 years ago
This was the first show I ever saw on tv. My dad bought a set back in 1958 and this was on when he turned it on and got it ready. The scene of the gun going rapid fire was what I remember most.
Fruth37 2 years ago 3
@Fruth37
great memories for me, also, as a kid growing up back then....
mmangum4444 1 year ago
There are three versions of The Rifleman theme song; I suppose they morphed over the 5 years that the series was on the air. I like this the best because it has a more "heroic theme" arrangement to it with the lush strings and brass versus the later version that had more production but thinner orchestration. Thanks for posting!
dtyler99 2 years ago 3
I agree. This is by far the best version. I got interested in classical composing listening to this type of music.
peppersax 1 year ago
I watchced the Rifleman all the the time and when we go to Northen MI we take a tin can, get the BB gun and aim with 1 hand to hit it and pretend were Chuck Conners. Winner gets 10$!!! My kids always win.
jb478000 2 years ago
loved the rifleman tv show-great western series-kick-ass theme song
melollylolly 2 years ago
great stuff-glad it is available at all to view
melollylolly 2 years ago
Of all the TV westerns of the 50s and 60s, The Rifleman was my favorite.
DangerouslyYours 2 years ago
Here comes The Rifleman! Call him "sodbuster" at your own risk---he makes impossible shots with infallible ease! The Alamo would have stood 12 more hours if McCain had been there!
skirts365 2 years ago 2
Simply the best! We need shows like that today!, My whole family would watch this and all the other westerns in the 60s and they did have a moral conduct and what was right and wrong and the right to choose and the consequences of each.
Krylogenic 2 years ago
What a great all time western The humanity on that show stands the test of time... friendships- father- son relationship-a mix of right -wrong -ethics moral conduct- righteousness ..All themes featured every week on that show One of the most easily watchable shows ever!! The Rifleman never dragged ..That show would end as good as it started!~ Show moved quicklyI. Might say it was the Andy Griffith of Westerns
lpvcrcd 2 years ago
If this theme was a gemstone, every major museum in the world would be competing to have it!!!
skirts365 2 years ago
Another wonderful '50s theme song. Herschel Burke Gilbert's composition truly evokes the classic Western drama. I really like the clopping horse rythym in the background. Nothing written for current television can even come close to this.
expoboy52 2 years ago 3
A great theme. You can describe it as musical, majestic, and moving.
I'm always struck by the affection expressed between father and son in this show. That can't be found in a TV show in the late 50's/ early 60's as far as I know. The world wasn't ready for it back then.
rblaunch 2 years ago 34
@rblaunch You are right I am 30 and just discovered the Rifleman in the last year or two.It is a great show and it just makes you feel good.I wish I would have discovered Chuck Connors years ago.My favorite show for sure!
REVENGEANCE206 6 months ago
I watch this show all the time! Still on channel 40.
jonvonman 2 years ago
That brings back memories.
LoneOutlaw1 2 years ago
Sadly Arnold Laven has died within the past few days. Laven's name can be seen in the credits on this video. He along with partners Arthur Gardner and Jules Levy produced the show and the relationship between the Rifleman and his son was based on the one Laven had with his own son.
CarlDuke 2 years ago
I sit and recall
cci110 2 years ago
My mother LOVED Chuck Connors in the Rifleman. She ran to the TV just to see the opening sequence (which was very phallic BTW). The after 'Roots', she hated him and I could never convince her it was acting! I have several episode so the Rifleman...$5 bin in Wal-Mart.
blkchk 2 years ago
Interestingly, "Roots" also featured Carolyn Jones as Connors' wife (she was once married to Four Star staff producer/writer Aaron Spelling).
vividwatch47 2 years ago
You were close...it was an even dozen shots. He unloaded in around five seconds.
I agree -- Lucas McCain was a wonderful father to his son, Mark, on the show. Mark just thought the world of his dad.
megjonaslove333 2 years ago
I think I read somewhere that an extra shot was dubbed in to be in synch with the opening music. The gun sound was actually dubbed in.
I know that at least 2 guns were used on the show: a Winchester Model 92 .44/.40 rifle for posing shots and a Latin American copy rifle called an El Tigre for rough and tumble shots. But it was Connors doing the opening shots, not a stand in.
westpoint64 2 years ago
The rifle sound effect on the "Television's Greatest Hits" was NOT the one used in the series, though the music is the same.
vividwatch47 2 years ago
Thanks for the clarification. I love the show and I can always learn something new.
westpoint64 2 years ago
I think they used the original one in the When the west was fun tv special when glenn ford had this trivia question how many times did the rifleman shoot his winchester .
spacepatrolman 2 years ago
The 1979 "How The West Was Fun" television special is available on D.V.D. (though I think it was taken off a V.H.S. tape recorded of the television).
vividwatch47 2 years ago
It has chuck conners ,johnny crawford ,dewey martin[ he was in the thing] ,clayton moore,michael ansara glenn ford was the host [ he did an interview in recent years where he came across as being very sincere.
spacepatrolman 2 years ago
Lucas shot his modified winchester 13 times, at least by the sound of the shots.
courthouse96 2 years ago
Wonderful show...one of the early shows where a single man had to raise a child by himself. Great family oriented stories.
rolex452 2 years ago 3
How many times did Chuck shoot the rifle in the opening scene? was it a Winchester or a Henry rifle?
rgarcia77 2 years ago 2
I remember Conners shooting that lever action rifle at the beginning,and then,that wonderful theme that I'll never forget.YEAH!
crowleysridgegirl 2 years ago 2
This is one of my favorites. I loved the Rifleman: a peace-loving man who had a weapon that he could shoot faster than a Gatling gun...and shoot the pom-poms off of anyone.
shanghaibenny2 2 years ago 15
Mine too. I liked how it was always justified when he used his rifle.
hanoc101 2 years ago
Yeah. He was a magnet for trouble. I guess not having a woman around does that to a guy.
shanghaibenny2 2 years ago
Chuck Connors was so cool.
naturaltoby 2 years ago 3
The credits show music by Herschel Burke Gilbert. Did he write the theme?
Before you say that's a dumb question, there are many shows that get a famous composer for the main theme and then someone else for the music in each episode. Usually both are credited but sometimes one or the other is not.
DeltaFoxtrotWhiskey3 2 years ago
Yes ,he wrote the theme and all the episodes music they recorded it in germany ,they gave him an rca 440 ribbon microphone which is worth $5,ooo today.
spacepatrolman 2 years ago
Herschel Burke Gilbert was the music director for Four Star Television from 1958 to 1964. He then went to C.B.S., where he became their Executive Music Director for one year (he left due to corporate meddling). His estate owns most of his music, and his son John (who now runs his father's classical music label Laurel Records) has been beseiged with requests to put out a "Rifleman" C.D.. Are you one of them?
vividwatch47 2 years ago
One of the things that interested me about both "The Rifleman" and the first season of "Gilligan's Island" was the powerful strangeness of Gilbert''s background scores. The background music in "Gilligan's" Season One definitely sounds more somber than that of following seasons.
Interesting that Gilbert left Four Star in 1964...the "patriotic" Four Star Banner theme attributed to him didn't appear until years after he'd gone, I guess.
westpoint64 2 years ago
Actually, Gilbert did compose some library music for "Gilligan's Island" (which was coowned by C.B.S. and is now owned by Time Warner), but was credited not as composer, but only with "Musical Supervision". Most of the music for Season 1 of "Gilligan's Island" was composed by John(ny) Williams and Gerald Fried. Morton Stevens replaced Gilbert as C.B.S.' Executive Music Director, and was credited in the same capacity.
vividwatch47 2 years ago
Thank you for this info. Years after I watched this show as a kid, I studied music academically, and when I was exposed to Aaron Copeland I was immediately struck by how similar a lot of his stuff was to "Rifleman" soundtracks. (Of course, Copeland came first, but obviously Gilbert knew where to get inspiration for music evocative of the Old West.)
tuxguys 2 years ago
Tuxguys, you might be interested that Gilbert attended Tanglewood (the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra), studied composition with Leonard Bernstein, and sat in the composition classes of Aaron Coplan (but didn't study with him). Some of the music from "the Rifleman" was tracked from some of Gilbert's scores (e.g., "Witness To Murder", "Comanche"), but my favorite theme from the "The Rifleman" was the moaning, 6-note motif for the villains.
vividwatch47 2 years ago
Very interesting... my ears and I thank you.
tuxguys 2 years ago
Too bad they dont make shows like this any more.
DeltaFoxtrotWhiskey3 2 years ago
no Patin PDX Branded was the best, am just going to have a look at that to see if as good as i remember
FotoNathan1 2 years ago
I always thought this was the best theme for a western series on television. Even better than "Bonanza." Thank you so much for posting this.
PatinPDX 2 years ago 2
I love this classic show!
Thank you.
George Vreeland Hill
GeorgeVreelandHill 2 years ago
PAW!!!!
Twom44 2 years ago
Glorious to have grown up then and have all those wonderful memories of this show and its wonderful theme song. I agree -- the best western ever and the best theme song! Thanks so much!
CynVee 2 years ago
If memory serves this is actually the SECOND arrangement to the Rifleman theme song. Always loved it -- it one of the few B&W shows that I STILL like to watch -- and the theme song at the end is just a nice little bonus. Thanks for posting this.
midknightryder13 2 years ago
By far the best tv western show..only next to BONANZA.. I love it!!
bigcharlie25 2 years ago
Yes,!! and Lawman must be up there too....
fjbutch 2 years ago
Absolutely LOVED this show as a kid and never missed it!! Then I turned my own kids on to it 25 years later and they loved it too.... Classic family TV show with NO foul language or sexual inuendoes. What ever happened to GOOD family television??? I believe Chuck Conners was a pro (baseball?) player before becoming an actor.
CJurasin 2 years ago
AMEN!!!
ourlucidream 2 years ago
Connors played two or three seasons as a utility player with the Cubs. Injuries hurt his career because he was by all accounts a great athlete. I seem also to remember that he was an imposing 6'5", just a bit shorter than Clint Walker.
CompVid101 2 years ago
I wish Hollywood would have given us a big western movie with a who's who of the Western TV stars such as Clint Walker, Chuck Connors and James Arness.
myGUYfawkes 2 years ago
Hi CJ, chuck connors was drafted by the Dodgers, maybe had a cup of coffee with the big club in 49 . played a few dozen in 51 with the cubbies.
Left celtic camp to go to spring training with Brooklyn.
Also drafted by the bears.
heck of an athlete!
I think he was drafted by the celtics as well.
oldbearswitch 2 years ago
Thanks for that info.......I learn something new every day!
CJurasin 2 years ago
takes me back to childhood in the early 70's and having to go to bed after the rifleman was over...so i know the ending song very well...lolll
leworld1964 2 years ago
the very best there is. real heart ! when life had guts.
yongchuanwang 2 years ago
Wasn't he a sharpshooter for the Union Army during the War Between The States?
MenkalinanYYT0981 2 years ago
That was in an episode of this is true russell johnson played him.
spacepatrolman 2 years ago
Boy howdie!!! What a great series this was. Watched it back in the mid-sixties. C'mon BBC get this one back on the airwaves! Cheers!!!!!
debowiec3 2 years ago
My favorite western theme.
nickellodeon55 2 years ago
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luisperezbrito 3 years ago
Great Theme Song - FULL orchestration - what would this sound like if recorded today?
Dondotcom 3 years ago 2
Ahhhh... the joyous memories of watching this as a kid !
NamVetBuck 3 years ago
Gosh, what memories! This was my favorite show growing up. RIP Chuck!
Mutch820 3 years ago 2
Always wanted to own a Winchester rigged like that !
NamVetBuck 3 years ago
The gun was a modified version of the one John Wayne used when he played the Ringo Kid in "Stagecoach" (the film that made him a star).
vividwatch47 2 years ago
Me and my grandfather love this show. I actually named my dog after Lucas.
SaraInWasteland 3 years ago
A great western show!
Jim.
386due 3 years ago 3
On the RTN newtwork on digital cable they play the entire ending. It's great!!!
tst958 3 years ago
This was the best theme song, ever. Beautifully composed, and arranged. The French horns near the ending are the icing on the cake!
terrafirma91 3 years ago 3
This was a GREAT theme song. Kikk ASS!!!
RussellDaLoveMuscle 3 years ago 2
I've heard most if not all and I agree. this one's the best.
BoringBoris 3 years ago
Thanks for posting this, one of the best themes ever. It is so true, so many shows--you'd stay with 'em til the end credits were done! In today's times, it's a pity those great theme songs are in many ways just a memory.
keithcop 3 years ago 2
Thank you!!! My all-time favorite (U.S.) TV theme. I've owned it as an mp3 for some time now, but seeing those B/W closing credits again with all the music really takes me back. You're my hero. :)
FrancaSeven 3 years ago
Well just so you all know:
The Rifleman reran on CBN/Family Channel and it is owned by 20th Century Fox Television.
tnawcwvictoria 3 years ago
so does that mean it wont be out on dvd? or is it now?
k0kan3 3 years ago
as always, "guest starring John Anderson"...played about a dozen or more characters...
abcbatman1966 3 years ago 2
Dang, why didn't you leave on the Four Star logo as well?
Staszu13 3 years ago
Whenever it's rerun, it just ends cold, no Four Star logo. What a shame...
TServo2049 3 years ago
Well, the logo was kind of scary. I think Fox/News Corp/whatever owns the rights now.
Staszu13 3 years ago
The original production company, Levy-Gardner-Laven, owns the show and is attempting to release the full series on DVD, according to the riflemanconners site. No logo appears after the Encore Westerns reruns of The Rifleman, presumably because L-G-L owns the episodes and doesn't have a logo. Fox may very well own the rest of the Four Star series (e.g., the Four Star and Fox logos follow The Big Valley end credits on Encore Westerns), but they don't control The Rifleman.
SlideItEarl 3 years ago
Hmm. If memory serves, Levy and Gardner were producers on The Big Valley as well.
Staszu13 3 years ago
The Big Valley was a "Four Star-Margate" production, even though L-G-L was involved, and the rights must have somehow gone to Fox along with other Four Star series.
SlideItEarl 3 years ago
they did the film the glory guys
spacepatrolman 3 years ago
What was scary about it? To me, what was scary was the look on Lucas McCain/Chuck Connor's face at the beginning when he was shooting rifle rounds. I hear this now and the name Herschel Burke Gilbert sticks in my mind. Don't know why.
ellyc19111 3 years ago 2
Thanks for posting. I agree with you comments above. It's funny, that I never forgot this theme. I was in the 8th grade in 1958 but this theme song just stuck in my mind over all these years. Again thanks!!
JOYOUSONEX 3 years ago 2
I loved and still miss the GREAT Westerns of the 1950's. It was a better and simpler time back then!
saunders49 3 years ago 4
Amen. TV now a days is just plain B A D!
k0kan3 3 years ago 2
That is a great piece of music - haven't heard it in 40 years. We got the show in Australia in the early 60's. I used to make sure I always watched it.
Thanks for posting it.
ccccoolcal 3 years ago
Those comments about the "voiceover crap" at the end of shows today are right on. Now I just turn to another channel or turn it off. When they showed credits and played theme songs, I watched.
Blairpark 3 years ago 2
They really need to bring back all these old shows...they all had valuable messages TV just aint getting it no more
johndog76 3 years ago 4
Hey I tried to post the words but the site wouldn't let me. So do what I did. Google in Lyrics to the Rifleman and it will pop right up for you.
God bless you!
Trimelda+
Trimelda 3 years ago 2
yo soy el verdadero rifleman jajajajajaaaa
hbk2444 3 years ago
All you need to do is listen to this one minute over-the-credits theme - one of dozens of such of quality music from the era - to realize just how great the production elements for a show like this were. I really hate to sound crochety - but damn! -television really WAS a light year better back then. Great series, great theme - up there with the film music of Korngold and Max Steiner.
sensei48 3 years ago 4
Interestingly, Gilbert orchestrated Dimitri Tiomkin's score for "Duel In The Sun", and was rumored to orchestrate part of Tiomkin's score for "Red River".
vividwatch47 2 years ago
Whoa...doesn't that jerk me back to 1958 and being in the fifth grade!! ha
tepierett48 3 years ago
There were lyrics to this song. Does anyone know them?
Thanks! This is awesome music from an awesome show.
freelancejy 3 years ago
I don't ever recall hearing lyrics to this tune.
diethylfluzappem 3 years ago 3
I watch this show, a lot. (I always say to my dad I'm gonna name my 3rd, or, 4th son after Lucas McCain as a little running-joke we have. (Lol.).
(**"Thanks!", again to whomever it was that posted this video for posting it. I love you, Man!**.).
tthomaselli2 3 years ago
Anytime, 'mathu'....
fromthesidelines 3 years ago