After The Rifleman ended its run in 1963, co-star Johnny Crawford embarked on a second career as a teen crooner. After dropping out of the spotlight, Crawford dropped back in, thanks to Today, in September 1989. Rather than sing any of his hits from the 60's, Crawford reaches all the way back to the mid-30's for this country standard, which, unfortunately, isn't identified directly after an interview conducted by Jane Pauley.
The song is called, "One Two Button My Shoe" which originalted in the musical, "Pennies from Heaven" (1936). Written by Arthur Johnston & John Burke. There's a clip of Bing Crosby singing it on Youtube.
ReplyDeleteI've seen The Rifleman recently, as repeats appear on ME-TV & one of the cable channels does a marathon every Saturday morning. The chemistry between Crawford and Chuck Connors is wonderful and the show is still entertaining. I do wish the show had been an hour long one as the stories are scrunched together to keep it in the 30 minute format of the show.
It was funny how Crawford seemed almost embarrassed about "Cindy's Birthday" being played. I know pop music had changed quite a bit since that song was a hit, and he'd moved beyond the "teen idol" role he grew into after Rifleman ended, but there are lots of people out there who still like those tunes!
Wasn't sure of the title, which is why I didn't put it in the title of the post.
ReplyDeleteAMC is the cabler you're thinking of that does Rifleman blocks on Saturdays. Now that we've both mentioned it, I think that's a candidate for the Archives......