The Andy Griffith Show Theme Song by Earle Hagen

The Fishin’ Hole

Composed by: Earle Hagen & Herbert W. Spencer

Lyrics by: Everett Sloane

The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968)

Andy Griffith: Sheriff Andy Taylor

Ron Howard: Opie Taylor

Frances Bavier: Aunt Bee Taylor

Don Knotts: Deputy Barney Fife

George Lindsey: Goober Pyle

Howard McNear: Floyd Lawson

Aneta Corsaut: Helen Crump

Jack Dodson: Howard Sprague

Hal Smith: Otis Campbell

Hope Summers: Clara Edwards

Betty Lynn: Thelma Lou

Jim Nabors: Gomer Pyle

The Fishin’ Hole (Excerpt)
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 …

Starring Andy Griffith as Sheriff Taylor

The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968)

The Andy Griffith Show Retro Vintage 8×12 Metal Sign

Composer Earle Hagen

The Andy Griffith Show Theme Song Composer

The legendary Earle Hagen composed music for over 3,000 television series episodes during his long career, and will surely be remembered for the theme from The Andy Griffith Show. The theme song, called “The Fishin’ Hole,” is unquestionably one of the most recognizable tunes of all time.

Until Earle Hagen’s passing in 2008, very few fans of The Andy Griffith Show realized it was the composer himself who whistled the famous tune at the top of each episode. It wasn’t planned that way. As a composer, Earle Hagen was a master at capturing the tone of each show he worked on. However, creating a theme song for The Andy Griffith Show proved somewhat challenging. The composer ultimately decided to create something simple, something that could be whistled.

A demo of the show’s opening theme was recorded, with Earle Hagen whistling the tune and his 11-year-old son Deane snapping his fingers. The idea was presented to the show’s executive producer, Sheldon Leonard, the following morning. The concept was a winner! Sheldon Leonard loved the theme and suggested the now famous (and much parodied) opening sequence where Andy and Opie Taylor walk along a country road with their fishing poles.

Earle Hagen
While sitting at home wracking my brain for an idea for a theme for the Griffith show, it finally occurred to me that it should be something simple, something you could whistle. With that in mind, it took me about an hour to write the Andy Griffith theme.

Books by Earle Hagen

Emmy Award Winning Music Composer

Memoirs of a Famous Composer-Nobody Ever Heard Of by Earle Hagen Advanced Techniques for Film Scoring: Book and CD by Earle Hagen

Composer Earle Hagen

The Andy Griffith Show Theme Song Composer

Earle Hagen jokingly referred to himself as “a famous composer nobody ever heard of,” but that was hardly the case. Television production superstars Danny Thomas and Sheldon Leonard depended on Earle Hagen to create original and distinctive music for their shows. At one point in his busy career, Earle Hagen worked on as many as six different television shows at one time.

Though perhaps best known for The Andy Griffith Show, Earle Hagen wrote memorable opening themes for a number of other television shows, including 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.

At his peak, Earle Hagen was known to work 16-hour shifts, seven days a week, for 40 weeks a year. The prolific composer received three Emmy Award nominations for outstanding achievement in musical composition for I Spy, and won the award in 1968.

Earle Hagen
It was hard work, with long hours and endless deadlines, but being able to write something one day and hear it a few days later appealed to me.

The Men of Mayberry

Andy Griffith, Ron Howard, Don Knotts, Jim Nabors

The Andy Griffith Show – The Men of Mayberry Retro Vintage 8×12 Metal Sign

The Andy Griffith Show

Ranked by TV Guide as the Ninth-Best Show in Television History

The Andy Griffith Show aired on CBS for eight seasons from October 3, 1960 through April 1, 1968. The first five seasons (159 episodes) were shot in black and white, and the final three seasons (90 episodes) were shot in color. Andy Griffith appeared in all 249 of these episodes.

The popular series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and was ranked number one during its final season in 1968. The show was a spin-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show and spawned a spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. in 1964, as well as a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D. in 1968. There was also a reunion movie, Return to Mayberry in 1986. Reruns of The Andy Griffith Show currently air throughout the United States, and the complete series is available on DVD.

Ron Howard, Frances Bavier, Andy Griffith

Starring as Opie, Aunt Bee and Sheriff Taylor

The Andy Griffith Show – Ron Howard, Frances Bavier, Andy Griffith Under Umbrella – 5×7 Photo

Ron Howard
Early in the second season of ‘The Andy Griffith Show,’ I ventured a suggestion for a line change to make it sound more ‘like the way a kid would say it.’ I was just 7 years old. But my idea was accepted, and I remember standing frozen, thrilled at what this moment represented to me.

The Andy Griffith Show

Starring Ron Howard as Opie Taylor

Ron Howard as Opie Taylor – The Andy Griffith Show 8×10 Glossy Photograph

Huell Howser Tours Franklin Canyon Park

As Seen in The Andy Griffith Show Opening Credits

A man-made reservoir in Franklin Canyon Park was the location for the show’s opening credits. In the famous sequence, Sheriff Andy Taylor and his son Opie walk along the trail with their fishing poles in hand.

Andy Griffith and Ron Howard

Shot in Franklin Canyon Park, Los Angeles

The Andy Griffith Show 8×10 Glossy Photograph

Andy Griffith Show Theme Song

MP3 Music

The Andy Griffith Show Theme Song The Andy Griffith Show Theme Song

Andy Griffith
I wanted to prove that I could play something else, but there were 249 episodes out there of ‘Mayberry,’ and it was aired every day. It was hard to escape.

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