This takes me back to being a 10-year-old kid sitting in the living room watching the show with my dad. My dad was such a huge fan of the show and oddly enough now, he and I have a similar to relationship that Jim Rockford had with his father in the show. Sometimes, a simple TV program can be the thing that brings a family together as it did with me in my pop.
@@mikeykeyes Then that’s all you can do as a father. Always do your best and don’t worry about how are words of wisdom affect our children or how they react to it. We were all the young ones. They will learn and you will always be the good father that you are
Mike Post was the go to guy when it came to television themes. Most were for hit tv series that became as iconic as the shows they were for, but he did themes for some short lived nearly forgotten series as well.
Mike Post is a SERIOUSLY under rated artist, his music may have been TV THEMES, but they are still played and relevant today. Such well composed music.
Isn't this the original slogan even? haha. I loved the show. You can still see some episodes every now and then in German TV. I bought some DVDs to watch the original US sound.
Amazingly, this show had great acting, great action, great story lines, fantastic stunt driving, an excellent feature car with this Pontiac Firebird, and one of the best theme songs of the 1970s. Always a favorite of mine when I was growing up.
Same here. One of the shows that's still good even after all these years. I found out when my nephew went to sheriff school and did the driving course that the J-turn this show made famous is called the Rockford! However, the students weren't allowed to do it with county-owned cars (LOL).
@@juliejoannebevan6617what are Wagner tubas? Mike claims he assembled a “chamber group on steroids with two flutes, two French horns and two trombones.” ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-snruBzT-bPA.htmlsi=Sm2INNNEq1lPaw2j
For those wondering, the musicians are electric guitarist-rhythm guitarist-lead guitarist-dobro player Dan Ferguson, guitarist-12 string acoustic guitarist Stephen Geyer, bassist Lyle Ritz, drummer Jim Gordon, percussionist Gary Coleman, pianist-electric pianist Mike Melvoin, keyboardist Mike Post, banjo player Herb Pedersen, and harmonica player Tommy Morgan.
I have a tutor book by Tommy Tedesco and in it he states he played on the "Rockford Files " I wonder if the single issued was re recorded to get round Musicians Union rules re :- payment .I also understood that Hal Blaine was the drummer.
@@stevebrian2145 No. A U-turn is done going forward. If you watch the Rockford Files, you'll see how often he turns his car around by reversing, and flicking the front around. This is a J-turn en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-turn
Back when tv was actually interesting. I was a child when Rockford Files was on and I used to watch it with my Mom. Even as a child I found it funny and interesting.
This is way better than most of todays main stream music..God i miss those days. Life was fun and people didnt get offended if the wind blew the wrong direction.
I'm with you. I remember going to an eat out hamburger stand when I was 7 years old with my parents and my older brother and playing this song on the jukebox. Wow! What a different world than the utter mess we are in now with a screwball for a president, rampant wickedness, the failing economy... Jesus beam me up, Please!
In my days as a road musician, I once started playing the melody to this during sound check and Charlie Wilson jumped on the keyboards and went IN! HARD! Turned out he knew it REALLY well! What a trip.
My dad brought this 45 single home one day when I was around 8 or 9; I had NO IDEA this was a TV theme song, I just thought it was the coolest thing that I ever heard so I played it constantly! Brings back many good memories
I was three in 1975 and it was one of my earliest conscious memories of music, that wasn't from my parents record collection. And as a kid I took a weird liking to the show, and latched on to Jim's brother Aaron as my favourite character. Theme still sounds great.
Makes me want to drive around Los Angeles in a brown Firebird Esprit. I remember back in the mid 80s as teenager from the midwest, my very first visit to L.A. and seeing signs and places that were in this show. It was like a dream come true.
I was in L.A. in July '18 and made sure to go to Paradise Cove in my rented '18 yellow Mustang convertible. If only it had been a gold Firebird Esprit!
@Liberty Tree My favorite was the friend who calls to tell he has the money he owes Rockford, "But you gotta call me back right away, I'm on my way to the track".
This song always puts a big smile on my face. And yes, hands down the best theme song on TV ever (next would be either Hill Street Blues or Hawaii Five-O).
To Ryan Kadlec:You forgot to mention James Luisi(Lt.Doug Chapman)Luis Delgado(Officer Billings)& of course Noah Beery(Rocky)who have passed on.Mr.Beery passed away in 1994 prior to the brief Rockford Files revival & there was a dedication card at the end of the first episode "To The Loving Memory Of Pidge(his nickname)Noah Beery.
One of the greatest US cop shows and theme by Mike Post. They don't make them like this anymore! Wonder if he employed Toots Thielemans for the harmonica parts? RIP James Garner and Noah Beery, Jnr.
There was an LP of his themes released (RF, Magnum, Hill Street, White Shadow, Greatest American Hero, Richie Brockelman), the RF is not the original however.
Watched it here in germany in the 90s and bought myself the DVD box a few years ago. The original is SO MUCH better. James Garner is a lot more funny that in the native version,all his talk and jokes..
I was born in 1981. Rockford Files ended in 1980. By the time i was old enough and wise enough to follow the adventures of he who keeps his gun in the cookie jar, there were five and a half seasons' worth of episodes for me to devour! ...by the time i finished my first run through the Files, though, it had set in that the show itself broke Jim Garner and we'd never have Rockford Files again. Mega huge respect to James Garner, no doubt- he was the only stuntman Jim Rockford ever had (and only stuntman in Hollywood who could drive like Jim Rockford!) and shortened his career like a mf to give us all those fist fights and whippersnapper J-turns at full speed
I can see James Garner dressed as Maverick..waving and smiling as he gallows into the sun set as the music is coming to an end..see you later as we gallow by the tumbling tumble weeds in the sky...yours very truly Alfonso Cantu USMC
Imagine if you will, 3 Platoons of freshly minted Australian Regular Army recruits who are marching to this tune during their "March Out" parade at Kapooka NSW in 1980. The Australian Army Band played this to perfection after the usual parade inspection music where we were given the once over by the top brass. When we were all in full swing to this music the feeling amongst most of the guys I talked to later was one of " shit yeah, this IS bloody good marching music".
I been looking for this theme song and couldn't replace it after i research the TV listings from the 70s and finally i found it. I remember watching the reruns in the 90s with my grandpa all the time. He loves this show so much every time i listen to it I think of him. This show is a all time classic show to watch. RIP James Garner...
This theme tune has been used from 1975 to date at my English Football Club Tranmere Rovers, its used as our team runs out onto the Football pitch. English football matches are usually played on a Saturday afternoon .. we Tranmere Rovers in the lower divisions of The English Football League, we are situated in the Town of Birkenhead on the Wirral Paninsular on the other side of the River Mersey opposite Liverpool... Sometimes when Liverpool F.C. or Everton F.C. are playing on the Saturday (at home in Liverpool) we would play on a Friday evening and that was when The Rockford Files would be shown on B.B.C. T.V. !!! it stuck with us and it has been Our Theme Tune from Then On!.
Another song from the summer of '75. Reminds me of that neighbor who told me the show was worth watching. Knew this from constant AM radio airplay before I decided to turn the channel knob to the local NBC station to see what it was all about. All of ten years old I got hooked pretty quickly!
Takes me back to..........Preston Park! .....yes picture a cold Friday night in a Northern town. Your at the football stadium of Tranmere Rovers FC and the public address bursts into life as the home team runs out to the theme from the Rockford files. That warms you up as the crowd roar their approval. The TV series was great to watch back in the 70s too! Wonderful tune with great guitar sound👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Tom Selleck worked with James Garner as a guest star and later credited Garner with his devotion to how to treat your entire staff/crew on a tv production, **!*( very generously)!!
I was a teenager in the Midwest when this show came out in the mid '70s. It was one of the few TV shows I actually watched in those days and can still stand to sit through in reruns, especially the early episodes. Jim Rockford was cool but he wasn't a superman. He won some, he lost some, but that's what made him seem more real and identifiable than most TV characters. I wanted to be Jim Rockford when I grew up. That didn't happen, but I did end up living in SoCal, and that'll have to be close enough.
Mike post and Stephen j cannel are professional wonderful team work . salute to the best of them all. Get smart and Charlie Angels. Tied actually. I love all three grew up with those patriotic shows. True fun heroes
I remember listening to this theme, wearing a headset, while flying on "Air Canada", for the first time in July 1976. On the way to Winnipeg, Manitoba. 👍 The other song I remember listening to on "Air Canada", "Sail On, Sailor". The Beach Boys.
Back in the day it was AT 40 every Sunday & Wcbs 101.1 FM all week long in Brooklyn NY. Good Times. I often listen to al these wonderful replays, I cry, laugh , and reflect big time.
It peaked in the Top 10 in the summer. Great times...just turned 18. Dancing to the hot bands @ JJ's nite club in Rome NY. Then it was off to the army in August. I wish I coulda stayed at JJ's instead of marching off.
@@q98rt710 If you want to check it out there is a JJ's Bar Rome, NY page on Facebook. Maybe you can reconnect with some friends. Do it quickly though because it's 2020 and we're going through absolute hell right now. We might not be here for much longer...
@@sethlange7613 I don't do Facebook. I had an account years ago but I deactivated it. I didn't find it user-friendly. and I don't like the way they use your personal info off of your account. But thanks for the post.
