(ABC Primetime, 1949 - 1957)
(Daytime and weekend reruns aired on CBS, NBC and ABC
until 1961...further syndication continued through the 1970s.)
[adapted from a 1933 local Detroit radio series which became the
core of the Mutual Radio Network, and was heard on network radio
through 1954; derived from B-picture serials produced by
Republic Studios; which were based on a character in Western
dime novels written by the 19th-century author "O'Henry".]
[Final section of the Overture to Rossini's Opera "William Tell"
which was introduced in Paris as "Guillaume Tell"]
[Much detail about the use of music on the Lone Ranger series,
its origins and use for serials, radio and TV; is found in the
book "The Mystery of the Masked Man's Music" by Reginald Jones,
published by The Scarecrow Press, in 1987.]
Composer: Giacchino Rossini (predates ASCAP & BMI)
Original Publisher: E. Troupenas (Paris)
2000 Publisher: [in the Public Domain]
Composition Date: 1829
Recordings:
[The original recordings of the THEME and Cues which were
"tracked" into episode scores for the TV series derive from
recordings made in 1940 in a radio studio in Mexico City
directed by conductors Daniel Perez Castañeda and Higinio
Ruvalcaba.
Background cues used on the TV series were adapted from a
library of cues that had been assembled with the cooperation
of Republic Studios; and the help of the NBC network music
department.
These cues included a number of excerpts from various
classical warhorses like Franz Lizst's "Les Preludes" and
the "Fingal's Cave Overture" by Felix Mendelssohn; plus
cues from old B-picture Western films from Republic Studios
composed by Cy Feuer, William Lava, Karl Hajos and
Alberto Colombo.
The re-arrangements were mostly done by Ben Bonnell under
contract to NBC. Apparently he was chosen since he was on
staff. NBC had a deal to supply the re-recordings to the
radio show producer George W. Trendle at WXYZ in Detroit.
Both the alterations to film cues and the re-recordings in Mexico
were done to get around Musician's union rules requiring high
royalties fees paid to U.S. Musicians whether or not they
played live. The "re-use" of a recording therefore was not
a way of saving money if you played by union rules which were
becoming more of an enforcement issue around 1940.
These fees were intended by the AF of M to discourage the
practice of "tracking" to score radio and TV with recordings;
but these high re-use fees had the effect of driving music
production for syndicated and low budget series outside
the U.S. (or into "dark sessions" which claimed to be done
outside the U.S.) during much of the 1940s - early 1960s,
until a more reasonable fee schedule came into being.]
CD: "The Music of the Lone Ranger" (1992)
A Cinedisc from "CinemaSound Records" CDC 1019
Manufactured by:
Intersound, Inc.
11810 Wills Rd.
P.O. Box 1724
Roswell, GA 30077
Distributed in Canada by:
Intersound, Inc.
1 Select Ave.
Scarborough, Ontario M1V 5J3
[This CD contains half original authentic 1940 radio/TV
Mexican recordings; and half modern studio re-recordings
of the original scores written for Republic B-picture
serials used on early radio before 1940 for comparison;
The CD was produced by James King - an associate of
Composer William Lava, with audio restoration by
Graham Newton.]