Well, John McIntyre was a fine actor, but with Ward Bond in Wagon Train, you get a sense of one of those moments of perfect blending of actor with his part of a lifetime. That's why it was never the same.
THE reason you felt a blending is that Ward Bond was an ogre. He went through every script, made changes, and if they did not get his approval the script was scratched.
This theme has to be one of the sweetest and most lovely pieces of music ever written for TV. Heavenly. I could listen to it forever. Thank You so much for uploading it!!!
Watched this show and loved it and the theme song in the 1950's and 1960's when I was a child. It became personal a half a century later, when, as an adoptee, I found that a dozen of my direct ancestors came West on the Oregon Trail from 1842-1878.
I loved the theme too. My only problem with Wagon Train(now in today's eye), is that IT WAS ALL ABOUT Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny, a phrase coined in 1845, is the idea that the United States is destined-by God, its advocates believed-to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent. Sound familiar.
Agree, the theme captures the very essence of life and is deeply ingrained in my psychic from when I was a young child in the late 50's. Time really flies by. Sad isn't it that time really flies by.
This, to my mind, is the best theme to a TV western. I'm partial to it's composer, Jerome Moross because he wrote arguably the finest western movie score of all time-The Big Country-1958 that starred Gregory Peck, Charleton Heston, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Burl Ives, Charles Bickford, and Chuck Connors. Directed by William Wyler for the wide screen, it's simply amazing. I've had the LP since 1964. Watch it when it's on TCM and you'll notice the similarities to this Wagon Train main title and I guarantee you'll love all the various themes Moross came up with.
This is the no 5 ranked greatest western t.v. show of all time. It stands behind Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Big Valley, and The Rifleman. All 5 of these shows were memorable and superb !!!
Flash from the past. I grew up on this and other shows of the late 50s and 60s. Each episode had a moral or words to live by. Look at the trash that kids have to deal with today on TV and the movies. Thanks for posting. I miss all of the John Wayne group.
I'm a kid from the 1970's .thankfully I grew up with reruns of old shows and movies with good taste I wouldn't trade it for the world.im so glad we have dvds and dvd players to play them.because the junk on tv today is not fit for any sane people to watch ,give me wagon train anyday.
john ford was a fucking scumbag who the fuck was he to call ward bond ugly and i know fix taught wayne how to walk this prick john ford always gave wayne a hard time even in the 1960s when ford was at the end of his rope but wayne took his shit i would of decked ford years ago he was a great film maker but as a man he was shit a ugly little man.
With The Royal Philharmonic playing this, this musical masterpiece sounds as grand and magnificent as what the settlers saw, when this country was new. Oh the heavenly grandeur!
Thank you so much for posting this. We love this show, watch it on DVD from time to time. It was great and this theme music is just beautiful. Thanks again.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I love this show, too, although I'm partial to the episodes with Major Adams. I just watched "Weight of Command" again yesterday--one of my favorites. Thanks so much for watching and commenting :))
Loved to hear the theme and se that episode again. Always loved Ward Bond. The rest of the cast was great too, never cared for the change even tho I do like John McIntyre.
I agree, they had a good cast, but it wasn't the same after Ward Bond died. He was a fantastic actor, one of my very favorites. Thanks for watching and commenting :))
@@formwiz7096 I don't really think it did.the ratings were there but the chemistry was gone.when you had ward,robert,Terry and Frank it was there but when ward was gone it suffered and it really never was the same.they never even said what happen to major Adams they should had and they didn't and that was a mistake.than Robert Horton left and that was that.trying to drive a car with one flat tire is not a good thing but when you have two flats now and only two good tires left it's going to get harder.you have to hand it to Terry and Frank at staying with the show until the end .but the show was never really the same when ward died than when Robert left ,all we had left holding down the fort was Wooster and hawks.
@@suzannewillis817 The irony is Wagon Train, though always in the top 3, only hit #1 after Ward Bond died and John McIntire and Scott Miller came on. ABC was able to wring 3 more seasons out of it, but Universal apparently was putting its money on The Virginian after Frank Price and Roy Huggins re-created it and let it slide. They were the ones who didn't want it to stay as and hour and a half color show.
It may had hit #1 but with what I saw ,it just didn't feel the same and having ward missing it looked wrong .There are pieces of a team no matter how much and how hard you try to replace.it just isn't going to work all the time.to think of what could had been if ward had not died and the true chemistry still would had been there.networks may want high ratings and number one shows to.but pushing a show is going too far to get there after losing its main star .it's tasteless to me and very sad.the show is better with the original cast .I lost interest when they lost ward they looked naked without him and I don't care if it had hit number one the show was lost when ward was gone and than Robert left that was the last straw that broke the camel's back .it's amazing they had got four more years out of that show but they did ,but it was never the same.
This theme has been rattling around in my head since I was a kid, and this has got to be my favorite rendition. It is so moving and is so well put together for an orchestra - Thank you for sharing!!! 🫠
Yea I don't get it,,, what was it? I watch reruns nightly,, along with Gunsmoke "Prior to Festus",, couldn't stand him like nails on a blackboard!! And I've watched all 5 seasons of The Rifleman,,my favorite,, on Tubi 3 times already. But what is it with the theme song from Wagon Train?? I get goosebumps and a deep sentimental feeling whenever I hear it! I can't figure it out and is driving me crazy as to why. Maybe unlocking memories of some time from my childhood? Kinda like not from the series itself but something else that I cant put my finger on it,,, Weird! So much so that I saved it in my file of other songs from the past,, good time memories I cherish, especially from the 60s. Growing up in better carefree times, first love and an entire life ahead!!
Yes they did .I wasn't born in the 1960's but I saw episodes of wagon train when ward was no longer around and I looked at the three remaining original cast members I could tell they all were trying so very hard to go on and do their scenes and their lines but it just felt like to me that they were not comfortable at all like something wasn't right and someone was missing.their body language was I don't know it just didn't look right to me it wasn't the same.but they got through it but it had to be very hard.a lot of that show had died too including a piece of each of the three other actors.it kind of reminds me of Wooster saying"i wish the major was here he would know what to do."and I think when they were trying to do this show without him they all probably were thinking the same thing.but it still was a wonderful show even though the show was never really the same without ward.
I think that Ward Bond was in Gone With The Wind as part of the Union occupation of Atlanta,and part of the army corps of engineers to rebuild Atlanta.
I wasn't born when the show came out. I didn't even see it as a child now I'm sorry I didn't but now I can see it on METV. Yes sir.They don't make them like Wagon Train anymore and that's sad.
Wonderful rendition of the theme of a wonderful TV series and a wonderful actor was Mr. Bond...and a wonderful video by you, Heather. It brought back great memories. Thank You! Jim
So glad you enjoyed it, Jim, and that it brought back some good memories! Yes, he's a wonderful actor, one of my very favorites, and I love him in this part. Thanks so much for watching and for your wonderful comments :))
The trial was a really good one, and The Major Adams Story is probably my favorite of them all, followed by Weight of Command. Thanks for watching and commenting :))
Major:" flint where are my gumdrops!?" Flint:" oop's I knew I forgot something!!!!!!" Major:"WOOSTER!!!!!! GO TO TOWN AND GET MY GUMDROPS!!!!!" Wooster:" why me!? There are Indians out there! GET Bill he's not busy!! I'm making coffee again!!" Major:"BILL!!!!! GO GET MY GUMDROPS!!!!!" flint:" Bill's out hunting ,remember!!!!!????" Major:" DO I HAVE TO GO AND DO EVERYTHING AROUND HERE MYSELF!!!!!!!!! THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!!!!! I'M THE WAGONMASTER!!!!!!!!! DOG GONE IT!!!!!!! WHEN I HAVE TO HAVE THINGS DONE RIGHT ,I HAVE TO DO IT MYSELF!!!!!!! FLINT YOUR IN CHARGE WHEN I GET BACK !!!!! TRY NOT GETTING LOST!!!!!! DOG GONE SCOUT AND COOK AND BILL!!!! THIS IS STUPID!!!!! I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING MY SELF!!!!!! WHY!!!???? WHY!!!!!???? DO I HAVE CRAZY FRIENDS!!!!!!????"
Well, John McIntyre was a fine actor, but with Ward Bond in Wagon Train, you get a sense of one of those moments of perfect blending of actor with his part of a lifetime. That's why it was never the same.
+Bonapartist Very well put, I agree :)
Ward Bond had a "bigger than life" presence. He WAS Major Seth Adams!
THE reason you felt a blending is that Ward Bond was an ogre. He went through every script, made changes, and if they did not get his approval the script was scratched.
This theme has to be one of the sweetest and most lovely pieces of music ever written for TV. Heavenly. I could listen to it forever. Thank You so much for uploading it!!!
Watched this show and loved it and the theme song in the 1950's and 1960's when I was a child. It became personal a half a century later, when, as an adoptee, I found that a dozen of my direct ancestors came West on the Oregon Trail from 1842-1878.
I loved the theme too. My only problem with Wagon Train(now in today's eye), is that
IT WAS ALL ABOUT Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny, a phrase coined in 1845, is the idea that the United States is destined-by God, its advocates believed-to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent. Sound familiar.
Agree, the theme captures the very essence of life and is deeply ingrained in my psychic from when I was a young child in the late 50's. Time really flies by. Sad isn't it that time really flies by.
I'm thinking that in heaven ward,terry,Frank and Robert have to be loving the music and even poking fun at eachother and having a good laugh.
This, to my mind, is the best theme to a TV western. I'm partial to it's composer, Jerome Moross because he wrote arguably the finest western movie score of all time-The Big Country-1958 that starred Gregory Peck, Charleton Heston, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Burl Ives, Charles Bickford, and Chuck Connors. Directed by William Wyler for the wide screen, it's simply amazing. I've had the LP since 1964. Watch it when it's on TCM and you'll notice the similarities to this Wagon Train main title and I guarantee you'll love all the various themes Moross came up with.
This is the no 5 ranked greatest western t.v. show of all time. It stands behind Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Big Valley, and The Rifleman. All 5 of these shows were memorable and superb !!!
What I remember about these great shows was the themes, this one composed by Jerome Moross, melody was king.
Flash from the past. I grew up on this and other shows of the late 50s and 60s. Each episode had a moral or words to live by. Look at the trash that kids have to deal with today on TV and the movies. Thanks for posting. I miss all of the John Wayne group.
So true, there's nothing like these shows--thank goodness for reruns and DVDs. Thanks for watching and commenting :))
I'm a kid from the 1970's .thankfully I grew up with reruns of old shows and movies with good taste I wouldn't trade it for the world.im so glad we have dvds and dvd players to play them.because the junk on tv today is not fit for any sane people to watch ,give me wagon train anyday.
A great piece of music honoring a great 'wagon master' in Ward Bond, one of the greats in the Western genre of movies and television entertainment.
awesome my favorite version..I just had to hear it..such a great show. ✌
Glad you enjoyed it! I agree, it was a great show. Thanks for watching and commenting :))
A great theme song by the marvelous Jerome Moross who was famous for The Big Country !!!!!
wagon train just wasn't the same without big ward bond a great actor and man.
robert szvetics I agree, it wasn't the same. He's not appreciated near enough, in my opinion.
TheSorrowfulFlower yes he wasn't a great actor who was never awarded just like his best pal john wayne who only won at the end of his life
john ford was a fucking scumbag who the fuck was he to call ward bond ugly and i know fix taught wayne how to walk this prick john ford always gave wayne a hard time even in the 1960s when ford was at the end of his rope but wayne took his shit i would of decked ford years ago he was a great film maker but as a man he was shit a ugly little man.
Amen...
Yep
Ward Bond in The Quiet Man, with John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen, Barry Fitzgerald, Mildred Natwick "No patty fingers in the holy water!"
With The Royal Philharmonic playing this, this musical masterpiece sounds as grand and magnificent as what the settlers saw, when this country was new. Oh the heavenly grandeur!
Thank you so much for posting this. We love this show, watch it on DVD from time to time. It was great and this theme music is just beautiful. Thanks again.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I love this show, too, although I'm partial to the episodes with Major Adams. I just watched "Weight of Command" again yesterday--one of my favorites. Thanks so much for watching and commenting :))
Loved to hear the theme and se that episode again. Always loved Ward Bond. The rest of the cast was great too, never cared for the change even tho I do like John McIntyre.
I agree, they had a good cast, but it wasn't the same after Ward Bond died. He was a fantastic actor, one of my very favorites. Thanks for watching and commenting :))
Funny thing was, the show did better after Ward Bond died.
@@formwiz7096 I don't really think it did.the ratings were there but the chemistry was gone.when you had ward,robert,Terry and Frank it was there but when ward was gone it suffered and it really never was the same.they never even said what happen to major Adams they should had and they didn't and that was a mistake.than Robert Horton left and that was that.trying to drive a car with one flat tire is not a good thing but when you have two flats now and only two good tires left it's going to get harder.you have to hand it to Terry and Frank at staying with the show until the end .but the show was never really the same when ward died than when Robert left ,all we had left holding down the fort was Wooster and hawks.
@@suzannewillis817 The irony is Wagon Train, though always in the top 3, only hit #1 after Ward Bond died and John McIntire and Scott Miller came on. ABC was able to wring 3 more seasons out of it, but Universal apparently was putting its money on The Virginian after Frank Price and Roy Huggins re-created it and let it slide. They were the ones who didn't want it to stay as and hour and a half color show.
It may had hit #1 but with what I saw ,it just didn't feel the same and having ward missing it looked wrong .There are pieces of a team no matter how much and how hard you try to replace.it just isn't going to work all the time.to think of what could had been if ward had not died and the true chemistry still would had been there.networks may want high ratings and number one shows to.but pushing a show is going too far to get there after losing its main star .it's tasteless to me and very sad.the show is better with the original cast .I lost interest when they lost ward they looked naked without him and I don't care if it had hit number one the show was lost when ward was gone and than Robert left that was the last straw that broke the camel's back .it's amazing they had got four more years out of that show but they did ,but it was never the same.
Awesome hearing all these different versions😎
This theme has been rattling around in my head since I was a kid, and this has got to be my favorite rendition. It is so moving and is so well put together for an orchestra -
Thank you for sharing!!! 🫠
Yea I don't get it,,, what was it? I watch reruns nightly,, along with Gunsmoke "Prior to Festus",, couldn't stand him like nails on a blackboard!! And I've watched all 5 seasons of The Rifleman,,my favorite,, on Tubi 3 times already.
But what is it with the theme song from Wagon Train?? I get goosebumps and a deep sentimental feeling whenever I hear it! I can't figure it out and is driving me crazy as to why. Maybe unlocking memories of some time from my childhood? Kinda like not from the series itself but something else that I cant put my finger on it,,, Weird! So much so that I saved it in my file of other songs from the past,, good time memories I cherish, especially from the 60s. Growing up in better carefree times, first love and an entire life ahead!!
This has to be my favorite segment of major adams and his first love (r.i.p.) Ward Bond
I remember when Ward Bond died. The show was never the same. Horton, McGrath and Wilson did an excellent job keeping it going.
Yes they did .I wasn't born in the 1960's but I saw episodes of wagon train when ward was no longer around and I looked at the three remaining original cast members I could tell they all were trying so very hard to go on and do their scenes and their lines but it just felt like to me that they were not comfortable at all like something wasn't right and someone was missing.their body language was I don't know it just didn't look right to me it wasn't the same.but they got through it but it had to be very hard.a lot of that show had died too including a piece of each of the three other actors.it kind of reminds me of Wooster saying"i wish the major was here he would know what to do."and I think when they were trying to do this show without him they all probably were thinking the same thing.but it still was a wonderful show even though the show was never really the same without ward.
I think that Ward Bond was in Gone With The Wind as part of the Union occupation of Atlanta,and part of the army corps of engineers to rebuild Atlanta.
Delightful- thank you for posting this.
Always loved that music.
Jerome Moross originally used this theme in the 1959 film THE JAYHAWKERS.
awesome 👌👌👏👌👏👏✌✌👌👌🕪🕪🕪🕪🕪🎼🎼🎼🎼
I wasn't born when the show came out.
I didn't even see it as a child now I'm sorry I didn't but now I can see it on METV.
Yes sir.They don't make them like Wagon Train anymore
and that's sad.
Beautiful.
Wonderful rendition of the theme of a wonderful TV series and a wonderful actor was Mr. Bond...and a wonderful video by you, Heather. It brought back great memories. Thank You!
Jim
So glad you enjoyed it, Jim, and that it brought back some good memories! Yes, he's a wonderful actor, one of my very favorites, and I love him in this part. Thanks so much for watching and for your wonderful comments :))
YES WARD BOND WAS ONE OF A KIND JUST LIKE HIS BEST FRIEND DUKE WAYNE TOO BAD MR BOND DIED SO YOUNG WAGON TRAIN WASNT THE SAME WITHOUT WARD
I agree, I didn't enjoy Wagon Train without Ward Bond. It IS a shame he died so young.
+robert szvetics
I agree 100 percent
SUPERB !!!!!
wow 👏👏👏👏
my 2 favorite episodes were the trial and the crooked School teacher who was also a hypnosis.
The trial was a really good one, and The Major Adams Story is probably my favorite of them all, followed by Weight of Command. Thanks for watching and commenting :))
Composed by Jerome Moross, who later composed The Big Country movie theme.
Major:" flint where are my gumdrops!?"
Flint:" oop's I knew I forgot something!!!!!!"
Major:"WOOSTER!!!!!! GO TO TOWN AND GET MY GUMDROPS!!!!!"
Wooster:" why me!? There are Indians out there! GET Bill he's not busy!! I'm making coffee again!!"
Major:"BILL!!!!! GO GET MY GUMDROPS!!!!!"
flint:" Bill's out hunting ,remember!!!!!????"
Major:" DO I HAVE TO GO AND DO EVERYTHING AROUND HERE MYSELF!!!!!!!!! THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!!!!! I'M THE WAGONMASTER!!!!!!!!! DOG GONE IT!!!!!!! WHEN I HAVE TO HAVE THINGS DONE RIGHT ,I HAVE TO DO IT MYSELF!!!!!!! FLINT YOUR IN CHARGE WHEN I GET BACK !!!!! TRY NOT GETTING LOST!!!!!! DOG GONE SCOUT AND COOK AND BILL!!!! THIS IS STUPID!!!!! I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING MY SELF!!!!!! WHY!!!???? WHY!!!!!???? DO I HAVE CRAZY FRIENDS!!!!!!????"
Where's McCullough? Where's Duke? Where's Mr Hale? The only one I saw among the others was Emily.
Why the high flutes carrying the melody?
Because otherwise it would be one big mushy orchestra and the treble clef theme would be missed. Hence, great scoring.
Anyone know who the actress was in the first clip? I have some guesses.
That's Virginia Grey in the first clip.
The episode, (for all the clips), is "The Major Adams Story", a two-parter from the first season.