THE FISHIN' HOLE
"The Andy Griffith Show Theme" is the song CBS television used for The Andy Griffith Show. It was composed in 1960 by Earle Hagen, who also performs the whistling heard in the theme. Its success resulted in widespread demand in the United States for a commercial recording. In 1961, actor Everett Sloane wrote lyrics for an expanded vocal version of the theme, which in this version was renamed "The Fishin' Hole.” Television music scholar Jon Burlingame called the theme "a classic of musical Americana."
One of our excursions in North Carolina was in the northwestern part of the state to Mount Airy. Andy Griffith was an actor, comedian, television producer, singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Even though the show was filmed at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at Forty Acres in Culver City, California, many references in the story and different scripts were inspired by Griffith’s childhood and adolescence in and around Mount Airy. We visited the Andy Griffith museum in downtown Mount Airy and drove by a couple of the reproductions of the jail, service station, and movie theater. Pretty corny, but so was the show!
We toured downtown Winston-Salem again. Met some of the cool cats in Winston, as we locals call it. Buster became a huge fan of Krankie’s Coffee, a locally roasted brand. We both liked Winston a lot, so we’re thinking about moving our litter box here for an extended stay.
Later friends,
Betty and Buster
A rainy day in downtown Mayberry - or, Mt. Airy if you must
We had lunch at Barney’s Cafe
Do you want to take a tour of Mayberry in Andy’s squad car? or, buy anything Mayberry ever made?
“Hey Andy, you want to take the girls to Mt. Pilot and see what’s showing at the Earle?”
You can take a tour of the “courthouse!”
You can stop in at Wally’s service and say HEY to Goober or Gomer
This is the actual Pilot Mountain
After all of that shtick, Betty treated us by whipping up some unbelievable shrimp and grits … to quote Andy, “ooooo-ee!”