Bonanza

The singing Cartwrights

The Cartwrights Acting & Singing
"Every successful TV show has to make an album, you know," proclaimed Dan Blocker (Hoss Cartwright) in his liner notes for the "Lorne Greene's American West" album.
Indeed, at one time there were many of these "vanity albums" by television stars of dubious vocal merit, and the vast majority of them today lie deservedly well-hidden in the bins of thrift stores and junk shops.
The "Bonanza" cast albums, however, remain quite enjoyable and can stand on their own merits apart from the show which spawned them. They came about because RCA hoped its NBC stars could move records with the same facility they sold color TV sets.

 The Cartwrights's first album
The first album "Bonanza" was issued during the show's fourth year on the air. Like its companion collection "Christmas on the Ponderosa", it is supposed to capture a social event at which we find the Cartwrights and friends making merry with song. This is "personality music", and each of these singing actors holds up his end reasonably well, though Lorne Greene (Ben Cartwright) has by far the most ompressive vocal equipment.
The "Bonanza" album contains Lorne's moving rendition of "The Place Where I Worship", which was a great favorite at his personal appearances.

 Lorne Greene "Welcome to the Ponderosa"
The "Welcome to the Ponderosa" album features Greene's blockbuster rendition of "Ringo". Curiously, RCA had no plans to release this strong piece of material as a single until a Texas disc jockey began playing the song and received a temendous call-in response from enthusiastic listeners.
It's also interesting to listen to Lorne Greene perform the seldom heard lyrics to "Bonanza"'s theme song on this album. The show's pilot episode featured all four Cartwrights singing the song, but this approach was soon abandoned in favor of the more familiar instrumental theme over the opening credits.
Guitarist/bandleader Al Caiola also recorded a popular instrumental version of the "Bonanza" theme for United Artists Records in 1961.
Johnny Cash recorded the only commercially successful vocal version in April 1962, just a few days after he joined Lorne Greene at the microphone to record "The Shifting, Whispering Sands".

 Other albums of Lorne Greene
Lorne Greene's "American West" is the album which contains the highest percentage of certified western classics (songs like "Cool Water", "Wagon Wheels", and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds"), but Greene's finest effort in this vein was the less traditional, more pop-flavored collection entitled "The Man". The arrangements by Joe Reisman are exciting attention-grabbers, and Lorne manages to squeeze every last drop of masculinity out of he-man classics like "Pop Goes the Hammer" and "Sixteen Tons". As no less an authority on music than Henry Mancini exclaimed at the beginning of his original liner notes: "I Like This Album!".
"Portrait of the West" was another fine collection in a more classic mold, with Greene's renditions of "Mule Train", "Twilight On The Trail", and "Home On The Range" being the standout tracks. In the phrase of critic Dennis Braithwaite: "He can talk a song with such professional skill and natural feeling as to make singing seem old fashioned."

 The Cartwright Boys The other Cartwrights
Pernell Roberts (Adam Cartwright) also put out a solo album in 1963, a collection of folk songs entitled "Come All Ye Fair And Tender Ladies". One of the songs on this album "Early One Morning" Pernell sang in a "Bonanza" episode called "The Wooing of Abigail Jones" (episode 90) and also on the "Bonanza-Original TV Cast: Ponderosa Party Time" album.
Dan Blocker (Hoss Cartwright) recorded the album "Our Land--Our Heritage", a collaboration between Dan and actor/singer John Mitchum, younger brother of celbrated actor Robert Mitchum. This album again features strikingly effective Joe Reisman arrangements. According to the original liner notes by Robert Mitchum, the project was initiated by Blocker, who was so impressed by John's folk singing at a Hollywood party that he introduced him to Reisman, who had served as producer of the original "Bonanza" cast albums. Supplemented by a large orchestra and the 25 voices of the Ken Darby Singers, the efforts of Blocker and Mitchum are worth listing.
Michael Landon (Little Joe Cartwright) is the only Cartwright who didn't record an album of songs. The singles "Gimme A Little Kiss" and "Linda Is Lonesome" are the only two solo records of Michael.

 Remembering the Old West
Westerns like "Bonanza" invariably tended to offer an idealized version of the life of a cowboy in years gone by. Much of the violence, hardships, and pestilence that was a fact of life in those days was either watered down or omitted entirely.
Nevertheless, when you see the warm camaraderie of four talented actors protraying the Cartwright family on the screen, or listen to the happy abandon in their voices as they join together in song, you can't help but think that even if this isn't an accurate reflection of the way things really were in the old west, it is nonetheless a charming evocation of the way things should have been.


Click on one of the following pictures
for more information about the records of
the "Singing Cartwrights"

Map of the Ponderosa
Bonanza Discography


Lorne Greene
Discography of Lorne Greene


Pernell Roberts
Discography of Pernell Roberts


Dan Blocker
Discography of Dan Blocker


Michael Landon
Discography of Michael Landon

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Many recordings of the Cartwrights are now available as CD.
For more information and for ordering, please contact me!

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