January 28, 2024
"Bill Hayes, an actor and singer whose 2,141 episodes of 'Days of Our Lives' over five and a half decades constituted the daytime drama version of an ultramarathon..."
"... and whose top-selling 1955 single, 'The Ballad of Davy Crockett,' remains seared into the memories of the baby boom generation, died on Jan. 12 at his home in Studio City, Calif. He was 98" (NYT).
He went off to Congress an' served a spell/Fixin' up the Governments an' laws as well/Took over Washington so we heered tell/An' patched up the crack in the Liberty Bell....
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He went off to Congress an' served a spell/Fixin' up the Governments an' laws as well/Took over Washington so we heered tell/An' patched up the crack in the Liberty Bell....
Obviously, a time before lawfare.
Yep, I remember the ballad both from the radio and a record my loving parents got for me and my sister, along with a coon skin hat, coloring books and other DC stuff. We sang the ballad over and over and loved it all. And when Disney ran a Davey Crockett episode we were in high heaven.
Anne, this brought tears to my eyes with the memories from those years. Both parents and sister are now gone. I miss them all so much.
Well with a manly subject like Davy Crockett and a manly name like Bill it is no wonder that song is seared into the memories of so many. That is so much masculinity it must be incandescent.
Davy Crockett, as “King of the Wild Frontier” was obviously and risibly claiming to be the dictator of vast regions of the proto US. He should be deemed by the states of Colorado and Maine as an insurrectionist and even though no longer in office should be stricken from the rolls of congress to become an “unknown person” under the 13th or 14th amendment or some such. All paintings of him standing next to Stalin should be airbrushed to remove his rebellious countenance.
"remains seared into the memories of the [soap opera addicted women of the] baby boom generation"
Just for a little more accuracy.
Davey Crockett served in Congress, Tennessee, 1837-1831, 1833-1835. He abided by the Constitution and his Article VI oath to be faithful to it.
He made an error in this regard on one occasion. A constituent brought this to his attention, a rebuke from which Crockett learned a valuable lesson. A lesson that 000s who have served in Congress with last 140 years have ignored.
That lesson: spending taxpayers' monies (whether as species or as debt) for which there is no constitutional authority is against the people themselves.
The story, Not Yours to Give, is invaluable,
https://fee.org/resources/not-your-to-give/
Picture a Boomer…singing the Davy Crockett song…forever!
JSM
He and Florence Henderson did Oldsmobile commercials and trade shows back in the 1950s. I remember him in a TV production of Gilbert & Sullivan's Yeomen of the Guard with Celeste Holm, Alfred Drake, and Barbara Cooke in 1957.
I remember the ballad very well, but on a Disney record as sung by Fess Parker; Daniel Boone, singing about Davy Crockett.
It's an interesting story, how Fess Parker came to be chosen by Disney to play Daniel Boone. James Arness had been slated, another really tall guy, but Disney watched the movie 'Them!', a 'B'-movie sci-fi desert pic with giant ants, where Arness starred, but Parker had a 2-minute role as a pilot locked up in the crazy house for insisting he's seen giant flying ants. Disney was watching to evaluate Arness, but they chose Parker for Boone, based on the earnestness he showed in that role.
He much preferred to be called David.
I prefer my heros who do not get killed on our border by a ragtag poorly led Mexican army of peasants.
Fess Parker did his own version which is pretty good.
I remember the song, but not that version. In my neck of the woods, we liked us that Tennessee Ernie Ford version. I reckon we were more authentic than those city folk who liked their music sung by soap opera stars.....I read the obit. He was married to his costar on the show for nearly fifty years. Apparently he kept the soap opera stuff at work and didn't take it home. Here's the dialogue of his last scene: Wife: "Have I ever told you much how much I loved you." Bill Hayes: "No, you never did."....All you cynics who mock soap operas have got to admit that's extremely moving.
Aggie said...
It's an interesting story, how Fess Parker came to be chosen by Disney to play Daniel Boone.
Thanks for that bit of trivia about Fess Parker. Here's another one: after making millions with his two shows (Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone), he essentially retired to the Santa Ynez valley and started a winery - with the idea that he was building a business that his children would inherit. They still run the winery and a successful small resort-type venue. On our next trip to Santa Barbara (every couple of years), I would like to stay there.
Re: Bill Hayes. I watched Days of Our Lives in the oughts and he and his real-life wife played a married couple on the show. They weren't on very often, but always enjoyed them when they appeared at weddings or other family events.
Col. Crockett provided the finest explanation and defense of limited government spending powers in his account of "Not Yours to Give," a lesson he learned at the hands of his constituent, Horatio Bunce. With a national debt currently standing at $34 trillion, it's lesson joyfully rejected by our betters in D.C.
https://fee.org/resources/not-your-to-give/
Davy Crockett? I’ll tell you about Davy Crockett! His moccasins never touch the ground! - Buddy Young Jr. in Mr. Saturday Night.
My mom’s favorite soap opera. And she loved him! When she got sick I’d watch it with her & she’d talk about the characters and their history. I watched it frequently after she died. Memories.
Soap Opera Voice Actor. Is that a job which, with the proper technology, would allow one to "work from home?" Phone it in?
Let's play the old Saturday Night Live game show, "Quien Es Mas Macho!"
Who was more manly as Davey Crockett in the Alamo movies, John Wayne or Billy Bob Thorton?
You know what David Crockett said when he looked out of the Alamo and saw 4000 Mexicans assembling?
"Why didn't anybody tell me we were laying concrete today?"
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