03/27/2023
As we have said in the past, Andy Griffith performed one of the greatest selfless acts on our behalf (and the whole bluegrass world benefited too).
He could not pay us “The Darlings” as actors, but what he allowed us to do is write, perform, and retain the publishing rights to our own original songs. Nearly unheard of because most tv shows and movies will want to tightly control how your original music is used (can you imagine the show Friends reusing the theme song from Love Boat?????).
Because Andy allowed this then that means the bluegrass industry can work with our publisher (lansdowne winston bloor hoffman house music publishers) to record, adapt, or perform absolute crucial songs to the industry such as “Dooley,” “Doug’s Tune,” and “There is a Time.” Trust us, you wouldn’t want to have to go beg Viacom every time.
Here is the original music rights contract for our first appearance on The Andy Griffith Show. Our songs licensed for “The Darlings are Coming” episode included "Dooley," "Doug's Tune," "Cold Trailin',” and "Hickory Hollow.”
Andy helped us so much and we are so thankful we own our stuff.
Thanks to our publisher Lynne Robin Green you can view this contract and a few other Andy Griffith/Dillards artifacts in our exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Hope you like learning about this history!
