Happy Trails (song)
1952 single by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Happy Trails" is a song by Roy Rogers and his wife Dale Evans, known as the theme song for both The Roy Rogers Show on radio and The Roy Rogers Show on television, in which they starred. It was written by Evans and always sung by the duo over the end credits of those programs. Dale wrote this song in 1951 during the life of Robin, Roy and Dale's only child together who was born with Downs Syndrome. Dale decided Roy needed a new song for the closing of their Roy Rogers Radio Show, At the time Roy was using the song "Smiles are made out of Sunshine."
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| "Happy Trails" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans | |
| Released | 1952 |
| Genre | Country, folk, theme song |
| Label | RCA Victor |
| Songwriter(s) | Dale Evans |
"Happy Trails" was released in 1952 as a 78 RPM and 45 RPM by Rogers and Evans with the Whippoorwills and Orchestra, on RCA Victor Records. It was re-issued in 1957 as a 45 RPM record on RCA Victor/Bluebird. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.[1]
In April 9, 2025, it was inducted into National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, and/or aesthetically significant". [2][3][4]
Foy Willing's version
In 1951, Foy Willing had written a song titled "Happy Trails" for the Republic Pictures movie, Spoilers of the Plains, starring Roy Rogers with Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage. Subsequently, the first three notes of Foy's song and the title were used by Dale Evans in writing her version of "Happy Trails" for both the original The Roy Rogers Show and the short-lived The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show, which aired on ABC in 1962. Dale's is the version that is popularly played and sung today, albeit without giving credit to Foy Willing.[5]
Cover versions
- On October 1, 1970, Janis Joplin left a taped recording of the song as a birthday greeting for John Lennon, three days before her death. Lennon, whose birthday was October 9, later told Dick Cavett that her taped greeting arrived at his home after her death.[6]
- In 1982, Van Halen included a parody cover of the song as the closing track on their fifth album Diver Down.[7]
References
External links
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