RIP: Composers of "Batman" and "The Andy Griffith Show"

Who are Earl Hagen and Neal Hefti? I'm certain many of you don't really know. Earl Hagen was a close friend of my father's. He helped dad get into the TV music business. Neal Hefti was also a friend of the family. Each man passed away this year.

They were both famous composers who wrote music for the big bands, radio and movies. But TV is the claim to fame they share. Between 1960 and 1980, Earl Hagen composed a countless number of TV themes and the background music as well. Much of his music is known by anyone over 40. For example, he wrote the theme to the Andy Griffith show. That's got to be in the top 100 recognizable tune book. Google him and you'll see how pervasive his music is.

But what I remember most is his bare pate, the Tam-O-Shanter he always wore, and the monumental ears. He looked like a character actor form the 40s. You just don't see folks with his features these days. Why? I don't really know.

When I was 9 years old, my father was recording a show at MGM and Earl offered to drive me home. We lived in the same development. It was my first ride in a Farrari. He even let me take the wheel in deserted areas. For someone so successful and talented, he was very unassuming; no ripping off heads in the studio for Mr. Hagen. Golf was his passion, and an unending source of rattlesnake stories, as the Calabasas course had its share. His son Dean was 8 years older than I, but had lots of colorful stories to share with me. You see, Dean was a talented drummer who played with the Spencer Davis band and Traffic; he also did session work for my father.

Neal Hefti wrote the theme for the "Batman" series. He also wrote a number of great shoe-tunes: Barefoot in the Park, Girl Talk, Cute, etc. Like my father, his was a generation of self-taught musicians. At dinner, we always heard the names pop up. Not because they were so successful. Rather, they were a part of my dad's generation of composers. Much of the music of their generation was brightly colored by Hagen and Hefti. They could do it all: arrange the band's parts, write the simple jingles and the complex backgrounds. These days, it's not so common. But what is it I remember? .....The Fararri. And I'm a musician!

So the old guard is falling away. Rest in peace, gentlemen.