The Adventures of George Martin (RIP), Robin Hood and Elvis Costello

This blog first appeared last October. It's republished here in honor of George Martin, who died yesterday and about whom Gregg Geller, who signed Elvis Costello to Columbia Records in 1977, notes: "Sure, he produced The Beatles (not to mention Jeff Beck's great albums Blow By Blow and Wired) but for many Americans 'Robin Hood' was the first time we heard a George Martin production."

In Elvis Costello's brand new memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink , the brilliant musician/songwriter recalls his childhood affection for the '50s TV hit The Adventures of Robin Hood, wherein a mythic green-clad archer in tights and his "merry men" roam Sherwood Forest redistributing income from Nottingham's one-percenters to those less fortunate. (The book was released just days before the start of International Robin Hood Week , Nottingham's celebration of all things Robin. Coincidence? I think so.)

Elvis homes in on the show's theme song, words and music written by my dad, Carl Sigman, right around the time Elvis was born. (Coincidence? Definitely.) It became a pop hit single on both sides of the pond in 1955, as sung by Dick James (with Stephen James and His Chums), who would become the Beatles publisher -- and produced by George Martin, who would become the Beatles' producer.

The catchy chorus still inhabits the musical DNA of boomers throughout the English-speaking world:

Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his band of men
Feared by the bad/loved by the good
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Robin Hood

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