Andy Griffith's album Just for Laughs, used on Sam and Friends
Andy Griffith (1926-2012) was a comedian and actor best known for his TV work, starring on the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show and later in a more dramatic mode as the title lawyer on Matlock. Early in his career in the 1950s, Griffith performed stand-up comedy using folksy, drawling commentary, and on Capitol Records, used it to interpret (or interrupt) songs and musical passages. Several of these recordings were used by Jim Henson on Sam and Friends.
Griffith's other pre-sitcom credits included starring in the 1955 television play No Time for Sergeants as naive soldier Will Stockdale, reprising it on Broadway and film (the latter two marking his first collaborations with long-time co-star Don Knotts). He took his first dramatic role in Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd and later made guest appearances on Hawaii Five-O, The Bionic Woman, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and Dawson's Creek.
Recordings used on Sam and Friends[]
- "Standing on the Corner" (1956) from The Most Happy Fella. Transcribed on July 30, 1956.[1]
- "Silhouettes" from Just for Laughs (1958). Transcribed on January 29, 1958[2]
- "Swan Lake" written by Griffith from Just for Laughs.[3]
- "Love Poems: Togetherness" (1959) by Griffith, Billy May, and Barbara Edwards. February 27, 1959 episode.[4]
- "Silhouettes." April 27, 1959.[5]
- "Standing on the Corner". October 15, 1959.[6]
- "Love Poems: To the Lovely Juanita Beasley" (1959) by Griffith and Billy May. December 9, 1959.[7]
- "Love Poems: Togetherness." February 14, 1961.[8]
- On Jim Henson's song list, use not confirmed: "What It Was, Was Football" from Just for Laughs (1958).[9]