You Tube Spotlight: Johnny Crawford on "Shivaree"

One of the videos in our Rifleman playlist this week showcases Johnny Crawford, singer; as opposed to Johnny Crawford, Mark McCain. 

Crawford was much more than an Emmy-nominated child actor on The Rifleman. As our playlist shows, he was an original Mouseketeer several years earlier. While the Western was airing on ABC, Crawford had a successful pop career that included 4 Top 40 singles. Years later, he fronted a band called The Johnny Crawford Orchestra.

How about Shivaree, though? Host Gene Weed's epic forehead suggests "wide open spaces" more than any episode of The Rifleman did. This was syndicated daily music show that ran just over a year in 1965-1966.