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He Rode a Blazing Saddle

Posted at 11:10 AM on February 11, 2007 by Tony Lopez (1 Comments)

I love the New York Times Obituary pages. Slightly morbid, perhaps, but true. It was here that I found out about the death of the singer, Frankie Laine. If you grew up in the late 50's and early 60's, you'll remember him as the booming voice of the "Rawhide" theme. But if, like me, you grew up in the 70's you remember him for a different reason. Frankie Laine sang the theme song to one of the funniest and most politically incorrect films of all time: Mel Brooks's "Blazing Saddles." It was a sprawling mess with a ton of memorable scenes and characters. You'll recall Sheriff Bart (Cleavon Little) with a gun to his own head, basically holding himself hostage; Gene Wilder as the substance-abusing gunslinger; Alex Karras as Mongo; Mel Brooks as the daffy Mayor; and who will ever forget the campfire scene? But, believe it or not, whenever I think of "Blazing Saddles" what comes to mind first is that beautiful voice of Frankie Laine beltin' out those lyrics:

"He conquered fear and he conquered hate
He turned dark night into day
He made his blazing saddle a torch to light the way."

Watch for him during the "In Memoriam" portion of tonight's Grammys.

Comments (1)

Thanks for Memorializing Frankie Laine, Tony. He is one of my all-time favorite 50s era singers. He had an AMAZING voice, beautiful and pure in tone, yet at times crackling with electric energy (RAWHIDE! HAW!). I saw him on a public TV fund drive a year or so ago, and he looked so frail that I remember thinking he might not be around much longer. RIP, Frankie, you were one of the greats.

Posted by Auntie Smedley | February 12, 2007 12:23 PM

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