Paladin was no light weight:
In Episode 82 of Have Gun – Will Travel, “The Posse”
(October 3, 1959 – wtitten by Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek)
Paladin (Boone) quotes Greek Historian Herodotus:
“And in his third essay, Herodotus said,
“We can contend with the evil that men do in the name of evil,
but Heaven protect us from what they do in the name of good.“

Sounds somewhat prophetic doesn’t it?

The Ballad of Paladin

Written by Johnny Western, Richard Boone, and Sam Rolfe
– performed by Duane Eddy

Many Western TV shows and Films have been boosted
by a great Theme Song:
Gunfight at OK Corral; Maverick; Bonanza;
A Fist Full Of Dollars: The Man who Shot Liberty Valance;
Rawhide; Maverick; The Lone Ranger …
The list is long …

But none were greater and more popular than
The BALLAD of PALADIN

Richard Boone was ‘All In’ with the concept of Paladin and the series.
And it’s interesting to note that Boone had a hand
in the writing of the song.

Boone quote:

“We deliberately set out to create an elegantly deadly character as different as possible from any other mustache,” said Boone. “It was sort of the spice in the stew. We gave him an education, with a knowledge of foreign languages and the classics so he wouldn’t appear to be just another guy who had spent his entire life on the main street of Dodge City. He’s not ashamed to take a drink or make a pass at a doll and even his judgment of right from wrong is based on his own personal ethics. I think he’s quite a character.”

And the lyrics of the song truly do inspire the ideal of a Paladin – a singular and mystical medieval knight mercenary
who championed the good.

Johnny Western recorded the original original 45 rpm single version in 1958 that was the regular theme to the television show
Have Gun – Will Travel from the second season on.

Over the years, several Artists have done cover versions:
I chose a couple:

Coming:
-‘Have Gun – Will Travel‘ icons
– Paladins in modern culture.
– more

Author: jcalberta

Howdy! I love Westerns. ... and the intent of MyFavoriteWesterns.com is to celebrate Western Movies/Film - old and new. This site will eventually show my top 30 favorite Westerns - or more. I will have original graphic work with regular updates. All this - and more ... Yee Haw ... !! - jcablerta / Moderator / Administrator View all posts by jcalberta