The Legend of the Lone Ranger

1981
LP: MCA 5212
Lyric by Dean Pitchford

1. Main Title (1:30) [vocal by Merle Haggard]
2. The Legend Begins (1:35) [narration by Merle Haggard]
3. John and Amy Meet (1:47)
4. The Valley Chase (1:55)
5. Brothers (2:05)
6. The Cavendish Gang Strikes (2:05)
7. The Man in the Mask (1:32)
8. The Breaking of Silver (1:35) [narration by Merle Haggard]
9. (Ambush) 3:11
10. Dynamite (2:06)
11. The Final Attack (2:02)
12. William Tell Overture (3:26) [composed by Rosini]
13. End Title (1:12)

The Movie

This is infamous as a model of stupidity in film-making. Clayton Moore had played The Lone Ranger in the 40's and 50's, and became and icon doing so. In 1980 he was an old man who wore the outfit, making the rounds of auto shows and supermarkets, signing photos and giving talks and generally being a positive role model and a good guy. Rather than harness any of this incredible good will that Moore had banked over a half-century, the copyright owners sued him, tried to bar him from wearing the famous mask, and in generally made everyone hate them. So when this movie came out--all the good will was gone, and the movie did nothing to get it back.

The Music

I've got the soundtrack and I remember playing it once or twice, but I don't remember anything about it.

Release Notes

The LP came and went. It's not difficult to find, but it never rated a CD release. And it may be telling that none of the music shows up on any other release that I am aware of. The score is very likely bootlegged on CD, but if so, it's obscure even by bootleg standards.