"The Ballad of Jed Clampett" by Paul Henning

Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed,
Then one day he was shootin at some food,
And up through the ground came a bubblin crude.

Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.

Well the first thing you know ol Jed's a millionaire,
Kinfolk said "Jed move away from there"
Said "Californy is the place you ought to be"
So they loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly.

Hills, that is. Swimmin pools, movie stars.

----------

ending theme

Well now its time to say good by to Jed and all his kin.
And they would like to thank you folks fer kindly droppin in.
You're all invited back a gain to this locality
To have a heapin helpin of their hospitality

Hillybilly that is. Set a spell, Take your shoes off.

Y'all come back now, y'hear?.

Who? I know That the Theme Song from the Beverly Hillbilles was wriiten and performed by Lester Flatt and Eral Scruggs.

Maybe your talking about somthing else, I'm not sure but I know that for a fact. in fact they even Set the Bllad of Jed Clampett to the tune of their song, Dueling Banjos.

Paul Henning is the man who created The Beverly Hillbillies.(He also created Pettioat Junction and Green Acres). He wrote the lyrics to the Ballad of Jed Clampett. Flatt and Scruggs(of bluegrass music fame) wrote the music and also performed it. By the way Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs also guest starred on a handful of Beverly Hillbillies episodes.:wave:

and in their first appearance on the show, they sang part of "The Ballad of Jed Clampett". Someone else sang it at the opening & closing, but in 1963, Flatt & Scruggs made a recording of it where they also sang it.

(They also performed the music for the movie "Bonnie & Clyde" in 1967-but didn't sing it)

Originally posted by TJ
"The Ballad of Jed Clampett" by Paul Henning

Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed,
Then one day he was shootin at some food,
And up through the ground came a bubblin crude.

Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.

Well the first thing you know ol Jed's a millionaire,
Kinfolk said "Jed move away from there"
Said "Californy is the place you ought to be"
So they loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly.

Hills, that is. Swimmin pools, movie stars.

----------

ending theme

Well now its time to say good by to Jed and all his kin.
And they would like to thank you folks fer kindly droppin in.
You're all invited back a gain to this locality
To have a heapin helpin of their hospitality

Hillybilly that is. Set a spell, Take your shoes off.

Y'all come back now, y'hear?. the opening theme also has another verse that wasn't sung on the show. Here it is (I only remember the first 2 lines, though):

Ol' Jed bought a mansion; LAWDY ain't it swank
The next door neighbor is presdent of the bank



the closing theme also had another verse, but it was only sung on the pilot episode-again, I only know part of it:



now (something-somethig-something) with the Clampett fam-i-ly

as they explore the wonders of the hills of Bev-er-ly

brought to you each (something) by the sponsor of the week

the best to you each mornin'

fresh from Battle Creek

(one of the shows sponsors was Kellogs; and their slogan was "the best to you eachh morning" & "fresh from Battle Creek")

Was this theme song used again in the '93 movie version of the 1962-1971 comedy sitcom? I heard that song in the beginning part of the movie when the Clampetts were moving to Beverly Hills

yes, it was, and it was sung by the same guy-Jerry Scroggins, who died last December. He was retired when the movie was made, but he temporarily came out of retirment to record a new version of it.

now (something-somethig-something) with the Clampett fam-i-ly

as they explore the wonders of the hills of Bev-er-ly

brought to you each (something) by the sponsor of the week

the best to you each mornin'

fresh from Battle Creek

(one of the shows sponsors was Kellogs; and their slogan was "the best to you eachh morning" & "fresh from Battle Creek")

There were two versions of the Sponsor verse that I remember that alternated depending on who the sponsor of the week was. This is how it went for Winston Cigarettes (this is back in the days before Cigarette ads were banned from Television):

Just come along and visit with the Clampett family
As they take you to their mansion in the hills of Beverly.
The folks who bring this homey visit to your TV sets
Are the folks who also bring to you Winston Cigarettes.

Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.


The Kellogs version of the Sponsor verse went like this:

Just come along and visit with the Clampett family
As they take you their mansion in the hills of Beverly
Brought to you this evening by our sponsor of the week
The friendly folks at Kellogs, Kellogs of BattleCreek.

K E double L, O double good, Kellogs' best to you.

There may well have been other versions as the show was on several years and sponsors modified their ad campaigns.

you're a little off on some of the words to the sponsorverse of the theme song. I've seen it on the DVD se from MPI. You're mostly right with the words, though.
Also, ther were 2 verses for Kelloggs, the second one was sung toward the end of the first season,and in the second season. I forget all the words, but on the billboard they passed, it said somethhing about Kelloggs corn Jed smiling, holding a bowl of them, and the last line was "....corniest flakes, anybody makes. Kelloggs!" I'm assuming that, by that time, the show was such a hit, Kelloggs was showing the Cllampetts in their ads and/or commercials for their corn flakes.
You're right about them allternaiting between Winston and Kelloggs, however.