Johnny Yuma - The Rebel's SCATTERGUN!

Here's one of my favorite cap guns. This baby is a whopping 21 inches long, and has the look and feel of a real gun. And it's mighty dang close to the prop Nick Adams carried on the show. 

This gun was made by Classy Products, an outfit that made a lot of cheap-looking Roy Rogers pistols. This one, which doesn't look cheap at all, has a lot of fragile plastic. That's probably one reason it's rare today.

The fine print inside the cap loading chamber reads "Classy Prod. Co. Woodside, NY." The name Classy appeared nowhere on the box, but one of the end panels (as you'll see below) says "Harvell-Kilgore Sales Corporation, Bolivar, Tennessee." Never heard of Harvell, but Kilgore was a major player. I'm guessing they handled the distribution, at least on this gun, for Classy. 

BATTLE OF THE REBELS

    

JOHNNY YUMA SINGS! The COMPLEAT Vocal Stylings of Mr. Nick Adams

Davy and I are proud to present, for what is likely the first and last time anywhere, the complete record catalog of Mr. Nick Adams. 

Nick's singing career began in January 1960 with the release of "Born a Rebel," backed with the tender ballad called "Bull Run."

"Johnny Yuma, the Rebel," with "The Ballad of Scatter Gun Hill" followed in March 1960. The Rebel theme, as you'll discover, was probably his best, because he wasn't trying too hard to sing.

Nick's final shot at the music biz came in September 1962, with "Tired and Lonely Rebel." On the flip side of that one was a silly non-Rebel entry that covers everything from the Garden of Eden to outer space. Both were written by Dorsey Burnette. Burnette, of course, could also write good songs, and proved it with such hits as "Tall Oak Tree" and "You're Sixteen."

Overlooked TV: THE REBEL

"Hey, Ted Turner! Time to haul my series out of your vault and release it on DVD!"

Overlooked Films: Johnny Yuma Meets Frankenstein

In 1965, Academy Award Nominee and former Rebel star Nick Adams joined the ranks of such honored thespians as Raymond Burr, and accepted a role in a cheesy Japanese monster movie. Ouch.

I've never seen this one, and not sure I could stand it. The posters and pics are almost too much to bear. On the other hand, Adams reportedly had a fling with his co-star Kimo Mizuno (with whom he also made the Godzilla flick Invasion of Astro-Monster, better known as Monster Zero, which I have seen), so chances are he had a better time making these turkeys than anyone did watching them.

Kumi Mizuno in her Monster Zero outfit.

Links to more Overlooked Films at SWEET FREEDOM.