Mayberry on Record

That Mr. Maxwell doesn't take a moment to untangle the cord on the microphone for the tape recorder must drive neat-freaks and perfectionists to distraction. Nevertheless, he joins the ranks of Mr. Harmon, the movie producer, Burt Miller, the travelling salesman with the sensitive ears, and Flip Conroy, the piano-playing ex-NFL running back, as some of the nicest characters to pass through Mayberry. The Country Boys must have been the group whom the Dillards knocked out of the running for the Darlings' characters later on. Rodney and his brothers certainly were more photogenic, even if much less talkative, than the group we see here, who look like they just rolled into L.A. concealed beneath a tarp on the back of the Clampett's truck. Not to be unkind, but you might imagine one of them in particular playing the lead in a biopic of Richard Speck's unsavory life if such a gratuitous venture had been pitched to a studio in the ensuing years. It's interesting that in a time when you didn't see brand names on the set of a TV show Barney is clearly reading the Wall Street Journal in his effort to diversify. Except for TV Guide and various automobile makes and models--and even if you know that it's a Martin guitar Andy plays sometimes and a Fender (Jazzmaster?) in Jim Lindsey's hands, and that those are Rodgers drums in Opie's cool band in the final season--I don't remember any other brands being visible in the series. Fans of the hilariously satirical and surprisingly musical "A Mighty Wind" from the early 2000's will no doubt smile remembering Ed Begley Jr's mention of the "folk music scare" of the early 60s.