The Rockford Files (theme) explained

The Rockford Files
Cover:	The_Rockford_Files_-_Mike_Post.jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	Mike Post
B-Side:	Dixie Lullabye
Released:	May 1975
Genre:	Pop
Label:	MGM Records
Producer:	Mike Post
Next Title:	Manhattan Spiritual
Next Year:	1975

"The Rockford Files" is a 1975 instrumental by Mike Post and co-composer Pete Carpenter. The song is the theme from the American detective drama TV series The Rockford Files, starring James Garner. It appears at the opening and ending of each episode with different arrangements. Throughout the show's tenure, the theme song went through numerous evolutions, with later versions containing a distinct electric guitar bridge section played by session guitarist Dan Ferguson.^[1]

The Instrumental features a blues harmonica solo, dobro guitar, an electric guitar solo heard in the bridges, plus a Minimoog synthesizer, heard in the refrains. This was one of the first popular song appearances for the synthesizer.^[2]

The song spent four months on the charts and in August 1975 became a Top 10 hit in the U.S. (#10, for two weeks)^[3] and in Canada (#8). It was also a Top 20 Adult Contemporary hit in both nations.

"The Rockford Files" won a 1975 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement.^{[4] [5]}

The B-side track (or "flip-side"), entitled "Dixie Lullabye", was also composed by Post and Carpenter."The Rockford Files" is also the music football team Tranmere Rovers run out to.

Personnel

• Lead guitar, dobro — Dan Ferguson
• Guitar — Stephen Geyer
• Bass — Lyle Ritz
• Minimoog synthesizer — Mike Post
• Harmonica — Tommy Morgan
• Banjo — Herb Pedersen
• Drums — Jim Gordon
• Percussion — Gary Coleman

Chart history

Weekly charts

Chart (1975/76)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[6]	90
Canadian RPM Top Singles	8
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary^[7]	8
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[8]	10
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening^[9]	16
U.S. Cash Box Top 100^[10]	10

Year-end charts

Chart (1975)	Rank
Canada Top Singles^[11]	84
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[12]	85

Notes and References

1. Web site: Rockford Files guitarist? : The Steel Guitar Forum.
2. Web site: "Songfacts - The Rockford Files Theme" . songfacts.com . August 10, 2021.
3. Web site: "The Rockford Files" 1974 45 single on MGM Records . 1974 . discogs.com . July 16, 2017.
4. Knight, Judson. Mike Post  — at eNotes.com
5. http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/Winners/Results.aspx?title=&winner=carpenter&year=1975&genreID=0&hp=1 Post and Carpenter
6. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian)

   . David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 236.

7. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 1975-08-02 . 2018-03-10.
8. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 -
9. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Joel Whitburn

   . Joel Whitburn . 1993 . Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993 . Record Research . 190.

10. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 8/16/75. tropicalglen.com. 9 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20150620130812/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19750816.html. 20 June 2015. dead.
11. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada. collectionscanada.gc.ca.
12. http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1975.htm Musicoutfitters.com