Bonanza Plus Ponderosa Party Time / Various (CD)

The first networked TV Western series to be filmed in colour, BONANZA ran on NBC from 1959 to 1973 and ranks among the Top 10 longest-running, live-action American TV series. The show featured the homespun adventures of the Cartwright family, viz: patriarch Ben (aka Pa, played by Lorne Greene), Adam (Pernell Roberts), Hoss (Dan Blocker) and the youngest son, Little Joe (Michael Landon). Rarely out of the Top 10 throughout it's run, it was at #1 in the Nielsen ratings between 1963-66. Indeed, at it's peak, Bonanza was so popular that it's four main characters received more fanmail than even Pop stars (with the noble exception of The Beatles!). Both Ponderosa Party Time, a cast recording, and David Rose's Bonanza, Original Television Soundtrack LP, made the US album charts in 1962 and 1961, respectively. This compilation comprises these two albums plus a handful of bonus tracks, which include a previously unissued cast recording of the show's title tune, plus Al Caiola's and Johnny Cash's hit versions, and the original television soundbed.