Black Gold

Paul did.

Paul was born on a farm in Ozark Mountains. His parents were not well off and barely kept the family fed … But overall life was good for Paul as he met all sorts of characters ... crazy ones while he was out camping and shooting at food … and smart ones like future President Harry S Truman who suggested Paul become a lawyer … well Paul figured if he was ever going to hit black gold and eventually become a millionaire he’d have to do what really wanted … and that was to sing, play and write music.

So Paul got a job at a Kansas City radio station to do that … but the station couldn’t pay him for music … but they would pay him to write the dialogue in between segments of the musical shows. So that’s what he did to make ends meet. And it turned out Paul was really good at writing … and realised California is the place he ought to be … so he gave up on music and moved his family to Beverly Hills to write for movies and television … he was so good he even got nominated for an Oscar.

And that’s when Paul had a great idea .. an idea for a television show inspired by his childhood back in Missouri and the colourful characters he had met. Well CBS took a chance. The critics absolutely hated Paul’s show thinking it was too crude but the public .. the public loved it … its first year it was the number one show on television and changed the medium forever.

Today, the 274-episode series Paul Henning created and wrote is considered a television and cultural landmark … and its theme song about a man named Jed which Paul wrote himself is still memorable and hummable over 50 years later … The Beverly Hillbillies.

Beverly Hillbillies is a great idea … because when you give your customers a heapin helpin of what they need