The Red Skelton Hour, a Treasure Trove of Pop & Rock Music Acts from 1962-1970, Available at Reelin' in the Years

For the past six years, Reelin’ In The Years Productions (RITY), the world’s largest music footage library, has been proud to exclusively represent for licensing all of the music footage from the classic television program The Red Skelton Hour, which aired on CBS from 1962 – 1970. This footage is unique in that the music performances haven’t been seen since the program was originally broadcast.

Red Skelton is widely considered to be one of the greatest entertainers of all time, and his television program, The Red Skelton Hour, is acknowledged as one of America’s finest TV variety shows. Throughout the program’s history, many of the top musical artists of the day appeared, including the Rolling Stones, Simon & Garfunkel, The Animals, The Kinks, The Fifth Dimension, Jan & Dean and Dionne Warwick. Reelin’ In The Years Productions brought its vast experience in the field of licensing to market the music footage from the show, re-transferring hours of master tapes and spending years meticulously cataloging this important library.

The Red Skelton Hour archive contains a “who’s who” of notable guests including some of the greatest musical icons of the era. The Rolling Stones made one of their earliest national TV appearances on the program  — two months before their first time on The Ed Sullivan Show — performing three songs including their first American single, “Tell Me.” The Beach Boys appeared twice on the show: once in 1963 (their second time ever on national TV, and with original member David Marks still in the band) and, again, in 1964 performing “In My Room” and “I Get Around.” Other gems in the archive include Three Dog Night performing their smash hit “Easy To Be Hard,” The Four Seasons singing their #1 hit “Sherry,” three appearances by Johnny Rivers including renditions of “Secret Agent Man,” “Memphis,” and his chart-topping hit “Poor Side Of Town” and The Association performing their #1 hit “Windy.” Possibly the rarest musical guest on the show was Iron Butterfly, who performed their classic “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.”

One of the greatest strengths of The Red Skelton Hour archive is the exceptional collection of “British Invasion” performances; virtually every major UK act, save the Beatles, appeared on the program. In addition to The Rolling Stones, other artists include The Kinks, The Animals, The Hollies, Manfred Mann, The Searchers, Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas, Dusty Springfield, Peter & Gordon, The Honeycombs, Chad & Jeremy, and Freddie & The Dreamers. 

Commenting on the The Red Skelton Hour archive, Reelin’ In The Years founder and president David Peck stated, “Representing the performances and interviews from the musical guests on The Red Skelton Hour is truly a great honor. The holdings are incredible, featuring many unique and one-of-a-kind performances. In addition, since the music performances haven’t been utilized in any form since the early 1970’s, it’s been the rediscovery of a great American treasure.”

Click here to view a unique content from the Red Skelton Hour available for licensing through Reelin' in the Years.