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with its roistering throngs of trail to be human. And I try to play him
herders, buffalo hunters, cattle barons, that way-relaxed until he loses his
gandy dancers, mule skinners, gam- temper, then all steel springs; capable
blers and gunfighters, its denizens did of occasional errors in judgment, but
not play the game by polite rules. humble about them."
The liquor flowed freely and had the O'Brian and writer Frederick Haz-
usual effect, intensified by long, lonely litt Brennan have done what every
vigils on the cattle trail or railhead. writer of TV Westerns has done -
Hurrahing (shooting up) the town knocked a few rough corners off the
was a natural by-product, and Dodge marshal so he will be acceptable in
City had to outlaw the riding of the living room. Thus TV's Wyatt
horses into public buildings. Earp becomes a clever imitation-
Outlawry, before Earp, was so well which is a pity only when you con-
organized that lawmen often found it sider the merits of the real man.
easier simply to sell out to the trans-
gressors. A few years later, when Earp
arrived in Tombstone, he found Old
Man Clanton ran everything in Ari- "WHOOUNNIT" JAZZ
zona (including the sheriff) and ter-
rorized the whole Southwest.
This is not to say there was not a
good element. There was even a
church in Dodge, which Wyatt him-
self occasionally attended. The re-
form mayor, Dog Kelley, backed Earp,
and between them they made life pos-
sible for the law-abiding citizens.
Yet Earp, for all his sterling qual-
ities, was a human being. After the
Battle of O.K. Corral, the remnants
of the Clanton gang descended on
Tombstone and pumped shotguns full
of buckshot into Virgil Earp. Later
they killed Morgan Earp.
Wyatt hit the vengeance trail. Re-
lentlessly he chased the gang all over Want a record of the exciting jazz from
the Southwest, gunning them down TV's g1·eat new private-eye series, " Peter
Gunn?" Want to hear it performed by one of
one by one, finally trailing Curly Bill the very few completely fresh and original
Brocius ( the leader) to Iron Springs trumpet stylists to emerge on the modern
and shooting him dead. jazz scene? Shoot right down to your record
Wyatt left Arizona in the 1880's, shop. Ask the man (in a confidential whis-
joined the Alaska gold rush, did some per) for this hot new Columbia hi-fi record-
ing, pay him off, and cut for home and the
silver prospecting, and died peace- friendly arm of your phonograph.
fully in 1929, at 80, in Los Angeles. JAZZ FROM "PETER GUNN"-The Joe Wilder
"Wyatt was no saint," Stuart Lake Quartet CL 1319 CS 8121 {stereo)
says. "He was a man-and, all things GUARANTEED HIGH - FIDELITY AND
considered, one of probity, integrity STER EC-FIDELITY RECOR OS BY
and inherent human decency."
O'Brian agrees that Wyatt was "a Columbia
lusty character, too lusty for TV." THE FIRST NAME IN JAZZ
Then he adds, "He had to have faults Columbia MarcasReg.Adivision of Columbia BroadcastingSystem, Inc.