I’ve posted a third episode to my Music of M*A*S*H feature, breaking down the eleven songs — plus the opening and closing credits — from the Season Three episode “Abyssinia, Henry.” Several of the songs were hummed by cast members while two others were played by Radar on his bugle. One of my favorite pieces of music from the series is the version of “Suicide of Painless” played over the tribute to Henry Blake at the end of the episode. It’s official title is “Memories of Henry” and it was composed by Benny Golson.

I’ve finally added a second episode to my Music of M*A*S*H feature. I’ve broken down the music included in the Season Eight episode “War Co-Respondent,” which featured four songs in addition to a variety of variations of “Suicide of Painless.” Two of those songs were performed by members of the cast. This was the episode in which Hawkeye rode into the post-op ward on a bicycle while singing “Daisy Bell,” perhaps best known as the song Hal 9000 sang in 2001: a space odyssey as it was shut down.

The theme song to M*A*S*H, “Suicide is Painless,” first appeared in the feature film MASH (with lyrics) and, over the eleven years the television series was on the air, was modified numerous times. The familiar tune always stayed the same but the instrumentation was changed, sometimes significantly. One unique version of the theme song was played in the background of the 1972 CBS fall preview for the series, which you can watch here. I’m not sure how to describe this version. Soulful, perhaps? It’s certainly different than the version most people are familiar with.

Anyway, I was contacted late last month by M*A*S*H fan Dalton who came upon a recording of this version of the theme song sans dialogue and sound effects at the Television Production Music Museum (which I wrote about at Television Obscurities last year). It runs for almost two minutes and is one of numerous CBS theme songs said to be from the 1974-1975 season, courtesy of the L.M. Withers Collection.

Personally, I really like this version but it wouldn’t have worked well over the opening credits.

I’ve added a new feature to the site, Music of M*A*S*H. In the past, I had a section dedicated to various songs used in M*A*S*H. That’s not what this is. I recently acquired cue sheets for the first ten seasons of the series. These sheets identify the music in each episode and I plan on using this information to go through various episodes and point out each use of music.

So far I’ve only done this for “M*A*S*H – The Pilot” but I hope to add additional episodes in the coming months. You’ll be able to listen to audio for each piece of music and it will be placed in its proper context within the episode. I hope this is of some interest to M*A*S*H fans.