Laurel and Hardy were primarily comedy film actors. However, many of their films featured songs, and some are considered as musicals in their own right. The composer Leroy Shield scored most of Laurel and Hardy sound shorts although they were often misattributed to Marvin Hatley. [1]
The duo's "cuckoo" theme, entitled "Dance of The Cuckoos", was composed by Roach musical director Marvin Hatley as the on-the-hour chime for the Roach studio radio station, then known as KFVD. [2] Laurel heard the tune on the station, and asked Hatley to use it as the Laurel and Hardy theme song. Generally known as "The Dance of the Cuckoos" it was copyrighted with the name "Coo ! coo ! radio time signal" [3] and was first heard on the opening credits for Blotto (1930) and the Spanish version of Night Owls (1930). [4] In Laurel's eyes, the song's melody represented Hardy's character (pompous and dramatic), while the harmony represented Laurel's own character (somewhat out of key, and only able to register two notes: "cu-coo"). The original theme, recorded by two clarinets in 1930, was re-recorded with a full orchestra in 1935. The cu-coo motif is based on the call of the common cuckoo.
A number of their songs are accompanied with a dance routine, the most famous of which is their dance to the song "At The Ball, That's All" sung by The Avalon Boys in Way Out West (1937).
A compilation of songs from their films, called Trail of the Lonesome Pine, was released in 1975. Oliver was a trained singer and sang many of the tracks solo with Stan singing in duet occasionally. A number of the songs were sung by neither Laurel nor Hardy.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Dance of The Cuckoos" | 0:26 | ||
| 2. | "Introduction" | 0:16 | ||
| 3. | "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" | Ballard MacDonald | 2:01 | |
| 4. | "At The Ball, That's All" | 2:01 | ||
| 5. | "I Want To Be In Dixie" | 2:01 | ||
| 6. | "Honolulu Baby" | Marvin Hatley | Ty Parvis with Laurel and Hardy [5] | 2:07 |
| 7. | "Stan's Voice" | 0:37 | ||
| 8. | "Lazy Moon" | Bob Cole and J. Rosamond Johnson | 3:06 | |
| 9. | "Swing Along, Chillun" | 1:03 | ||
| 10. | "I Want To Go Back To Michigan" | 1:28 | ||
| 11. | "Dance of The Cuckoos" | 0:27 | ||
| 12. | "I Can't Get Over The Alps" | 2:29 | ||
| 13. | "The Mousetrap Song" | 0:38 | ||
| 14. | "The Cricket Song" | 1:45 | ||
| 15. | "Could You Say No" | 1:32 | ||
| 16. | "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" | 0:59 | ||
| 17. | "Never Mind Bo Peep" | 3:52 | ||
| 18. | "The Curse of An Aching Heart" | 1:43 | ||
| 19. | "The Ideal of My Dreams" | 1:24 | ||
| 20. | "Fra Diavolo" | 3:20 | ||
| 21. | "The Heart of A Gypsy" | 1:45 | ||
| 22. | "I Dreamt I Dwelt In Marble Halls" | 3:24 | ||
| 23. | "Shine On, Harvest Moon" | 1:13 | ||
| 24. | "The Dance of The Cuckoos" | 5:30 |
In 1992 and 1995, the Dutch orchestra The Beau Hunks released two albums, The Beau Hunks Play the Original Laurel & Hardy Music, on which they recreated original background music as heard in Laurel & Hardy's movies. American cartoonist Robert Crumb praised these releases as he had always been a huge fan of this music and reportedly "looked for it his entire life". [6]
The 2019 biographical film Stan & Ollie includes the actors recreating Laurel and Hardy's routine of singing of "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" as done on stage, as well as depictions of their dance routine from Way Out West.
Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy team during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in the silent film era, they later successfully transitioned to "talkies". From the late 1920s to the mid-1950s, they were internationally famous for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy, childlike friend to Hardy's pompous bully. Their signature theme song, known as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos" was heard over their films' opening credits, and became as emblematic of them as their bowler hats.
Sons of the Desert is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy. Directed by William A. Seiter, it was released in the United States on December 29, 1933. In the United Kingdom, the film was originally released under the title Fraternally Yours.
Babes in Toyland is a Laurel and Hardy musical Christmas film released on November 30, 1934. The film is also known by the alternative titles Laurel and Hardy in Toyland, Revenge Is Sweet, and March of the Wooden Soldiers, a 73-minute abridged version.
Way Out West is a 1937 Laurel and Hardy comedy film directed by James W. Horne, produced by Stan Laurel, and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was the second picture for which Stan Laurel was credited as producer.
Thomas Marvin Hatley, professionally known simply as Marvin Hatley, was an American film composer and musical director, best known for his work for the Hal Roach studio from 1929 until 1940.
Leroy Bernard Shield was an American film score and radio composer. He is best known for the themes and incidental music he wrote for the classic Hal Roach comedy short films of the 1930s, including the Our Gang and Laurel and Hardy series.
Beau Hunks is a 1931 American Pre-Code Laurel and Hardy film, directed by James W. Horne.
Pardon Us is a 1931 American pre-Code Laurel and Hardy film. It was the team's first starring feature-length comedy film, produced by Hal Roach, directed by James Parrott, and originally distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1931.
Zenobia is a 1939 comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Oliver Hardy, Harry Langdon, Billie Burke, Alice Brady, James Ellison, Jean Parker, June Lang, Stepin Fetchit and Hattie McDaniel. The source of the film was the 1891 short story "Zenobia's Infidelity" by H.C. Bunner, which was originally purchased by producer Hal Roach as a vehicle for Roland Young.
The Flying Deuces, also known as Flying Aces, is a 1939 buddy comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy, in which the duo join the French Foreign Legion. It is a partial remake of their short film Beau Hunks (1931).
Block-Heads is a 1938 American comedy film directed by John G. Blystone and starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It was produced by Hal Roach Studios for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film, a reworking of elements from the Laurel and Hardy shorts We Faw Down (1928) and Unaccustomed As We Are (1929), was Roach's final film for MGM.
Our Relations is a 1936 American comedy film directed by Harry Lachman starring Laurel and Hardy, produced by Stan Laurel for Hal Roach Studios.
Angora Love is a 1929 synchronized sound short subject comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy, released on December 14, 1929. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized organ musical score with sound effects. This would prove to be the last Laurel and Hardy film to be released without any audible dialog.
Perfect Day is a 1929 short comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy.
The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case is a Laurel and Hardy pre-Code comedy horror film released in 1930. It is one of a handful of three-reel comedies they made, running 28 minutes. It was directed by James Parrott, produced by Hal Roach and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Blotto is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy film directed by James Parrott and starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The short was produced by Hal Roach and originally distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Swiss Miss is a 1938 comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy. It was directed by John G. Blystone, and produced by Hal Roach. The film features Walter Woolf King, Della Lind and Eric Blore.
Night Owls is a 1930 American Pre-Code Laurel and Hardy short film. It was filmed in October and November 1929, and released January 4, 1930.
The Beau Hunks are a Dutch revivalist music ensemble who have performed and recorded the vintage works of composers Leroy Shield, Marvin Hatley, Raymond Scott, Edward MacDowell, Ferde Grofé, and others. They have been referred to as a "documentary orchestra", because they perform note-perfect renditions of music which is obscure and often commercially unavailable. For some projects for which no sheet music was known to exist, they had to reconstruct charts from original recordings extracted from films.
"Good Old Days", is a 1930 instrumental song written by Leroy Shield, which was the theme song for Hal Roach's Our Gang comedy short films, now known as The Little Rascals.