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 |
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 duo act 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. The title is a reference to the Beau Geste trilogy ; to the line in Beau Sabreur where Buddy says '"Sure thing, Son Hank — if a gang of Touareg Bohunks couldn't, French troops couldn't.. .. I s'pose it is us he's after?"'; or to bohunk, a common ethnic slur of the time in the United States. At 37 minutes, it is the longest Laurel and Hardy short. The French Foreign Legion scenario was reused in The Flying Deuces with Charles B. Middleton again playing their commanding officer.
Brats is a 1930 Laurel and Hardy comedy short. The film was directed by James Parrott. Laurel and Hardy play dual roles as their own children. It also inspired a helper group for the Michigan tent for The Sons of the Desert, which is composed of all the child members of the tent. This is the first of only three films where the boys each play a dual role: the second is Twice Two and the third and last is Our Relations.
Pardon Us is a 1931 American pre-Code Laurel and Hardy film. It was the duo's first starring feature-length comedy film, produced by Hal Roach and Stan Laurel, 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.
Block-Heads is a 1938 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. This is the third of three films in which they play a dual role: the first was Brats and the second was Twice Two. The story is based on the short story "The Money Box" by W.W. Jacobs, author of "The Monkey's Paw".
Another Fine Mess is a 1930 short comedy film directed by James Parrott and starring Laurel and Hardy. It is based on the 1908 play Home from the Honeymoon by Arthur J. Jefferson, Stan Laurel's father, and is a remake of their earlier silent film Duck Soup.
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 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 MGM.
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 Trail of the Lonesome Pine" is a popular song published in 1913, with lyrics by Ballard MacDonald and music by Harry Carroll. It was inspired by John Fox Jr.'s 1908 novel of the same title, but whereas the novel was set in the Cumberland Mountains of Kentucky, the song refers to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. In it, the singer expresses his love for his girl, June, who is waiting for him under the titular pine tree. It is perhaps best known for being performed by Laurel and Hardy in the 1937 film Way Out West. This version became a UK Singles Chart hit in 1975, some years after both actors had died.
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.