Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

were primarily

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

film

actors An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. However, many of their films featured songs, and some are considered as

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

in their own right. The composer

Leroy Shield Leroy Bernard Shield (October 2, 1893 – January 9, 1962) 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 ...

scored most of Laurel and Hardy sound shorts although they were often misattributed to

Marvin Hatley Thomas Marvin Hatley (April 3, 1905 – August 26, 1986), 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. Hatley wrote man ...

Cuckoo theme

The duo's "cuckoo" theme, entitled "Dance of The Cuckoos", was composed by Roach musical director

as the on-the-hour chime for the Roach studio radio station, then known as KFVD. 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" and was first heard on the opening credits for ''

Blotto Blotto may refer to: * Blotto (biology), a reagent used in immunological assays * Blotto, a colloquial term meaning drunkenness * ''Blotto'' (film), a 1930 Laurel and Hardy short comedy film * Blotto (band), an Albany, NY, rock band in the late ...

'' (1930) and the Spanish version of '' Night Owls'' (1930). 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 The cuckoo, common cuckoo, European cuckoo or Eurasian cuckoo (''Cuculus canorus'') is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the Geococcyx, roadrunners, the ani (bird), anis and the coucals. This species is a widesp ...

Dance routines

A number of their songs are accompanied with a

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

routine, the most famous of which is their dance to the song "At The Ball, That's All" sung by

The Avalon Boys The Avalon Boys were a quartet of singers popular in the 1930s. They appeared in a number of comedy films and had a memorable role in Laurel and Hardy's '' Way Out West''. Members *Chill Wills (bass), b. July 18, 1902, d. December 15, 1978 *Art ...

in '' Way Out West'' (1937).

''Trail of the Lonesome Pine''

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.

Beau Hunks

In 1992 and 1995, the Dutch orchestra

The Beau Hunks 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 "document ...

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 Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American artist who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American c ...

praised these releases as he had always been a huge fan of this music and reportedly "''looked for it his entire life"''. https://www.lambiek.net/artists/c/crumb.htm

Stan & Ollie

The 2019 biographical film ''

Stan & Ollie ''Stan & Ollie'' is a 2018 biographical comedy-drama film directed by Jon S. Baird. The script, written by Jeff Pope, was inspired by ''Laurel and Hardy: The British Tours'' by A.J. Marriot which chronicled the later years of the comedy doubl ...

'' 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''.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * *

External links

The official Leroy Shield website
{{Laurel and Hardy Film soundtracks

Music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...