Laurel and hardy music on 78's ?

[12jslater]

Was any of the music used in laurel and hardy ever issued on 78's with roughly the same arrangements?

Thanks, Jake

[CarlosV]

Hardy sang in the L&H movies a number of pop songs, like Shine on Harvest Moon, The Curse of an Aching Heart, Trail of the Lonesome Pine etc that were recorded by various artists. If you are referring to the foxtrots that backed their shorts, they were never commercially recorded and up to recently were undocumented until rolls of soundtrack were found, and a great group of Dutch musicians - the Beau Hunks - faithfully recorded a lot of them in a series of CDs. There are also CDs with soundtracks of the original L&H soundtracks. As far as 78 rpms, the only one I am aware they recorded is one issued in England in the 40s.

[12jslater]

Thank you very much I have a collection of silent laurel and hardy films which I play with a 1930s Pathé projector and I like playing music with that similar upbeat happy sound on my gramophones to accompany the films. I'll have to use a cd if I want any proper laurel and hardy music unfortunately.

[TinfoilPhono]

I was a big L&H fan as a kid in the early 60s. I had many of their silents on 8mm copies. I put together reel to reel tapes of music to accompany each one. A lot of work to match music to the action.

Somehow or other I found Stan Laurel's address and started a correspondence with him in 1964. I still have most of the letters and cards I got from him. (Sadly I'm missing a few, including his first reply.) A few years ago I shared scans of all of the ones I still have with the owner of lettersfromstan.com, including the postcard he wrote on 2/16/65 and which I received on 2/23/65 -- the day he died.

I still have an original Polaroid snapshot he gave me in 1964 showing him holding his Oscar. It's hanging on the wall in my office.

[Victrolacollector]

I was a big L&H fan as a kid in the early 60s. I had many of their silents on 8mm copies. I put together reel to reel tapes of music to accompany each one. A lot of work to match music to the action.

Somehow or other I found Stan Laurel's address and started a correspondence with him in 1964. I still have most of the letters and cards I got from him. (Sadly I'm missing a few, including his first reply.) A few years ago I shared scans of all of the ones I still have with the owner of lettersfromstan.com, including the postcard he wrote on 2/16/65 and which I received on 2/23/65 -- the day he died.

I still have an original Polaroid snapshot he gave me in 1964 showing him holding his Oscar. It's hanging on the wall in my office.

Wow! When I was a kid in the 1980's, I really enjoyed watching Laurel and Hardy. I had bought most of their movies and the shorts I recorded off the TV when they ran the Hal Roach issues as "The Laurel and Hardy Show". Everyone of these were great.

That is very special, when I was a kid, I always thought it would be nice to have met Stan and Ollie. You are very fortunate to have this correspondence.

[TinfoilPhono]

I thought it was fun at the time, today it seems even more special.

In retrospect I asked him some very serious questions which resulted in letters which have, as autograph dealers like to call it, "great content." This one, with comments about Jean Harlow and Charlie Chaplin, is an example.

[martinola]

Rene - It always warms my heart to see Stan's correspondence with people. I'm sure he had his faults, but his devotion to his audience is just remarkable. You were indeed blessed, and I think your letter (and the hundreds by others) helped to bless Stan in return.

Jake - To add to what answers were already given, there is one 78 that I know of that featured the song "Smile When the Raindrops Fall". The recording was by Lew Reynolds on the Flexo label. I stumbled onto it by way of an excellent CD called "San Francisco Jazz 1930 - 1932: The Flexo Recordings" issued by Harlequin (HQ CD 25). The orchestration was very similar to the version of the song that was used in L&H's "Hog Wild". Since that short was so early in the studio's use of incidental music, I've always wondered if the orchestra or recording company was briefly considered for a full-time gig.

Great thread!

Regards,
Martin

[CarlosV]

I thought it was fun at the time, today it seems even more special.

In retrospect I asked him some very serious questions which resulted in letters which have, as autograph dealers like to call it, "great content." This one, with comments about Jean Harlow and Charlie Chaplin, is an example.

That's a very unusual letter considering his author was at the time a worldwide celebrity. Can you imagine any of today's "celebrities" addressing personal letters to fans like that? Thanks for sharing, it enriches this forum.

[epigramophone]

During their first tour of the UK in about 1932, Laurel and Hardy made this record :

[Victrolacollector]

Rene:

Thanks for sharing! As a Laurel and Hardy fan, it is very interesting and special to see this correspondence. I get from this a type of appreciation and gratitude that Stan Laurel had for his fans.

I doubt many stars in our present day would even bother to send a letter or postcard and hand sign it. Back then it was not all about the money as it is today. We see the same with modern day sports.

I have always thought Laurel and Hardy were genuinely thankful to their audiences and really cared about the quality of their work.

I was alive to when Hal Roach passed away at 100, and always wanted to meet him as well. Hal really put together some great comedians and of course the "Little Rascals".

Jerry P.