Thursday, January 18, 2018

THROWBACK THURSDAY: A Musical Salute to Oliver Hardy

"If you must make a noise, make it quietly."

Today is the birthday of one of the world's greatest comics, Oliver Hardy. He would have been 126.

Happy birthday, Ollie!

One of my happiest memories as a child was watching Laurel & Hardy on TV with my grandfather. He always called them "Stan and Ollie." One of the local stations in Oklahoma City played their old shorts every Sunday. In fact I might have been going to watch Stan & Ollie with my grandfather that day when this happened.

Or maybe not.

Even before he became a comic actor, Hardy was a singer. When he was a kid in Georgia his mother sent him to Atlanta for voice lessons. He sang in local vaudeville theaters. And in later years, he'd sometimes sing in the Laurel & Hardy films.

Here are a few of those clips.

This song, called "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" from their movie Way Out West. The baritone part that Laurel lip syncs is actually sung by cowboy actor Chill Wills.



Swing your Honolulu baby!



"I'm singing this song!"



What can you say about a couple of sad sack street buskers singing "In the Good Old Summer Time" in the snow?



Finally, "Shine on Harvest Moon" may be Hardy's greatest musical moment captured on film.


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