Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy LP

I been in love with Laurel & Hardy since AMC first ran a comedy marathon about 10 years ago.

The festival also introduced me to the likes of W.C.Fields, Eddie Cantor, Harold Lloyd, Fred Allen, -and though I already knew of him, I finally got to see early George Burns with his wife, Gracie Allen, and (of course) the Marx Brothers. I almost killed my VCR those two weeks – which is fortunate, because I haven’t seen more than the tiniest peep from any of those greats on AMC since that time and finding anything on DVD has been nearly hopeless and almost always disappointing. (more on that in another post later)

After getting a new turntable two weeks ago, I started looking and soon found some amazing, cool LPs (record albums, ya know) of the boys. The album above was released by Mark 56 Records (a title that I’m still researching). Though it has no year of release markings on the album or cover, I’m pretty sure that I came out in 1973. There seems to have been a resurgence of interest in Laurel & Hardy in the 70’s thanks to Larry Harmon (creator of a cartoon series which was based on the boys and wasn’t afraid to market their likenesses on just about any product he could conceive of.)

I also found a 45 with Honolulu Baby and On The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (also released by Mark 56 records)

And most recently, I got a nearly mint condition white vinyl LP!! This one was released by Another Fine Mess Records and is simply called Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy. I only listened to the first 5 minutes of this album though. I’m savoring it like fine wine or the smell of an old Star Wars trading card that’s been carefully sealed for 30 years to preserve the bubble gum smell.