Riding The Range (Import)

Whilst they would go on to forge a hugely successful film career, ostensibly as comedians, it should never be forgotten that the Marx Brothers (at one point featuring five brothers - Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo) began their professional career as a musical act. Chico had had piano lessons as a youngster, Groucho sang with a fine soprano voice and Harpo played the harp and along with another singer, Joe Levy performed as The Four Nightingales in a vaudeville act. The switch to comedy and fame came by chance when a show was interrupted by a runaway mule outside the theatre they were working, and when they found the comedy routines garnered a better reaction than the musical ones, they incorporated more and more comedy into their act. By the time they went into films, they were renowned for comedy, but several of their films included a musical interlude of one kind or another. This album gathers together some of the more famous musical interludes.