So How Did The Muted Trombone Come To Be?

[SifuPhil]

So I'm watching The Rifleman on MeTV - great show by the way, I'm a fan of Chuck Conners - and I notice that EVERY TIME they show a guy getting drunk - usually a bewhiskered, bewhiskeyed old 49er - you hear the muted trombone playing.



Sometimes they'll use it for scenes with a stubborn mule as well.

But it isn't just on The Rifleman - it seems that in the last few days I've heard that SAME muted trombone in Wild, Wild West, Bonanza, Big Valley and Gunsmoke.

Is there a muted trombone union that I don't know about? How did the muted trombone ever become associated with drunkenness and stubbornness?

 

[That Guy]

That Wha-Wha muted horn just sorta sounds appropriate for the situation. A kind of onamonapia.

 

[SifuPhil]

A kind of onamonapia.

Ornamental WHAT?

Omni ... Oman ... Obama ...

Oforgeddaboudit.

Even Laurel and Hardy made great use of it, so you KNOW it has to be a GOOD thing.

 

[That Guy]

Stan Laurel. My HERO!

 

[SifuPhil]

Stan Laurel. My HERO!

Going OT here, but what the hey - it's all connected ...

I really respect Laurel and Hardy, both as a team and more so for their hard, tough road to stardom. They really paid their dues, not like today when so many "famous" celebs are only famous for NOT being famous. Stan started on the boards in his teens, and Babe did the same. They worked hard, played hard and deserved the rewards they received.

Plus, they were damned funny! For the first 17 years of my life, every Thanksgiving I could be found parked in front of the TV watching March of the Wooden Soldiers (Babes in Toyland) - for me, one of the most iconic L&H films ever. I can still recite the script pretty much verbatim.

 

[Ozarkgal]

Laurel and Hardy made great use of it, so you KNOW it has to be a GOOD thing.

They were the best. There were so many good films, but I especially loved the one where they were trying to deliver a piano up a huge flight of stairs to a house, only to have to keep going back down half way up...for various reasons. I think at the end there was a service entrance at the back they could have just driven up to and wheeled it in.

I don't think there was even much, if any dialogue in the whole show. They're facial expressions told the story..they were masters at expression. Purely funny stuff!

ETA..Oh yeah..the muted trombone...I never noticed that until you mentioned it, but Gunsmoke is my all time favorite show. The Rifleman was up there too. Those old westerns usually had a common theme of honesty and integrity message in them that is sorely lacking in the drivel that Shockywood churns out today.

I'll'keep my ear tuned for that trombone now!

 

[Anne]

Hubby watches a lot of those old westerns, and I'll have to listen for that trombone..no doubt we've heard it before. Wonder if it's on Mayberry when Otis is in the story??

I love Laurel and Hardy, too!! The one where they are on the boat with a criminal, and he insists they make him breakfast, was hilarious. There was no food, so they took a lamp wick for bacon, etc. Didn't turn out so good for them, tho. It was all good, clean, slapstick stuff but so funny!!

We put Laurel & Hardy on once for the grandkids....they watched it for a couple minutes; completely straight-faced. Unfortunately, they just didn't understand it. I suppose, like we don't understand some of the shows they watch, that they think are funny now.

 

[SifuPhil]

They were the best. There were so many good films, but I especially loved the one where they were trying to deliver a piano up a huge flight of stairs to a house, only to have to keep going back down half way up...for various reasons. I think at the end there was a service entrance at the back they could have just driven up to and wheeled it in.

Wow - here we go with the synchronicity again.

The Music Box was just on this morning during the early AM L&H show on MeTV. Excellent!

I don't think there was even much, if any dialogue in the whole show. They're facial expressions told the story..they were masters at expression. Purely funny stuff!

And even though it seems they had a limited amount of those expressions, they always seemed to use them at the perfect time!

ETA..Oh yeah..the muted trombone...I never noticed that until you mentioned it, but Gunsmoke is my all time favorite show. The Rifleman was up there too. Those old westerns usually had a common theme of honesty and integrity message in them that is sorely lacking in the drivel that Shockywood churns out today.

Gunsmoke - 5 days a week here, 1-2PM. I agree with the good moral and ethical messages they convey, but that voice of Festus' - after a while I want to reach into the screen and choke him!

I'll'keep my ear tuned for that trombone now!

When I started to actually listen for it I heard it all over the place.

Hubby watches a lot of those old westerns, and I'll have to listen for that trombone..no doubt we've heard it before. Wonder if it's on Mayberry when Otis is in the story??

LOL - I wouldn't be surprised!

I love Laurel and Hardy, too!! The one where they are on the boat with a criminal, and he insists they make him breakfast, was hilarious. There was no food, so they took a lamp wick for bacon, etc. Didn't turn out so good for them, tho. It was all good, clean, slapstick stuff but so funny!!

Saps at Sea - I still get a kick out of "Nick Jr." LOL!

We put Laurel & Hardy on once for the grandkids....they watched it for a couple minutes; completely straight-faced. Unfortunately, they just didn't understand it. I suppose, like we don't understand some of the shows they watch, that they think are funny now.

Now if you sit me down in front of some of these Japanese-made kid shows that are so popular now I'd probably have the same quizzical look on my face. Everything is done in fast motion, there's tons of explosions and screaming and everybody has HUGE eyeballs!