Lost Harpo Marx Recording From 1964 Debuts on Billboard Classical Charts

More than six decades after his passing, legendary comedian-musician Harpo Marx has a new entry on Billboard’s charts.

Harpo Speaks!: The Riverside Symphony Concert featuring Peter and the Wolf by Riverside Symphony and Marx debuts at No. 6 on Billboard’s Traditional Classical Albums chart (dated June 20) and No. 25 on Classical Albums.

The set, on Ramseur Records/Thirty Tigers, was recorded March 20, 1964, serving as a souvenir of a benefit concert held by the orchestra to raise funds for its Southern California nonprofit, featuring Marx narrating the children’s tale Peter and the Wolf. Marx was the so-called silent member of the Marx Brothers comedy team — brothers Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo (with Zeppo eventually leaving) — and was known for his impeccable comedic timing on stage and screen. He taught himself to play the harp and trained under classical harpist Mildred Dilling.

Notably, the performance on that date marked the first documented time in half a century that Marx spoke publicly. At the time, he had been in semi-retirement due to multiple heart attacks. Unfortunately, it marked his final public musical performance. After being in further declining health, he died six months later, at age 75, following complications from heart surgery.

The recording subsequently got lost but was found recently by longtime Marx Brothers archivist John Tefteller, and he and Marx biographer Robert Bader set out to restore it. “The fact that we have a recording is a miracle,” Bader noted in a press release. “The work that was done to rehabilitate it is stunning. It’s as if you’ve found something covered with layers of mold and dirt, got it all cleaned off, and now are able to see something brand new underneath it.”

Shared Bill Marx, Harpo’s son, “To have this recording be released and let people hear it is an honor. Dad didn’t really want people to know what he sounded like because it would have destroyed the character of Harpo that he created. But I think, now, he would accept this graciously and gratefully because it goes beyond just seeing a guy being funny. It goes to the heart of what life is about: Doing what you love and doing it the best you can.”