Shield in the shadows

Robert Crumb is a curmudgeon nonpareil, and a man of idiosyncratic fetishes. One of them is the music of Leroy Shield. Until the 1990s, Shield, a prolific composer/conductor most of his life (1893-1962), was relatively unknown for what was arguably his greatest musical achievement: composing hundreds of themes for the 1930s Hal Roach comedies of Laurel & Hardy and The Little Rascals. In the early '90s, a Dutch orchestra called The Beau Hunks (christened after a L&H feature) recorded three albums of Shield's compositions from the Roach era, thus reviving a prodigious legacy.

After the Hunks released their first album in 1992, Crumb wrote them a fan letter, exclaiming, "This is music I've been looking for all my life!" He later elaborated: "Shield's music first got me interested in old music. I was hearing it on TV when I was a kid. I searched for that music." His hunt was a predestined dead-end because, until the Hunks recorded the Shield themes, they had never been commercially available. The composer hadn't even received screen credit. Along with legions of Roach film fans, Crumb was elated to discover the reconstructed versions. "It's my favorite music of all time," he affirmed. "I never get tired of it. I guess Shield was not too concerned with getting credit. He just did his job, then went out and played golf. There's a certain kind of Indian shaman that works his magic behind the scenes. I guess that's what Shield was."

Crumb was so enamored of the Beau Hunks' masterful performances of the Shield charts, he rendered a portrait of the composer (at right) and offered it free of charge to the band to use as CD cover art.

Now Steve Cloutier, working with Shield historian/graphic designer Piet Schreuders, has launched a new site devoted to the composer.

"The site's purpose is both a tribute and the means to satisfy a widespread curiosity that many have about the composer," Cloutier emailed. "Piet's diligent research and advice have been the most important ingredients in building this site. Thank heaven the Beau Hunks recorded this wonderful music. Leroy Shield's name could well have slipped into obscurity."

UPDATE (August 10): A short video that demonstrates how Shield's music filtered into your subconscious via Roach comedies.

Comments

[Dave B.]

There was a time, back in the early 90's, I was visiting New Orleans...

Wandered into some antique store, and the owner was playing some tunes that I instantly recognized as from the Little Rascals.

I inquired as to how I could obtain, and he said they werent for sale. It sounded to scratchy to be the Beau Hunks, and I'm curious if they could have been authentic...

[Piet Schreuders]

If "the early 90s" was 1992-1994 it could have been The Beau Hunks or a tape made off their European albums (the first of which came out in 1992). If copied often enough, such a tape could have sounded "authentic".
Or it may have been a tape of Vince Giordano's Nighthawks, who performed and recorded much of this stuff even though a cd album of it never materialized. Perhaps a cassette circulated at the time. You may listen to their rendition of "The Moon and You" here:
http://www.myspace.com/VinceGiordanotheNighthawks

[Andrew Kercher]

It was in the mid 90s when I was driving home from work in Columbia, SC, listening to NPR, and they were interviewing Piet Schreuders of The Beau Hunks and playing sound bytes of their LeRoy Shield Little Rascals CD. I, like Robert Crumb, would not rest till I got a copy of the CD. I wrote letters to Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann, and got a letter from Bann and a phone call from Maltin's assistant, both very helpful in helping me find the CD, "The Beau Hunks Play the Original Little Rascals Music." I have been a fan of Hal Roach comedies since childhood and a devotee since my teen years, so this is my favorite music of all time. I was able to obtain "On To the Show," another Beau Hunks recording a couple years later after I moved to Colorado. Just this year, my wife bought me an iTunes card, so I was able to download the album "Our Relations" that rounded out my collection of Hal Roach/LeRoy Shield music. Will there be anymore music recorded from these old films? I have viewed some L&H silent films that has music from Hal Roach studios from the late 20s or early 30s, as is in the Our Gang comedy "When the Wind Blows." Will The Beau Hunks make supplemental recordings of those pieces?

Thanks, guys... Robert and Piet and the Beau Hunks gang... you've helped make smile many a happy smiles.

[Piet Schreuders]

Thanks for that comment... I vividly recall sitting in NPR's studio in Washinton with Gert-Jan. We played "Ridin' Along". Yes, there is a long list of other Hal Roach-related background music waiting for The Beau Hunks to be recorded. Who knows? We'll have another talk with our record company, Basta, next week.

[Andrew Kercher]

Great! I can't wait. LeRoy Shields and Marvin Hatley music are like the soundtrack of my life. You guys should check out my Laurel and Hardy impersonation photos here.