GOD, I wish there was a full recording of this and the other Shield`s songs! FROM THE ERA!!! There seemes to be somthing lacking in modern versions. Don`t get me wrong, It`s just that there is a certin sound & soul in the old recordings. One of My very favorits as well as this one is "The Moon And You".
This here is classic leroy shield music. Could not imagine wathcing an old L&H or Rascals comedy without it. Would not be as funny, the backround music is what made these shorts timeless....
Thankyou. thankyou, thankyou! Trying to get hold of Leroy Shield's (and Marvin Hatley) music, particularly on CD is proving nigh on impossible-been a fan of The Boys since I could open my eyes and the only music you can buy is the usual 'Lonesome Pine' stuff- the backing music is magnificent!
Unless someone will do this themselves, this should be forwarded to soundtrack lables. If the material is there and passes copyright hurdles, they have the time and resources to do this along with level matching and more seamless editing tech. But God bless ya sir for doing this! (Beau Hunks are good, but they still don't hold a candle to the originals, I am never satisfied with their recordings beyond them being an enjoyable distant second place, the best available option for now, and appreciate their efforts.)
I love this music! It was as creative and inventive as Laurel & Hardy were in their acting. Do you know the name of the tune that was played as they were trying to sneak in and get the deed in Way Out West? The real suspenseful one.
Too bad that Leroy Shields was not appreciated for his work on the Hal Roach film soundtracks of the 1930s as much as he should have been. One story goes he work was just kind of thrown in with the deal for Victor to provide sound for the Roach shorts on their dime. Since Shields was Victor's A&R man in LA at the time he got ther job and I wonder just what was his reward for that timeless music he created. Was it just considered a part of his job? Does anyone know about this matter?
Yes, he thought he was going to have a full time job in Hollywood from what I gathered. Victor even went to far as to wire the Roach studio for sound & build a fully functioning Victor recording studio on the Hal Roach lot, so there were many famous West Coast recordings made there at the same studio! Now the sad thing is, these wonderful themes, transitions & music effects composed by Shield were recorded on pieces of film that the studio sound engineers used like recording tape..that is the soundtrack element only... they could edit it & use it to bury the "whizz" & hum of the Western Electric sound process... So since they bought & paid for the selections, they found they could use them over & over again..and they did until they couldn't any longer. Author Randy Skretvedt told me a story years ago that the film that contained the Laurel & Hardy clarinet Ku-Ku Theme was used so often that it was cut again & again until it was "clipped" to the point of starting late.. and indeed..on older copies of the films you might hear a clipped Ku-Ku... But as for Shield, he went back to Chicago & was dismissed.. it may have been in part of the Efficiency expert hired by Roach early in the depression... a corner-cutting cheap bastard whom no one had a nice to say about...they continued using Shield's tunes for years & would occasionally ask Shield for new material when it was requested of him, like for the scoring of "The Devil's Brother" (1933) & "Our Relations" (1936)... But the job of studio musical director fell to the multi talented Marvin Hatley. Shield was disappointed from what I understand but he was working for the NBC radio network & he continued doing music for radio, and in some cases; he would re-use some of his old tunes! On the NBC Radio City Playhouse series he would use some musical cues these new radio productions..I have heard several of these shows & was always surprised to hear "Riding Along", "Bells" & "Stepping Along With A Song" among other well known Roach movie tunes. By this time he was known as Dr. Roy Shield.... there is a wonderful website about him & his career... www.leroyshield.com/
@roybo1930 On the other hand The Beau Hunks do a pritty AWESOME job of recreating these songs. I would LOVE if they did lingth versions of songs like "Bells" Let`s say versions around 3 minuts long, each As if You were listining to a phonograph record of the song.
Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks did it first back in the mid-1980's...(he wanted to make the CDs that the Beau Hunks did eventually) In 1980 Ronnie Hazlehurst & his studio orchestra recorded "Bells" in a full arrangement.. I'm sure it's on here somewhere.. The album was called "Laurel & Hardy's Music Box".
Yes; it's "Intermezzo"... it's performed on a marimba & can be heard at the opening of one of the Spanish-speaking shorts Laurel & Hardy made in 1930..yes, there are different versions of the films with different arrangements of the music! "Intermezzo" was performed in several of the films like; "Another Fine Mess", "Big Ears" "Dogs is Dogs"...you may find a version by The Beau Hunks & others..
