The Beau Hunks - On to the Show - Digital Download
Basta Music
Basta 3091592 | Rereleased 2007.
The Amsterdam-based "documentary orchestra" The Beau Hunks was originally founded to recreate the toe-tapping melodies from the Hal Roach shorts of the 1930s -- the Laurel & Hardy, Our Gang, Charley Chase, Thelma Todd and Taxi Boys series. This music, although familiar to all, was never commercially released by the studios and the original recordings are presumed lost.
Over the years, several attempts were made at recreating the tunes: Robert Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders in the '70s, Ronnie Hazlehurst in the '80s and Vince Giordano in the '90s. It was the Beau Hunks, however, who finally gave the stock music of Leroy Shield its due in a series of albums released between 1992 and 2000. Detective work, top-of-the-bill musicianship, scholarship, vintage instruments, acoustic recording and note-for-note transcriptions combined in quality albums generating rave reviews and prestigious awards.
In their third album "On to the Show", first released on the American KOCH label in 1995, these qualities reached an artistic peak. Produced by Gert-Jan Blom and Piet Schreuders, The Beau Hunks provide swinging versions of dance tunes such as "Streamline Susie" and "Let's Face It"; short mood pieces like "Colonel Buckshot" en "Hollywood Kate"; thrill and hurry cues like "The Villain", "Go Get Him" and "Confusion"; the semi-classical "Cascadia" and the romantic "Early Morning". The album contains a total of 50 tracks, all of which were composed by Leroy Shield.
BASTA is proud to present a rerelease of this album which has been hard to find for many years. The detailed program notes were updated and the package redesigned by Piet Schreuders.
"I loved it .. it triggered off a very beautiful sentimental chord in my soul." -- BRIAN WILSON
Get the album directly from us as a Digital Download: you will then receive the album in high quality mp3s (320 kbps).
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