If you're a fan of the classic movies of Hal Roach, who produced the many of the Laurel & Hardy and The Little Rascals films, then you're already familiar with the music of composer LeRoy Shield. Back in the 1930s, Shield wrote the scores for Roach's films (and money being tight, he often used the same scores over and over again in different shorts). For many years, the original music was only available on the deteriorating celluloid prints. Enter The Beau Hunks, a group of pre-big band music fans based in Amsterdam. After years of research and transcribing the scores note by note from these early films, The Beau Hunks released a 72-track, two-CD collection of the LeRoy Shield scores, entitled The Beau Hunks Play The Original Laurel & Hardy Music (Basta Music).

The soundtracks to Roach's classic flicks include songs like the legendary "Bells" (the main background score for the majority of The Little Rascals films), "Colonial Gayeties", "On A Sunny Afternoon", "Dash And Dot", "The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine", and "Here We Go." The titles may be totally unknown to you, but, the melodies have undoubtedly been bouncing around in your head for years. Also in the collection are a few famous lines from the Laurel & Hardy films themselves, as well as a brief interview with Marvin Hatley, who explains how he came up with the Laurel & Hardy theme, "Ku-Ku."

The Beau Hunks are master craftsmen and should be presented with a ton of gratitude for completing such a vast undertaking. This fall, the band will release another exciting compilation, entitled Kodachrome: The Music of Raymond Scott (Basta Music). Learn more about the band and their endeavors online at www.bastamusic.com.