Leroy Shield - Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Who was Leroy Shield?
A: He was the composer best-known for the background music heard in Hal Roach Studio comedies -- most notably Laurel & Hardy and the Little Rascals/Our Gang films. He was a "film composer" for only a brief spell, however -- he spent most of his life as arranger-conductor for radio orchestras.

Q: When did he live?
A: Leroy Shield was born in Waseca, Minnesota on October 2, 1893 and died at the age of 68 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 10, 1962.

Q: I'm confused. Was his name Le Roy, Leroy or Roy? Shield or Shields?
A: All of these variations have been recorded. It is generally assumed that "Roy Shields" was his stage name and Leroy Shield his given name, but some sources give his family name as Shields. Research is ongoing.

Q: Why haven't I heard of him?
A:
• There was no on-screen composer credit for any of the Roach shorts.
• When renewed interest in the Hal Roach comedies started to blossom in the 1970s, Shield was no longer living.
• Shield seems to have preferred to operate in anonymity, working his magic behind the scenes.

Q: What are his best-known compositions?
A: On to the Show, Good Old Days, You Are the One I Love, and

Dash And Dot.

Q: Was Shield the composer of Laurel & Hardy's "Ku-Ku" theme song?
A: No -- that was Marvin Hatley.

Q: Why didn't Hal Roach list him in the film credits?
A: We don't know for sure. At the time, film music was in its infancy and the idea of giving the composer screen credit simply may have been overlooked. Or it may have been that the music was not seen as significant to the film as we now know it is. Shield was credited on-screen in "The Devil's Brother" (1933) and "Our Relations" (1936)

Q: Why can't I buy the original recordings of Shield's film background music?
A: The original recordings are presumed lost. To hear the original music you have to listen to the films, despite film noise, dialogue and other sounds.

Q: When did he compose music for Hal Roach?
A: Based on his copyright registrations: 13 pieces in 1930, 66 in 1931, 1 in 1932, 3 in 1934, 53 in 1937, and 2 in 1938.

Q: How much music did he compose?
A: According to a 1939 NBC news release, he had "more than 600 compositions to his credit".

Q: Where did Shield receive his musical education?
A:
• He attended the Columbia School of Music in Chicago (Miss Helen B. Lawrence, instructor) scholarship in piano, Columbia Conservatory, Chicago.
• Further study, University of Chicago.
• In 1942 the University of Chicago awarded him the honorary degree of Doctor in Music "in recognition of his contribution in the advancement of radio music".

Q: Beside composing for Hal Roach, what else did he do?
A: He started out as a touring concert pianist. From 1923 to 1931 he was conductor-arranger for the Victor Talking Machine Company and manager at various times of RCA-Victor's foreign, domestic and west coast departments. As director-producer-conductor-pianist he oversaw Victor recordings in New York, Chicago, Camden, San Francisco, Oakland, Mexico and other places. (From 1929 onwards, some of these recordings took place in the Hal Roach Studios in Culver City.) In 1931 he joined NBC, initially in San Francisco but later in Chicago. He became a very important radio orchestra leader there. He was the conductor of several open-air concerts held in Chicago's Grant Park. He composed tone poems including Union Pacific Suite, Gloucester and The Great Bell. In 1945 he moved to New York to continue his radio work as contractor of NBC Orchestra section. He became Arturo Toscanini's assistant conductor, joining him on a tour to Atlanta and New Orleans in 1950. For years, both in Chicago and New York, radio variety shows bore his name: Roy Shield's Revue, Roy Shields & Company, Roy Shield Presents. He composed, arranged and conducted many "musical transitions" for radio drama series. He retired in 1955.