"Dear Beau Hunks: I Just Wanted To Let You Know How Much I Enjoy Your Music On The Planet Earth
...and equally how enjoyable it is while floating weightless in space.
I have always been a fan of The Little Rascals & Laurel and Hardy, and have always searched for recordings of their music, but never came across any until a few years ago, when my brother told me about the Beau Hunks.
The level of work and concentration aboard the space shuttle are pretty intense during the flights. So the relaxation of listening to music during short breaks or before sleep are priceless. I listened to The Beau Hunks on many occasions during [April 1997 and July 1997] flights, usually during an hour break when I was able to float in front of a window and watch the world go by."
- NASA Astroanaut Don Thomas, who sent his shuttle-flown Beau Hunks CD ("still in good shape after traveling over 11 million kilometers") to the Beau Hunks in July 1998.
I've posted this link before, but neglected to mention the great Beau Hunks DVD, a live, pro-shot concert performance that includes a complete showing of Laurel and Hardy's Their Purple Moment with live BH accompaniment.
Labels: Beau Hunks, Laurel and Hardy, Little Rascals, space shuttle
posted by Don at
2:04 PM
1 Comments:
That's a wonderful DVD. Don't let it go unreported that it was recorded live in the greatest concert hall in the Netherlands, the Concertgebouw, and the sound quality is breathtaking.
I'll never forget a post-gig conversation with the great traditional jazz banjo player and multi-instrumentalist John Gill (Turk Murphy Band, etc). John related a personal anecdote from the eighties about New York musicians who were working with cassettes taped in front of televisions to transcribe Leroy Shields' Culver City compositions. They showed some of the results of their painfully slow, incremental progress to some antique collectors, a few of whom went on to be members of Beau Hunks Orchestra. Needless to say, the Dutchmen got the scoop and John's music friends got another reason to drink.
As a lad I didn't listen when folks told me that there will always be competitors, and they won't care about your feelings. My feelings about the Beau Hunks were never quite as warm after that tale, but DAMN! What a great band, and what a great body of recovered music.
By
Steven Strauss, At
January 10, 2008 at 10:47 PM
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