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Hallmark BSO Soundtracks

April 08, 2014 | Music

Hallmark will release CDs with BSO soundtracks of King Creole, G.I. Blues and Blue Hawaii later this month.

Source:Elvis Club Berlin
Jerome wrote on April 10, 2014
Does it come with any postcards?..
whetherman wrote on April 10, 2014
Ummm.....what does BSO stand for please.
Cruiser621 wrote on April 10, 2014
Yeah… What does BSO stand for?????? Anybody out there know for sure?????
benny scott wrote on April 10, 2014
BSO stands for Spanish abreviation of Banda Sonora Original, in other (English) words : Original Soundtrack. And by the way, avoid those (all) HallmarK CDs like the plague, they are all transferred from (mostly) bad vinyl with all pops and click included. The hallmark CDs have nothing to do with Hallmark cards . Our Old Shep 'genius' (OMG) apparently doesn't seem to know this fact. Always El.
Natha wrote on April 11, 2014
Thanks Benny. BSO suggests something very special (smile), thanks for the simple translation. And for the warning.
benny scott wrote on April 11, 2014
Hi guys, forgot to mention : BSO stands also for the French abreviation of 'Bande Sonore Originale' , almost the same way of writing in Spanish. Proves there is a connection between the 2 languages. Always El.
whetherman wrote on April 11, 2014
Thanks for clarifying, Benny. Just curious, certainly wasn't considering buying them!
Cruiser621 wrote on April 11, 2014
Nothing to do with "HALLMARK CARDS"? That's rather deceiving to be blunt; and recorded from vinyl? Thanks Benny Scott. They won't get my shackles!
Tony C wrote on April 11, 2014
It's not deceiving at all, Hallmark Records have existed as a record label in the UK since 1968. These are public domain releases which are not to be to be sold outside the EU, so people in the US will thankfully not be subjected to them. The source material has to be older than fifty years, so without access to the master tapes, they have to dub from the original vinyl albums. They cannot copy Sony released CDs, to do so will be copyright infringement. The copyright law has been extended so these releases will soon come to an end, although not soon enough for me.
bajo wrote on April 11, 2014
Stay clear of those Hallmark releases. I picked up For LP Fans Only and A Date With Elvis. They were transferred from electronically reprosessed vinyl and it sounded like the old vinyl records I have. I've removed them from my collection.
benny scott wrote on April 11, 2014
Right you are Tony ! Hallmark Records is a UK company indeed. Hallmark Cards is a USA company founded in 1910 and no connection at all between the 2 of them.To be honest, I own a Hallmark CD of Carl Perkins, probably released shortly after their start in '68, it sounds great, and listening with headphones one can clearly ascertain at the end of each song the 'silence' before the next song starts, so in those days they probably transferred from tapes (against the law or not ?). Listening to a today's Hallmark cd, at the end of each song one can clearly still hear the sound of the stylus in the grove before the tonearm lifts up. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure the label 'disappeared' for a number of years and came back only one or two years ago with their 'original recording'-series. Always El.
Lou A wrote on April 11, 2014
Tony , will the new law go back retroactively, or just pertain to post -1963 releases? Although , these releases aren't supposed to show up in the US, they do all the time . I was in a CD store in Manhatten that had nothing but PD releases by Elvis . As a "Yank" I 've never been able to understand the copyright law , and have neer been a fan of it . There are artists like Jack Scott, and Duane Eddy for example, who could use these reoyalties since the better part of thier sales these days is outside of the US. Plus the quality from Sony /RCA is usually way better .
Tony C wrote on April 12, 2014
Hallmark Records was inactive for many years, their current out put is a shadow of their releases in the seventies. They were a very good budget label. The Carl Perkins CD could have been mastered from tape, if a tape made prior to the fifty year cut off point were available to them. The other possibility is that the recordings have been licensed and performance royalties are being paid. I know that is not the case with their Elvis releases. The length of time that recordings lose their copyright within the EU changed from fifty years to seventy years last November. The change will not be retrospective, those recordings have have lost their copyright will not regain it. We do have to remember that this is only performance copyright, the copyright on compositions is already much longer. Jack Scott, for example, wrote much of his own material so still receives a considerable sum of money each year. These CDs should not be sold outside of the EU, stores importing and selling them are breaking the law and should be reported to the Trading Standards Office.
benny scott wrote on April 12, 2014
Thanks for the info Tony ! Always El.
I am Buffalo-Horn! wrote on April 13, 2014
Two of these are already released, with these same covers! King Creole came out on Hallmark in May 2009 & GI Blues in March 2011! King Creole is also part of a "Collected" 3CD box set (which also contained the 10 track 'A Date with Elvis' & 'Elvis' – 2nd album extended to 24 tracks) which came out September 2010. All these Hallmark CDs also claim to be part of The Pickwick Group.
Steve V wrote on April 15, 2014
BSO = Buy Stuff Over as some fools will do.
Tony C wrote on April 16, 2014
My gripe with these releases is not one of people buying things over again, it is one of sub-standard product being on the market. In HMV, there are more of these releases than official Sony product. The general Elvis fan already has all three albums, so passes on them. A general record buyer could see one of these, remember seeing the film or owning the original vinyl LP and buy it. After hearing it, they will probably avoid buying any other Elvis CD including official releases.