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There is the Gerhardt recording of the main title music from The Sun Also Rises. A magnificent piece.
I didn't know Hugo Friedhofer was lost in alcohol. A really sad story. Thanks for sharing that.
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Yup, that was the first! I think the Morgan/Stromberg disc with four suites is the only other one, and apparently it sold quite poorly. 
I still think Joan of Arc might have decent sales potential…
Yavar
I only know the Morgan/Stromberg recording, I didn't know there exists a re-recording of BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES. Who did that?
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Yup, that was the first! I think the Morgan/Stromberg disc with four suites is the only other one, and apparently it sold quite poorly.
I still think Joan of Arc might have decent sales potential…
Yavar
I only know the Morgan/Stromberg recording, I didn't know there exists a re-recording of BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES. Who did that?
That one was released in 1978. Steven J. Lasher produced, Anthony Bremner orchestrated the music, and Frank Collura conducted the LPO. Severeal releases. It's on Entreacte (LP), Preamble (CD I) and Label X (CD II). If you read one of my previous posts you might learn a bit more about it. A great release but there are sound issues. It was also done to celebrate Hugo's 50th anniversary in the film industry. It seems he started off in 1928.
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It’s almost certainly bootlegged there, then.
Yavar
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Ah, ok, that one.
https://www.qobuz.com/de-de/album/the-best-years-of-our-lives-original-soundtrack-1946-london-philharmonic-orchestra-franco-collura/5204833063163
That's the release with improved sound - according to some collectors - fixing sonic issues apparent on the first CD release. I have the first edition of the CD and can't comment if it's actually true.
Most of the texts featured in the LP "DeLuxe Souvenir Booklet" have not been reproduced for the CD reissues. Just excerpts.
The original score was orchestrated by the very great Jerome Moross. Emil Newman conducted the music.
Lasher's 1978 recording is dedicated to Hugo Friedhofer as well as to Emil Newman "with lasting admiration".
It was done in London at All Saints' Church in London. The exact recording dates of the Collura sessions are unknown. A few photos from those sessions are reproduced on the LP booklet.
"It is one of the few film scores that would stand up in the best symphonic company."
Says Lan Adomian.
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It’s almost certainly bootlegged there, then.
Yavar
Not "almost". It is a boot. That type of cover art is indicative enough. There are many other soundtracks with the same frame.
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That doesn’t mean anything Nicolas — those streaming services and download vendors all have tons of boots for more obscure stuff… sometimes even for major labels! Check out this 1960 album on Spotify which was part of the famed RCA Living Stereo series (but never made it to CD) — super fishy cover, plus “copyright Marathon Media International Ltd., under license to Music Manager”:
https://open.spotify.com/album/4CQMNRO4UhDLRRQEJWbnmg
(This album features a rare cover of Goldsmith’s Black Saddle theme which we previously missed, but will cover in the future.)
Yeah, right. I’m 100% positive Sony Music still owns that album as with all the rest of the RCA Living Stereo series. Total boot. Downloads and streaming services made bootlegging easier than ever before. It’s like YouTube: things only get taken down if the rights holder cares enough and goes to the trouble of combating it.
Yavar
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Hmm... seems to be widely available at most official retailers and streaming services for a boot.
Why do you wonder about this? Nowadays it is the standard procedure for scores from the 40s and 50s that they get uploaded as boots on all these platforms in various guises. Just look at the dozens of old soundtrack titles by the same uploader "Classic Soundtrack Collector" which have all been copied (only the covers have been changed) from older FSM, Kritzerland, Intrada, BYU/SAE or MMM CDs or even from European labels like Legend or Digitmovies, in some cases even from old LPs. It´s all about scores which have been composed before 1964 as they are public domain here in Europe for several years now
Of course, this is an additional coffin nail for Golden Age CD releases in current times. Which US label wants to release Golden Age titles when they probably don´t sell well anymore and secondly are copied as soon as possible and then offered on all these digital platforms? The digital platform owners don´t even know it that all of these titles are boots.
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Hmm... seems to be widely available at most official retailers and streaming services for a boot.
Why do you wonder about this? Nowadays it is the standard procedure for scores from the 40s and 50s that they get uploaded as boots on all these platforms in various guises. Just look at the dozens of old soundtrack titles by the same uploader "Classic Soundtrack Collector" which have all been copied (only the covers have been changed) from older FSM, Kritzerland, Intrada, BYU/SAE or MMM CDs or even from European labels like Legend or Digitmovies, in some cases even from old LPs. It´s all about scores which have been composed before 1964 as they are public domain here in Europe for several years now
If they are in the public domain in Europe, they are obviously not boots in Europe.
Of course, this is an additional coffin nail for Golden Age CD releases in current times. Which US label wants to release Golden Age titles when they probably don´t sell well anymore and secondly are copied as soon as possible and then offered on all these digital platforms? The digital platform owners don´t even know it that all of these titles are boots.
That's true, the digital platforms don't know, they deal with labels. But the rights owners could. Well, apparently the rights holders don't care then, because it would be quite easy to get these taken down from iTunes, Qobuz, Amazon, Tidal, Spotify, etc. It's not as if they are in obscure little pirate hideouts, they are official and legitimate companies dealing in the EU and the US.
Obviously, Back Lot Music, Water Tower Records etc. release a lot of stuff -- the exact same copies -- of Intrada, FSM CDs etc, and those are official digital releases.
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Even if they aren’t technically illegal in Europe, they are still bootlegs, shitty versions put out by people who have nothing to do with the recordings (and certainly doing no work on them), making a profit off of them which they haven’t earned in any way.
Yavar
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If they are in the public domain in Europe, they are obviously not boots in Europe.
Indeed, here in the EU they are not boots and this is the reason why everything from before 1964 can be copied so easily.
It´s just the same case that we formerly had with the Tsunami or Membran CD labels here in Germany - only now on streaming and download platforms and even more widely spread than ever before.
That's true, the digital platforms don't know, they deal with labels. But the rights owners could. Well, apparently the rights holders don't care then, because it would be quite easy to get these taken down from iTunes, Qobuz, Amazon, Tidal, Spotify, etc.
Of course the rights holders aren´t interested as such old niche soundtrack titles are nothing else than peanuts for them. The US studios weren´t much interested in 2004 when the Membran CD label had copied titles by FSM and other labels - so why should they be interested in legal actions - which cost a lot of money! - nowadays when there is even less profit to be made from those old scores? And most people which are not familiar with the original CDs won´t even notice it that these are only copies made by individual persons who had nothing to do with the former official CD releases.
In the case of Friedhofer´s BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, it would be a bit easier to file a lawsuit against the boot as this is a recording from 1978 - therefore this recording is not public domain here in the EU and of course the uploader didn´t pay any attention to this. For such things there is the so-called "product protection right" among the various EU copyrights which means that the concerned label - in this case John Steven Lasher´s - could take legal action against the uploader and would win. But again: This costs money as you need a lawyer and in the end the question for the concerned label is whether it is sufficiently rewarding to file such a lawsuit or not.
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Heck, the uploader might even be aware it’s a late 70s recording, but are pretending it’s the original film recording from the 40s so they can avoid copyright issues.
Yavar
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Heck, the uploader might even be aware it’s a late 70s recording, but are pretending it’s the original film recording from the 40s so they can avoid copyright issues.
Yes, you are probably right, Yavar So the problem then is that in a lawsuit all individual tracks would have to be compared with each other and you need genuine experts in this field. And you have to proof this in front of people who don´t know anything about such old film scores.
Again too much money is involved in something like this - I have heard this complaint from several labels and even ones which are not dealing with soundtracks at all.
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In the case of Friedhofer´s BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, it would be a bit easier to file a lawsuit against the boot as this is a recording from 1978 - therefore this recording is not public domain here in the EU and of course the uploader didn´t pay any attention to this. For such things there is the so-called "product protection right" among the various EU copyrights which means that the concerned label - in this case John Steven Lasher´s - could take legal action against the uploader and would win. But again: This costs money as you need a lawyer and in the end the question for the concerned label is whether it is sufficiently rewarding to file such a lawsuit or not.
It doesn't costs much to file a cease and desist, and you can claim damages. Look at how quickly Music Box Records stopped distributing ORCA, apparently because of copyright claim.
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Yes, you are probably right, Yavar So the problem then is that in a lawsuit all individual tracks would have to be compared with each other and you need genuine experts in this field.
But that's fairly easy to do, even I could do it and I'm no expert. Every recording is unique, it's like a fingerprint. If you are a record label, you should have people at hand who can do that.
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It doesn't costs much to file a cease and desist, and you can claim damages. Look at how quickly Music Box Records stopped distributing ORCA, apparently because of copyright claim.
But with ORCA we are not talking about old 40s or 50s scores, but about a popular Morricone one from the late 70s which is not public domain at all. Certainly one of the rights holders - it could have been Radiofilmusica in Italy - intervened in this case, but if a label has to do it, I am not sure how the platform owners would react. Why for example are several Kritzerland titles still in the "Classic Soundtrack Collector" list as Bruce Kimmel is certainly not afraid to claim any damage against this person?
At least I know it from my personal experience that FSM didn´t want to take legal action against the Membran CD label in 2004 as it was just a too complicated and too costly affair for them to take action from the US against someone here in Europe.
For the rights holders it might be easier, but at first they must be sufficiently interested.
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