The 10 Best Bootlegs of All Time (courtesy of Yahoo)

The 10 Best Bootlegs of All Time
Posted Thu Oct 9, 2008 12:52pm PDT by David Skye in GetBack

In July 1969 a couple of Los Angeles-based fans found a pressing plant with a no-questions-asked policy and produced 2,000 copies of The Great White Wonder, a double album of Bob Dylan’s music in a plain white wrapper. This landmark set marked the creation of the first rock bootleg and launched a largely underground movement of recording and trading music by and for fans. The fact that this movement is still going strong well into the age of MP3s is a testament to our insatiable desire for rare recordings and live performances from our favorite artists.

Nowadays, artists compile their own official "bootleg” recordings. Last week Dylan issued the latest in his wonderful Bootleg Series: Tell Tale Signs. But somehow even the most satisfying artist-sanctioned release just can’t take away the thrill of scoring a great "unofficial" recording. Here are 10 that make our Bootleg Hall of Fame. Once the Man lets us, we'll play this stuff for you. Until then, close your eyes and imagine…

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
The Roxy Theater, Los Angeles, CA – July 7, 1978 [FM Broadcast]
With the famous war cry “Bootleggers, roll your tapes,” Bruce personally guarantees a classic bootleg. The Roxy’s on fire, bending to the Boss’ every word. The venue’s intimate setting (500 capacity), combined with Bruce’s energy, make for an electrifying night and contender for best show of all time, as the band sounds tighter than ever and the crowd sings along to “Spirit In The Night."

JIMI HENDRIX
Cafe Au Go Go, New York, NY – March 17, 1968 [Audience Recording]
This has been one of my all-time favorites since I first slipped the Maxell cassette into my player. Jimi was recording late this evening in a studio down the street from the Cafe Au Go Go. He decided he wanted to jam, so he walked to the club, hopped onstage, and joined the band, believed to be John Mayall And Friends. The magic is present from the opening chords, and the performance of “Little Wing” is heartfelt and mesmerizing.

THE BEATLES
White Album Demos [Home Demos]
The Beatles gathered in late spring 1968 at Kinfauns, George Harrison’s home in the London suburb of Esher. Accompanied by only their acoustic guitars, John, Paul, and George sat down and recorded rough demos of their newest material. Most of these songs were written during their trip to Rishikesh, India, in February to April 1968 and subsequently recorded for inclusion on The White Album. Not all of the songs performed that day would surface; some remain unreleased. Our favorite is “Child Of Nature,” which John would later rework for “Jealous Guy” on his 1971 solo album, Imagine.

LED ZEPPELIN
O2 Arena, London, England – December 10, 2007 [Audience Recording]
This is probably one of the most anticipated bootlegs in history and the fastest to hit the market. Fans were uploading videos from their cell phones to YouTube literally minutes after the concert, which was put together as a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, the legendary Atlantic Records founder who had personally signed the band. Listen to “In My Time Of Dying” and hear how well Jason Bonham, son of original drummer John “Bonzo” Bonham, fills his late father’s huge shoes.

BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS
The Quiet Knight, Chicago, IL – June 10, 1975 [FM Broadcast]
This was recorded on the Wailers’ second night in Chicago on what would be their last small-club tour. Their popularity exploded after Eric Clapton’s hit with Marley’s “I Shot The Sheriff,” and their subsequent tours would all take place in large venues. Thanks to bootleggers, this club tour was documented and just as the Natty Dread himself mesmerized Chicago, fans can still enjoy the original “I Shot The Sheriff.” Join the Trenchtown Experience.

THE DOORS
Dinner Key Auditorium, Miami, FL – March 1, 1969 [Audience Recording]
Jim Morrison, arrested? What really happened? The quality of this recording doesn’t meet our usually high standards, but come on: how many times have you heard about the alleged indecent-exposure incident and wondered what really happened? Check out this bootleg, and you can listen to exactly what the jury heard during Jim’s Miami trial. It’s the opening number, “Back Door Man,” by the ultimate rebel. “Are you ready for a good time?”

BLACK SABBATH
Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ – August 5, 1975 [Soundboard]
There are many bootleg stories, but this is one of the best; it's from a respected Black Sabbath collector. With the help of King Biscuit Flower Hour, Sabbath recorded this performance, hoping to put out a live record. Instead, the tapes were placed in the King Biscuit vault, where they remained for more than 25 years. In 2001 the doors were pried open, and this gem was leaked. A collector called King Biscuit to inquire about a recording he believed they possessed. The KB engineer handling the vault found the show, whicg was labeled “wasn’t good enough.” With that, the engineer kindly offered to send the collector a complimentary copy, thus the source of this recording. Ozzy asks the crowd, “What do you want to hear?” The crowd replies, “Paranoid.” Fireworks explode, and, with his trademark “We love you all,” the frontman carries through with a blistering version.

PINK FLOYD
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY – July 2, 1977 [Soundboard]
New York City was pumped, the local WNEW-FM began airing spots, and a giant inflatable pink pig was launched in Central Park’s Sheep Meadows (now Strawberry Fields in memory of John Lennon). A Floyd soundboard recording from the 1977 tour is a rare commodity. A lot of great audience recordings exist, but a soundboard is very rare. As Floyd take the stage for the second set, opening with “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” one fan comments, “I was about to hear my favorite album of all time played live by my favorite rock group.” Envision dry ice bellowing from the stage, breathtaking animation, and goose bumps as Floyd’s Syd Barrett ode swirls through the speakers.

THE ROLLING STONES
Leeds University, Leeds, England – March 13, 1971
Leeds is one of those absolutely precious clear soundboard recordings from this tour, and many consider it to be the Stones’ definitive live document. The band is inspired throughout, so the whole show is one big highlight. Keith Richards and Mick Taylor prove why many enthusiasts consider this lineup their best, as you’ll witness in “Midnight Rambler.” The duo spins and weaves guitar lines and trade off solos, turning a slow bluesy number into a good old rowdy rave-up.

GRATEFUL DEAD
Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA – March 23, 1987 [Audience Recording]
What would a best-bootleg list be without the good ol’ Grateful Dead? Some fans, of course, argue that the essential performances are from the ’60s or ’70s. But the band’s first shows of 1987 tour after Jerry’s coma were explosive. The audience reaction alone during the chorus of “Touch Of Grey” is enough for this show to be classified a classic, and it was recorded by yours truly.

 

I wonder how long this thread will last.

I'd like to hear one by Floyd.

 

I'm guessing not long at all!...

 

I'm sure it'll disappear before I finish typing this, but the best Springsteen boot is Piece de Resistance - September 1978 in Passaic, NJ.

Jeff

 

I want that Floyd show. To see the inflatable pig in Central Park must've been awesome. I wonder if anyone took pictures of that?

 

Better than all of them

This album, is in my opinion better than all of those:

http://www.geetarz.org/reviews/clapton/sun-vanishes.htm

The Cream, on a good night would have blown ALL those other
bands away. And this show was a very good night

 

Isn't SMILE a bootleg?

 

There was a thread on this article a while ago and it went bye byes very quickly

 

Instead of bootlegs we could be talking about "recordings that should officially be released, but aren't."

 

Well then, I guess I'd better get this post in right away before they close it. I, uh...um...can't think of anything...

 

Good idea - can we get a title change for the thread?

 

What happened to Plant's face in that colour pic?!

 

First and foremost, The Beatles Kum Back, late '69.
Basically, Glyn Johns' Get Back album in a different order.
How cool this was... Brand new Beatles material on a record
with a white label.

 

Actually this is the thread from a while ago. Look at the date of the first post.

 

10 best dinosaur bootlegs.

 

I was at that Dead show, it wasn't THAT great...I also have the Sabbath, Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Marley and Floyd shows mentioned, those are pretty cool....only the Sabbath would be in my top 20...

 

The Zeppelin show from Valentine's day 1975 is really wonderful for that era.
Now in sparkling SB quality too.

 

Hopefully, an article like this gets noticed by the bands and the respective record companies and takes a further serious look at doing more offical live series. Even if they are audience recordings which turned out well, the record companies can clearly state on the packaging what they are and sell them at reasonable prices. Classic shows by bands in their prime should never languish gathering dust and be only for the ears of elitists. Times are tough enough as it is.

 

Grande Ballroom '67 is one of my faves. Absolutely mind boggling. I'd certainly put it somewhere in the top 10.

However, your unbridled enthusiasm notwithstanding, nothing "blows away" Sabbath at Asbury Park '75. Probably one of the greatest bootlegs ever. The story I remember hearing about it being leaked was also much more interesting than the story in this article, but maybe the more interesting version was a few more generations removed from reality.

Also far more interesting than the article mentioning "Paranoid" (their typical encore for decades - imagine that) was this show's inclusion of many of their mid 70s masterpieces in excellent sound quality. IE: Spiral Architect, Megalomania, Symptom of The Universe, etc...

Surely any list which picks a Floyd bootleg from the '77 tour over something from 1971 or 1972 can't be all that researched, but that's just MO. There are some great shows on this list.

 

The Beatles Ultra Rare Trax 6 CD series also deserves to be mentioned. Pictured is volume 1.

http://www.rarebeatles.com/photopg3/firstcds.htm

 

The Stones' Leeds `71 show is good, but better than Brussels `73??????

 

If I were to choose a Floyd bootleg it would be "The Man and The Journey" Amsterdam 1969. A great capture of their early years.

 

I personally liked The Who's "Tommy" performed in Sept 69 in Amsterdam.
Source is a FM broadcast and band were still very excited to play it inits entirely. Bad Company in New England 1974 was a good recording as well.

 

"Great" or "influential" bootlegs would be in the ear of the beholder. Clinton Heylin's great "Bootleg" book sinfully ignored Grateful Dead and Tull releases. I'm sure we could type all night until the thread disappears.

However, I think I'd be more interested in seeing a thread on bootlegs that inspired or forced the legitimate record companies to release their own versions. This would keep the discussion "legit" in SHF terms, as the legit companies (response time, artists or company capitulation, improvements?) could weigh in.

 

wow...

well before this wormhole into an alternate universe closes, let me give a little love to my first exposure to Beatles bootlegs, along with an All Music Guide Review, note especially the first sentence:

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One strongly suspects that the existence of this five-CD box, in tandem with a handful of other packages of this type, was largely responsible for getting Paul McCartney (and others) to take a serious look at what was in EMI's vaults, resulting in the release of the Beatles' Anthology series. In 1993, however, this was the only game in town: 124 choice outtakes, live concert tracks, demos, overdub sessions, and rehearsals covering the group's known recordings from 1958 through 1970 -- it's essentially a best-of the Beatles' unauthorized output, from what were then the best-known sources of every track represented. The motto of "Big Music," whoever they were, was "Ain't No Limits," and they proved it on most of this set, which generally showed excellent selections and superb tape research, a true rarity for bootleg releases, especially on this scale -- up to this time, the usual assumption by almost any producer had been that, with a box like this, people would accept quantity in lieu of quality, but on Artifacts were was no compromise of that type. From the earliest known recording of the pre-Beatles' Quarrymen, doing "That'll Be the Day" in 1958, to "I Me Mine" from their final sessions in January 1970, the best tapes are used. Even better, and just to rub EMI's face in it, all of the outtakes from the Please Please Me and With the Beatles albums are in stereo, which the authorized CDs aren't. Moreover, the makers included individually notable live and broadcast songs, such as the Royal Command Performance of "Twist and Shout" (with John Lennon's "rattle your jewelry" introduction) and "Shout" from the Around the Beatles British television presentation. Even the Ed Sullivan live performances are from high-quality sources, and the concert numbers all pretty much come up to that standard -- the only real lapse among the first two discs is the ragged sounding demo of "If I Fell" from early 1964. The box comes with a fully illustrated and annotated booklet providing information (where known) about each song and each performance. Not all of this material will be of interest to casual fans, and a lot of this didn't make it onto the authorized Anthology series -- the brass overdub session for "Penny Lane" or the rehearsal for "Day Tripper" with mistakes intact are for completists, but even ordinary fans will find a lot of it fascinating to hear at least once, as a representation of the way the band's repertory evolved and developed in the studio. Each major era in the group's history is represented on the five discs (each of which has an appropriate and entertaining graphic embossed on its label side) -- "The Psychedelic Years," covering 1966-1967, has the shakiest sound quality and also may prove the most enlightening and the most frustrating, since that material always worked best in its finished form, and sounds notably unfinished here, albeit revealing interesting little details at the same time. (One track not included here, incidentally, is the version of "Penny Lane" with the unedited trumpet ending, as that had appeared legitimately on the Rarities LP). In all, this is six hours of good listening, and total immersion in the Beatles. Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

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These sets were gorgeous (and expensive) with wonderful booklets including notes on every track. And I agree, this set was so well done that it likely did make the group look at how nicely such a collection of outtake material could be presented, and what a premium it would command.