What are bootlegs?
Pirated music is when you trade music that is otherwise sold in stores. Like when a friend burns you a copy of Journey's
Greatest Hits or when you download mp3's of your favorite Def Leppard tunes from the Internet. Bootlegs are different!
Bootlegs music is music that isn't sold at stores - but may have had a shady beginning.
Do bootlegs hurt the musicians and the recording industry? I'm not sure. Someone who collects demos, outtakes and live shows usually has many, if not most, of that bands cds. I don't collect bootlegs of bands that I like a bit - only of the bands I like the most.
There are a few main kinds of bootlegs. Bootlegs let you follow the creative process. Music begins with the demo. The musicians sits down at home and plays
a song on guitar or piano. This is what is first shown to the band. Beatles demos are popular among collectors - to hear
what John, Paul and George originally wrote at home on acoustic guitar can be mindblowing. The Who's demos, recorded
by Pete Townshend, will convince you that The Who are really Pete's cover band! He creates and plays the guitar, drum, piano and even drum bits.
The next kind of bootleg is the studio outtake. The band is practicing the song for the final version that you hear on cd.
There will be musical and lyrical changes. There's a version of The Beatles' Lucy In The Sky
With Diamonds that has Jeremy ("Nowhere Man") from the Yellow Submarine movie singing an altered first verse.
Look all you want and you'll never find this song on an official cd. Leslie West, from the band Mountain, played on
Who's Next outtakes for The Who that were never released on the original album. A bootleg, From Lifehouse To Leeds,
had the songs since the early 70's. The Who finally added these songs to Who's Next - Deluxe Edition sometime after
the millenium. Led Zeppelin outtakes are also phenomenal. There's a cd titled Hairway To Steven with Zeppelin IV
outtakes. Studio Sessions, an 11 cd bootleg box set, will renew your interest in Zeppelin.
And then there was live. Rock'n'roll was meant to be heard live. Luckily, almost every concert is recorded by someone. When we're lucky, a soundboard recording gets out - that means someone on the inside copied it and passed it on. Other times we
get what was recorded by sneaky members of the audience. The Who and Led Zeppelin are my favorite live bands. Songs like Won't Get Fooled Again and Dazed And Confused were meant to be heard live!
Some bootlegs give you a mix of your favorite musicians - like a charity show with Paul McCartney and Paul Simon.
They even play one song together at the end. Or any of Pete Townshend's shows from the mid-80's. Guess who plays
lead guitar? None other than Pink Floyd's David Gilmour (who also sang with The Who in 1996 at Hyde Park in London).
How 'bout John Lennon's last live appearance - singing Beatles tunes with Elton John in the mid-70's. Eric Clapton and George Harrison in concert together. George Harrison and Paul Simon on Saturday Night Live together. Bob Dylan and Paul
Simon toured together in '99 and played a few songs together each night...
Some other cool classic rock bootlegs that're out there?
Simon & Garfunkel were called Tom & Jerry in the late 50's and even released a few albums. There's a 2-cd Tom & Jerry bootleg. Simon & Garfunkel's 60's shows at universities are legendary. Paul Simon's demos sound a lot like the final version,
you can hear the creativity oozin' out even on the simple demo.
There're many historical Beatlegs (Beatles bootlegs). The Ed Sullivan Shows bootleg has all of their performances on that show - including the historial first one which some consider to be the moment modern rock'n'roll was born. The Beatles last live show
in front of an audience at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The famous Rooftop Concert on top of Apple Records is
the last time they played together live. There's even a bootleg of John and Paul at a party in 1974. They jam a bit. I'm The Greatest is the last time three of The Beatles played together - John, George and Ringo - in the studio helping Ringo record
an album.
Led Zeppelin's live concerts will take you somewhere else. The official cd and video, The Song Remains The Same, is cute but is only a glimpse
into their magical live shows. In 1969, they sound like a hard blues-rock band playing stoned-out versions of Dazed
and Confused and How Many More Times. By 1971 they're playing slower-stoned songs like Since I've Been Lovin'
You and Stairway To Heaven. The Song Remains The Same becomes The Rain Song. In 1977, they did an acoustic set
in the middle - wow! Their last show, Berlin 1980, is easily found. Page and Plant shows recapture the Zeppelin glory.
You haven't heard The Who till you've heard The Who At Woodstock. Hear Pete Townshend kick hippy-leader Abbie
Hoffman off the stage. Who shows are full of energy. You can hear Pete and Roger explain songs and even do a bit
of storytelling during 1996-97's Quadophenia tours. Who demos by Pete, are breathtaking. Music Must Change has
Who Are You demos - start there and then get Tommy demos. There's a 4 cd bootleg with Keith Moon on the BBC doing
comedy. And dozens of Townshend solo songs that're just as good as anything The Who ever did!
Pink Floyd shows from the late 60's and early 70's are a trip to another world. Once I understood it, I knew what music I'd
be listening to after 2am from then on. Pink Floyd made some great music at their BBC performances - none have been officially
released and the quality of the bootlegs is 99% as good as the real thing. I have both of David Gilmour's official cds and
have a bunch of his life shows. Do yourself a favor and try them out. One David Gilmour bootleg has him playing a few songs
with the band he was in before Pink Floyd - its got a late-50's sound to it and is as far from psychedelic as it gets!
Dylan's Newport 1965 show is the one where he first went electric! This was never officially released but its history. The Grateful Dead at the Pyramids in 1978. Bob Marley's last show - Pittsburgh, 1980. There's a well known bootleg with
Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison together at the Scene Club jamming on stage together. Jim is wasted and sings some nasty
lyrics. It sounds good and is as funny as any comedy I have. What a moment!
The Police knew how to rock. Sting still does - there are some incredibly sounding live shows of his out there. For the Stones, 1969 and anything from the 70's will do the job. I have a bunch of Donovan's official cds and therefore found some bootlegs - live shows and even studio outtakes. I love his psychedelic lullabies.
There are lots of bootlegs out there for Woodstock, Monterey, Isle of Wight and other great rock festivals. Check out my Woodstock Project site.
And more and more ..
If that won't tempt you into bootlegs, nothing will! Want some? My links page has
links to a bunch of cool bootleg sites.
Kenny Sahr
