Late 60’s and early 70’s bootlegs were fun to find and collect. I have more than a few in my collection. I can recall trolling through Peaches and Rocky Mountain Records and Tapes bins grabbing everyone I could find. Did the same thing for Imports. Made collecting really fun.
Led Zep-Going to California was a great ole boot as well as, Blueberry Hill, Mudslide and Gone to California . Used to have all of them. I remember back in the day walking down the boardwalk and seeing a rack outside a music shop for $4.99 a piece.(singles)
Yes alternative mixes demos live unique TV recordings early mixes & as you say home demos all fascinating for the true collector who has everything official .
I’ve only recently started getting into vinyls and your channel has been so helpful and insightful. I saw in a local record store a bootleg of Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange (I’m pretty sure that never released in vinyl) and a copy of Blonde, which I believe was very a limited release. I didn’t buy them because I knew they were bootlegs and wasn’t sure about sound quality but I love Frank Ocean so now I’m having second thoughts!
Nice selections and video. I had a record store in the late 80s/90s and we more or less serviced the "collectors" market. Before we even opened, I was already determined to find a bootleg wholesaler. I am old enough to remember seeing all those TMOQ boots not long after they were released. I was very very young and a total Beatles freak. I don't know if I ever quite grasped the concept of what I was buying, they were just Beatle records I didn't have, so - gotta have em! Not long after we opened our store the famous SwingingPig "Beatles Ultra Rare Trax Vol 1 & 2" CDs came out and blew everybody away in terms of quality and the fact that a new bootleg era had arrived with boots pressed to CDs. I eventually just started asking some of the import distributors we had a good relationships with if they new where to get bootleg CDs or vinyl and a couple started doing small orders with us but appeared to be paranoid about going any deeper than that. They might've had good reason. Not long after the Beatles CDs arrived Rolling Stone did an article on the Beatles CDs and the new releases "Zeppelin over Nuremberg" and some Guns and Roses bootleg CD. This sent Geffen Records into a frenzy and they began to keep an eye on the situation. Which brings up a good example of the other Boogie man to watch out for: the record labels. Let's be honest, most of the time it was the major labels that either owned most of the rights to the performance AND music publishing - which is where the REAL money is. And here are some scumbags trying to pick GNRs publishing out of David Geffen's pocket???? The nerve! For the longest time, however, it WAS a risk to either manufacture or distribute bootlegs wholesale or retail. Years after I had closed up shop, there was a record store here in town that was shut down for selling Dave Matthew's bootleg CDs, of all things. How did he get popped? One day the DMB came to town to do a concert. There was another music store down the block where one of Dave Matthew's management team was schmoozing the owner. And the owner just happened to let it slip that there was a Rogue element down the block who had the audacity to be selling DMB concert recordings on CD and what did he think about that? Well, they got raided by the FBI and that was the end of their story. I never confirmed this, but I'm pretty sure the guy who got popped was making them too. CD burners had just become a thing, and this doucher that owned the place could NOT keep his mouth shut. He was his own worst enemy. He was a compulsive liar and regaled me many times with stories I knew for a fact were complete fantasy, just to build some kind of rep for himself.Because he did that to everyone. Turning someone in is the kind of thing I would have normally frowned upon. But I knew both parties. Because the arrested party was really somewhat of a cancre on the local music scene, it was hard to feel bad for him or condemn the squealer. I figured it was a draw. Later on that guy who was arrested moved about 100 miles away and opened another music store. But, instead of bootlegs, he started selling the "fake pot" or "spice" or whatever the hell they called it. When our state made it illegal he kept on keeping on! And once again, our hero got arrested but got in a shit load of trouble that time. I'm pretty sure he had to go sit down for awhile, if you know what I mean. Fast forward to the present and it's a whole new ballgame. Are there any majors left besides Universal and Sony? They would probably welcome the free publicity bootlegs generate nowadays. I wouldn't be advertising Lada Gaga soundboard vinyl LPs for sale, but beyond that, I would guess the risk of prosecution has been severely minimized. And as far as bands go, it looks like they sort of stood down on the issue after the tragic farce of Metallica suing their fans for downloading legit releases. If it were up to most bands to prosecute, I would imagine the cost of hiring an attorney local to the area to sue the distributors would be cost prohibitive. I'm not gonna say that I am friends with a LOT of professional and in some cases famous or infamous groups, but the few I do know are super laid back about it to the point of collecting their own bootlegs. There is even a tape out there in bootleg land of a conversation with Mick Jagger and a record store owner recorded while Mick shopped for Stones bootlegs. Mick says "I know some of these are pretty good but like this one is pretty lousy". He ends up giving the guy Bill Wyman's address to have the records shipped overseas. And we all know Mick would have the juice to have the guy de-kneecapped if he was truly uptight about it. (And no, Mick was not one of the musicians I knew). OH - one last thing about when my store finally found a volume bootleg CD/LP wholesaler. It was a one man operation from the New York area and not only was he super paranoid, he was really suspect. I never met him personally, only dealt with him over the phone, where he would call me to schedule a call and then he'd go to a pay phone to call me. I had visions of him, not necessarily what you would call "mobbed up", but I could see him being some mafioso's nephew or cousin. Once when we hit a brief slump in sales and got just a little behind on paying him, I was threatened every time I talked to the guy until he was paid off. 'Am I gonna have to come down there to take care of this? Trust me, you don't know who you are f*****g around with!" He could have been bluffing too - but the truth was he had the set up to front me $5000 worth of bootlegs (after taking the huge risk of sending cash up front on the first order which he actually referred to as "breaking your cherry"!) and this was technically an illegal enterprise so I was not going to try and call his bluff. We paid him off and by then bootleg wholesalers seemed to be everywhere so we moved on. Wow- thanks for letting me take up ll this space here. I have always loved to collect bootleg vinyl, CDs, cassettes and of course now you can download every bootleg that ever existed. For awhile I used to tape my favorite bands but ultimately the experience of going to a show and getting your rocks off won out over standing still and worrying about being quiet because you have a tape rolling after going through the hassle of smuggling equipment into the venue. Plus it kills me these days going to a show and seeing nothing but a sea of cell phones in the air. I figured someone needed to pay attention to the band so I made the sacrifice. Keep on rockin' in the free world!
There is a cool video around here of when Neil Young found some of his boots in a record shop and confronted the store owner. Seek it out. You inspired me to show some of my boots from back before digital times.
Nice to hear a younger persons perspective about boots. I (being ancient) bought my first one early 1973, Led Zep's Mudslide, cost me £2.25p (4 maybe 5 $). I also bought going to Cal... TMQ double colour vinyl same as yours, different colour sleeve though, pastel cream, that one was £4.25p (8 maybe 10 $), Blueberry Hill was that price too. The Doors album you showed is a counterfeit, not a bootleg.
Really cool video. I love seeing other people's records and hearing their stories about them. I have maybe 15 bootleg records. Some Pink Floyd, a few Nirvana bootlegs, a few Rolling Stones and a few Led Zeppelin boots, even a Queen bootleg. Maybe I should feel guilty about them, but I enjoy them too much. Really looking forward to seeing your Led Zeppelin collection!
Kurt Reichenbaugh I don’t feel guilty about them because the more bootlegs I get the more I am interested in the band. I have purchased everything on vinyl that zeppelin and Floyd ever released, so I’m in full support of the bands. Thanks for watching!!!
I find it interesting how a lot of bands would issue official albums that were made to look like bootlegs (The Beatles with the white album, The Who with Live At Leeds, Led Zeppelin with In Through The Out Door)
my intro to boots was similar to yours. my friends older brother when i was 14 had a copy of the who " closer to queen mary" tmoq label. powder blue jacket w/ blue stamp. on clear blue wax. thought i was going to pass out! later i sent for a catalog from the back of rolling stone from a place called " still rare records" if im not mistaken they were from Carolina not sure n or s. anyway 1lp 3.50 2 lp 7.50 etc. and my sickness began.
I had bootlegs of all of System Of A Down's albums, and Alice In Chains Facelift since they never re released then after the original releases. SOAD finally reissued their albums, now for Alice to do it
4:24 - 'Some of the top bands that were bootlegged...' You forgot to mention the Beatles - if I'm not mistaken, they're the most bootlegged band in history.
Assisted Listening Devices and Radio/TV/Web Broadcasts are also sources. Also, may want to distinguish between a bootleg, counterfeit and pirate recordings. Many people use them interchangeably, they are not the same.
Just bought an unofficial pressing of Cake's Fashion Nugget on yellow vinyl from Rollinrecs. Didn't think I'd ever be able to get a copy of this record on vinyl!
I picked up a couple of their boots went abroad for a few years came back in 84 and there was a booklet out detailing appro 500 radio shows and boots so I stopped collecting their stuff.
Great video Dillon! I have a question about bootleg pressings, how did many of these LPs get pressed? From what I understand, the process of pressing an LP is difficult and requires a lot of equipment. Did these guys invest in their own machinery to press these bootlegs?
What I understand that a bootleg is - Studio outtake, radio & television performance and a live concert recording that is not authorized for release. A counterfeit is a copy of a record, my first copy of the Beatles "Let It Be" album was a counterfeit. It even included "Phil + Ronnie" in the dead wax. A Pirate is a record of legitimately released items in a different order. You are right about William Shakespear as he never authorized any of his work to be published. So everyone that bought any book that is written by Shakespear has partaken in bootlegging.
Got a question for you..I have checked and I cant find it online but I have a bootleg of CSN in the studio and there are a couple of songs on there that I have never heard them play..either live or on lp/cd cassette etc.Ever heard of it. I almost forgot..If you are seriously seeking recordings of you favorite artist..check out guitars 101.all i am gonna say.
I’m a year late but... just look through the bins at your local record store. Found a Soviet Beatles “Help” bootleg for like $15. Take your time and look. It’s crazy what people just pass over.
@@natalierichardson6707 I think I know what your talking about the help Russian release is a bootleg I have some Rolling Stones cds that are Russian pressings when they came out on Vinyl they were British records printed in the U.K but on cd there Russian imports that are bootlegs I just found out the Russian stones pressings were bootlegs
I'm a fellow vinyl bootleg lover. Now I'm gonna research Mike the Mic. Never heard of him. I really want to get some Beatles Soviet Union X-ray bootlegs. Do you have any to show us? Apologies, if you've already covered this.
My top bootleg is The Rolling Stones Live’r Then You’ll Ever Be Oakland show November 9th 1969, brought it in 1970, I think it’s still the Stones best live album 😊
Dillon, you need to read "Bootleg: The secret history of the other recording industry" by Clinton Heylin. Gives the lowdown about the bootleg industry. Specifics about Rubber Dubber, TMQ, TMOQ, TAKRL and many others. A couple of points, first bootlegs were not illegal was a very grey area at the time most of these 60s and 70s recordings were made. ASCAP and BMI had to have legislation enacted to try and stop the bootleg industry. Second the TMOQ colored final is second or third generation as most of the initial albums were black vinyl. A guy nicknamed "Dub" who was one of the originators has/had a site that got into the history of TMOQ, very interesting read. The book also details the artwork of Robert Stout who was very prominent in those early pressings. Most art was on a 8 x 11.5 xerox copy inserted into the shrink. Anything larger than that is again a later pressing. Third, the Doors you showed is a pirated cover, was the record an exact copy of the original? I've collected boots for a long time and probably have a couple of hundred of various artists. BTW I like your vibe! Cheers
I remember the bootlegs that came along in the Nineties -- there was a tremendous number of Nirvana boots. In fact, what killed the Nirvana bootleg market was the box let that came out around 2002 -- it had decent sounding versions of all those songs. I remember one of the bootleg labels was called Kiss The Stone. There was a great Smashing Pumpkins unplugged boot (from a Paris show, I think) which came out on that label.
justin patterson well some artists get their bootleg tapes and issue them officially which makes them official releases and not bootlegs. It can be a marketing scheme. That’s probably what they did. Dylan and Zappa did that too.
happyhippy the vinyl guy ,some of the biggest bootlegs come from the U.K famous for bootlegging American Music,from Rock ,Soul ... I’ve picked up good pressed bootleg records sound very good better then the original press
great cast man. Remember to differentiate between bootleg, pirate and counterfeit. As an example, Bob Dylan GWW, is a bootleg, The Doors is a pirate and Zay Z is a counterfeit.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that there are collectors out there who don't know what a bootleg is, but I kinda was. I remember there were bootleg labels that could be relied on to have better quality material. Trademark of Quality was one of them. The ToC release of David Bowie Santa Monica was superb. The official CD release was taken from an off air recording that had been recorded with automatic recording level, so when the band kicked in, the volume suddenly dropped. I only played once. Bootlegs are illegal, period. I doubt anyone would get into trouble for owning one, but selling them is different. Try to sell a bootleg on Discogs, or Ebay. If it's a known boot, it;ll be blocked. If it's a less familiar one, you may get away with it until the copyright owners find out.
The only bootleg i own is Limp Bizkit chocolate starfish on white marble lp it said import but im not upset it sounds absolutely killer even tho the pa stamp on the front is huge lol but u know
... selling bootlegs is illegal ... or at least they used to be .... about 15 years ago, while setting up at our local record show in Des Moines, Iowa, about 15 minutes before the doors opened, all of us dealers got a heads-up by the promoter to put any and all bootleg albums and CD's under our tables ... he had seen what he suspected were law enforcement agents waiting at the front of the line ... there was one dealer, from out-of-state next to me that had nothing but bootleg CD's for sale, his table would have been empty because that's all he had with him, so he took a chance and left them all out ... sure enough, when the doors opened, about 5 local, state and federal agents busted the poor guy ... they inventoried and confiscated all his stuff, packed it into boxes, loaded it all into a van and after about an hour of checking out everybody else's tables, etc, they took the guy away in handcuffs ... I haven't heard of anything like that happening locally since then.
During the late 80s and early 80s bootlegs were huge grails and you would be shaking trees looking for them. They were hard to find them and still hard to find now. Now Russia prints and sells them to the mass market. Lol. At least Discogs considers them a bootleg. Funny how you had companies put out bootlegs in volume, how did they not get shut down? I just picked up a Pink Floyd bootleg that must have been recorded from the sound board. I was looking at another one but it was an audience recording and it did sound awful. Fun stuff, I love finding bootlegs just hard to find. Steve
Springsteen was a much-bootlegged artist because of his legendary live shows. Of course over the last few years he has gone back and officially released many of these performances, but in his early days (especially before he had released any official live albums) there was a lot of surreptitious recording going on. I haven't even looked at my bootlegs in a long time but I have one of him at Winterland in 1978 (or at least that's what I think it is lol), and as I recall the sound isn't too bad. I believe I also have a Van Morrison boot of some kind and maybe a Dylan too. Now that I'm back into vinyl I may have to pull these out and see what they are. :)
Cool video...thanks for all that information. What's up with VeeJay Introducing the Beatles? Why are so many of those called bootlegs? Didn't VeeJay have the rights? I have one that is a bootleg but I've never known why they're called bootlegs. I used to have tons of Grateful Dead tapes. Never paid for one...just the cost of the blank tape...gave 'em all away now. Enjoyed it - thanks!
Randall Weaver VJ did have the rights but only for a short time. The only album they had the authority to produce was “introducing the Beatles” but a lot of bootlegs got out that we’re allegedly by VJ but probably just by some bootleggers using the name.
I think you might be a tad mixed up. The artist was actually called William Stout. Robert Crumb did do some artwork that was related to musical culture and the hippie movement.
My first bootleg was Paul McCartney in Scotland, 1975... I paid for it too, if you know what I mean. I get it home and the sound was horrible. Now, I'll wait for him to pass and sell for a profit.. (ouch, that sounded bad....sorry Sir Paul).
What puzzles me is they mass produce these in Europe, South America Etc. Ok, I can see them getting away with that, but then there are US Distributors that are selling them en masse. In fact I just bought (3) GNR Boots this past week. How do the US Distributors freely sell them with no issue with the law?
There are dozens of Led Zeppelin bootlegs considering their manager, Peter Grant, hated them. But most bands record all of their shows to listen to next day for quality the audience hears, and they ‘get lost’!
My guess is that the 2010s vinyl boots would better than the older ones of the same recording. The cd versions of many came from better sources as they went through the years, and I'm sure the Vinyl now comes from those improved sources. The Beatles Star Club '62 is waaay better sounding than the first vinyl versions. On the other side, Your Rubber Dubber Zeppelin LA 70 (the only pressing) is the only source for that recording (though there's at least 6 of that show), as is Going To California and For Badgeholders Only.
Pretty much got the law down right It's illegal to manufacture and sell the bootlegs but the bootleg itself isn't actually contraband that's illegal to own. Same with those game consoles you get off Ebay or Alibaba that are obviously filled with stolen roms It's not illegal to buy and own them but the manufacturer and distributor can get into deep shit if someone ever tracks them down and catches them
Great video thanks for the info, im just getting into vinyl properly now and just bought (i think) my first bootleg from ebay sold listing 153765786517 quality looks amazing, from the casino records entertainment press? managed to get a load of liam gallagher stuff from LA to the UK. crazy
Great video and excellent information. I know in the 80's there were what looked like legitimate repress's of VJ Beatle Lp's sold right in big name record stores. A friend who owned a record store once showed me a copy of a recently released Billy Joel LP, except for a few tell tale signs it looked legit right down to the Columbia label , but in reality it was a well crafted Russian boot. Speaking of Russian bootlegs, have you ever seen the records that they cut on old xrays?? Talk about a flexi picture disc. Take care
Hi again, noble , don't know your actual name but my first comment ( actually a question ) must not have appeared; let me know and I'll repost it for you but I basically asked you if you collect Beatles bootlegs and which ones do you have?
philip franklin hey! I have had a lot Of Beatles bootlegs in the past but don’t have many now. My buddy Mazzy has a ton and recently made a video. He’s a Beatles genius. Here’s a link: ua-cam.com/video/pBOvfVdLLjE/v-deo.html
I just bought a Sodom/Hellhammer split bootleg and there’s a song missing from one of the albums despite the fact it is listed on the LP itself. Another thing to be aware of buying bootleg records
i have been collecting Pink Floyd bootlegs for many years. I see the bootleggers ( like Miller) people who have captured a concert forever, a piece of history. Studio outtakes are also good for the more enthusiastic fan. But studio copies are not bootlegs they are counterfeits, like fake Channel perfume. My bootleg albums and CD's give me hours of pleasure because pink Floyd in the 70's played their live material very different from the studio release.
I was fairly clear on the whole concept since I collect action figures and there are several bootlegs in that world too. I think you did a good job on this video. My question is, do you actually enjoy listening to these or just collecting them?
Funny thing is, Bootlegs wound up winning the war anyway though it took decades for the artists, managers & industry to come around to the fan's way of thinking. It was stupid to waste so much money for them to get all those busts of people from the 70's on, because look at the internet today. They're all over. And if any of the artists are still upset about "bad night concerts out there", well, welcome to finding out you're a human being, because the fans are largely joyfully celebrating all the legit issues since that time! Come off the high horse & understand your FANS for once.
@@noblerecords can a album with outtakes that was never officially released be a bootleg I know some studio albums and cds by all artists can be bootlegs they can make up there own record label to print that record or cd and sell it and make profit a legally
I collect the Byrds and I'm pissed off I paid good money for radio shows and now most of the live ones are being released and I have ended up buying stuff I already have. I have all their lp boots too. They have the worst boot to their credit the original live in Lincoln not only is it appalling quality but some of it is live in Amsterdam. I draw the line however at companies releasing official releases in different color vinyl it is a rip off to far. There are Italian releases that were official there but classed as bootlegs here. Stuff from the east pays no royalties therefore are a strange case. My gripe is I buy a second hand record the artist receives no royalties yet secondhand boots are banned on e bay discogs etc because of the royalties so called argument. You forgot to mention things like the Michael Jackson picture discs which are both boots and counterfeits which is some achievement. A russian made up some picture sleeves for Beatle singles which were revealed as a con yet today are extremely collectable. Theres an interesting book about the subject but I forget title and author it had a white cover. You should tell your viewers to beware many boots are shite. Interesting topic lets see your zep/yardbirds radio shows please.
My first bootleg album was Kiss Fried Alive on marble vinyl.
Late 60’s and early 70’s bootlegs were fun to find and collect. I have more than a few in my collection. I can recall trolling through Peaches and Rocky Mountain Records and Tapes bins grabbing everyone I could find. Did the same thing for Imports. Made collecting really fun.
Led Zep-Going to California was a great ole boot as well as, Blueberry Hill, Mudslide and Gone to California . Used to have all of them. I remember back in the day walking down the boardwalk and seeing a rack outside a music shop for $4.99 a piece.(singles)
Bootlegs also consist of alternate takes, home recording, and studio takes
Yes alternative mixes demos live unique TV recordings early mixes & as you say home demos all fascinating for the true collector who has everything official .
I’ve only recently started getting into vinyls and your channel has been so helpful and insightful. I saw in a local record store a bootleg of Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange (I’m pretty sure that never released in vinyl) and a copy of Blonde, which I believe was very a limited release. I didn’t buy them because I knew they were bootlegs and wasn’t sure about sound quality but I love Frank Ocean so now I’m having second thoughts!
Nice selections and video.
I had a record store in the late 80s/90s and we more or less serviced the "collectors" market. Before we even opened, I was already determined to find a bootleg wholesaler.
I am old enough to remember seeing all those TMOQ boots not long after they were released. I was very very young and a total Beatles freak. I don't know if I ever quite grasped the concept of what I was buying, they were just Beatle records I didn't have, so - gotta have em!
Not long after we opened our store the famous SwingingPig "Beatles Ultra Rare Trax Vol 1 & 2" CDs came out and blew everybody away in terms of quality and the fact that a new bootleg era had arrived with boots pressed to CDs. I eventually just started asking some of the import distributors we had a good relationships with if they new where to get bootleg CDs or vinyl and a couple started doing small orders with us but appeared to be paranoid about going any deeper than that.
They might've had good reason. Not long after the Beatles CDs arrived Rolling Stone did an article on the Beatles CDs and the new releases "Zeppelin over Nuremberg" and some Guns and Roses bootleg CD. This sent Geffen Records into a frenzy and they began to keep an eye on the situation.
Which brings up a good example of the other Boogie man to watch out for: the record labels. Let's be honest, most of the time it was the major labels that either owned most of the rights to the performance AND music publishing - which is where the REAL money is. And here are some scumbags trying to pick GNRs publishing out of David Geffen's pocket???? The nerve!
For the longest time, however, it WAS a risk to either manufacture or distribute bootlegs wholesale or retail. Years after I had closed up shop, there was a record store here in town that was shut down for selling Dave Matthew's bootleg CDs, of all things.
How did he get popped? One day the DMB came to town to do a concert. There was another music store down the block where one of Dave Matthew's management team was schmoozing the owner. And the owner just happened to let it slip that there was a Rogue element down the block who had the audacity to be selling DMB concert recordings on CD and what did he think about that? Well, they got raided by the FBI and that was the end of their story.
I never confirmed this, but I'm pretty sure the guy who got popped was making them too. CD burners had just become a thing, and this doucher that owned the place could NOT keep his mouth shut. He was his own worst enemy. He was a compulsive liar and regaled me many times with stories I knew for a fact were complete fantasy, just to build some kind of rep for himself.Because he did that to everyone.
Turning someone in is the kind of thing I would have normally frowned upon. But I knew both parties. Because the arrested party was really somewhat of a cancre on the local music scene, it was hard to feel bad for him or condemn the squealer. I figured it was a draw.
Later on that guy who was arrested moved about 100 miles away and opened another music store. But, instead of bootlegs, he started selling the "fake pot" or "spice" or whatever the hell they called it. When our state made it illegal he kept on keeping on! And once again, our hero got arrested but got in a shit load of trouble that time. I'm pretty sure he had to go sit down for awhile, if you know what I mean.
Fast forward to the present and it's a whole new ballgame. Are there any majors left besides Universal and Sony? They would probably welcome the free publicity bootlegs generate nowadays. I wouldn't be advertising Lada Gaga soundboard vinyl LPs for sale, but beyond that, I would guess the risk of prosecution has been severely minimized.
And as far as bands go, it looks like they sort of stood down on the issue after the tragic farce of Metallica suing their fans for downloading legit releases.
If it were up to most bands to prosecute, I would imagine the cost of hiring an attorney local to the area to sue the distributors would be cost prohibitive. I'm not gonna say that I am friends with a LOT of professional and in some cases famous or infamous groups, but the few I do know are super laid back about it to the point of collecting their own bootlegs. There is even a tape out there in bootleg land of a conversation with Mick Jagger and a record store owner recorded while Mick shopped for Stones bootlegs. Mick says "I know some of these are pretty good but like this one is pretty lousy". He ends up giving the guy Bill Wyman's address to have the records shipped overseas. And we all know Mick would have the juice to have the guy de-kneecapped if he was truly uptight about it. (And no, Mick was not one of the musicians I knew).
OH - one last thing about when my store finally found a volume bootleg CD/LP wholesaler. It was a one man operation from the New York area and not only was he super paranoid, he was really suspect. I never met him personally, only dealt with him over the phone, where he would call me to schedule a call and then he'd go to a pay phone to call me. I had visions of him, not necessarily what you would call "mobbed up", but I could see him being some mafioso's nephew or cousin. Once when we hit a brief slump in sales and got just a little behind on paying him, I was threatened every time I talked to the guy until he was paid off. 'Am I gonna have to come down there to take care of this? Trust me, you don't know who you are f*****g around with!" He could have been bluffing too - but the truth was he had the set up to front me $5000 worth of bootlegs (after taking the huge risk of sending cash up front on the first order which he actually referred to as "breaking your cherry"!) and this was technically an illegal enterprise so I was not going to try and call his bluff. We paid him off and by then bootleg wholesalers seemed to be everywhere so we moved on.
Wow- thanks for letting me take up ll this space here. I have always loved to collect bootleg vinyl, CDs, cassettes and of course now you can download every bootleg that ever existed. For awhile I used to tape my favorite bands but ultimately the experience of going to a show and getting your rocks off won out over standing still and worrying about being quiet because you have a tape rolling after going through the hassle of smuggling equipment into the venue.
Plus it kills me these days going to a show and seeing nothing but a sea of cell phones in the air. I figured someone needed to pay attention to the band so I made the sacrifice.
Keep on rockin' in the free world!
There is a cool video around here of when Neil Young found some of his boots in a record shop and confronted the store owner. Seek it out. You inspired me to show some of my boots from back before digital times.
Norman Maslov haha yes I’ve seen that one! Very funny video 🤣
Nice to hear a younger persons perspective about boots. I (being ancient) bought my first one early 1973, Led Zep's Mudslide, cost me £2.25p (4 maybe 5 $). I also bought going to Cal... TMQ double colour vinyl same as yours, different colour sleeve though, pastel cream, that one was £4.25p (8 maybe 10 $), Blueberry Hill was that price too. The Doors album you showed is a counterfeit, not a bootleg.
Really cool video. I love seeing other people's records and hearing their stories about them. I have maybe 15 bootleg records. Some Pink Floyd, a few Nirvana bootlegs, a few Rolling Stones and a few Led Zeppelin boots, even a Queen bootleg. Maybe I should feel guilty about them, but I enjoy them too much. Really looking forward to seeing your Led Zeppelin collection!
Kurt Reichenbaugh I don’t feel guilty about them because the more bootlegs I get the more I am interested in the band. I have purchased everything on vinyl that zeppelin and Floyd ever released, so I’m in full support of the bands. Thanks for watching!!!
I find it interesting how a lot of bands would issue official albums that were made to look like bootlegs (The Beatles with the white album, The Who with Live At Leeds, Led Zeppelin with In Through The Out Door)
The 1st pressing cover-of great white wonder was blink. The 2-lP has a serial number
my intro to boots was similar to yours. my friends older brother when i was 14 had a copy of the who " closer to queen mary" tmoq label. powder blue jacket w/ blue stamp. on clear blue wax. thought i was going to pass out! later i sent for a catalog from the back of rolling stone from a place called " still rare records" if im not mistaken they were from Carolina not sure n or s. anyway 1lp 3.50 2 lp 7.50 etc. and my sickness began.
I had bootlegs of all of System Of A Down's albums, and Alice In Chains Facelift since they never re released then after the original releases.
SOAD finally reissued their albums, now for Alice to do it
Very cool and informative. I love Eddie Van Halen and that booleg named because of him cracks me up.
Melinda Murphy haha yeah! It’s a great one though.
Everyone Read Bootleg: a history by Heylin
4:24 - 'Some of the top bands that were bootlegged...' You forgot to mention the Beatles - if I'm not mistaken, they're the most bootlegged band in history.
Assisted Listening Devices and Radio/TV/Web Broadcasts are also sources. Also, may want to distinguish between a bootleg, counterfeit and pirate recordings. Many people use them interchangeably, they are not the same.
Just bought an unofficial pressing of Cake's Fashion Nugget on yellow vinyl from Rollinrecs. Didn't think I'd ever be able to get a copy of this record on vinyl!
You know your stuff laddie, great video once more!
Love boots! I picked up lots of REM bootlegs back in the 80s, LP and cassette, really got me more into the band. Thanx for your take on it😎
Darren Krivit thanks for watching! I’ve had a few REM boots over the years!
I picked up a couple of their boots went abroad for a few years came back in 84 and there was a booklet out detailing appro 500 radio shows and boots so I stopped collecting their stuff.
Great video Dillon! I have a question about bootleg pressings, how did many of these LPs get pressed? From what I understand, the process of pressing an LP is difficult and requires a lot of equipment. Did these guys invest in their own machinery to press these bootlegs?
That’s kind of what I was wondering haha
Do you make mixtapes out of your bootlegs?
What I understand that a bootleg is - Studio outtake, radio & television performance and a live concert recording that is not authorized for release.
A counterfeit is a copy of a record, my first copy of the Beatles "Let It Be" album was a counterfeit. It even included "Phil + Ronnie" in the dead wax.
A Pirate is a record of legitimately released items in a different order. You are right about William Shakespear as he never authorized any of his work to be published. So everyone that bought any book that is written by Shakespear has partaken in bootlegging.
I've always wanted to hear a Grateful Dead or Pink Floyd bootleg! This was quite an interesting video! Learned a lot!
MikeGuitarPlayer07 ua-cam.com/video/_-BNvHmP66c/v-deo.html
I love my Stones bootlegs. Bought a lot of them in the 1970s, often shortly after the Stones would finish a tour.
Gary Kuhlmann there are some great stones bootlegs!
i think the bootlegs i got are Macadelic(?) faces and i love life thank you mac vinyls but can you tell if they don't have a barcode?
Do you have any sort of Beatles collection? Would love to see your collection and especially bootlegs.
Got a question for you..I have checked and I cant find it online but I have a bootleg of CSN in the studio and there are a couple of songs on there that I have never heard them play..either live or on lp/cd cassette etc.Ever heard of it. I almost forgot..If you are seriously seeking recordings of you favorite artist..check out guitars 101.all i am gonna say.
What record plants & presses issued the boots?
This might be a common question now but do you collect Beatles bootlegs and have a video on them, if so ?
I may still have a few...
I’m a year late but... just look through the bins at your local record store. Found a Soviet Beatles “Help” bootleg for like $15. Take your time and look. It’s crazy what people just pass over.
@@natalierichardson6707 I think I know what your talking about the help Russian release is a bootleg I have some Rolling Stones cds that are Russian pressings when they came out on Vinyl they were British records printed in the U.K but on cd there Russian imports that are bootlegs I just found out the Russian stones pressings were bootlegs
I'm a fellow vinyl bootleg lover. Now I'm gonna research Mike the Mic. Never heard of him. I really want to get some Beatles Soviet Union X-ray bootlegs. Do you have any to show us? Apologies, if you've already covered this.
My top bootleg is The Rolling Stones Live’r Then You’ll Ever Be Oakland show November 9th 1969, brought it in 1970, I think it’s still the Stones best live album 😊
Enjoyed it A LOT
Dillon, you need to read "Bootleg: The secret history of the other recording industry" by Clinton Heylin. Gives the lowdown about the bootleg industry. Specifics about Rubber Dubber, TMQ, TMOQ, TAKRL and many others. A couple of points, first bootlegs were not illegal was a very grey area at the time most of these 60s and 70s recordings were made. ASCAP and BMI had to have legislation enacted to try and stop the bootleg industry. Second the TMOQ colored final is second or third generation as most of the initial albums were black vinyl. A guy nicknamed "Dub" who was one of the originators has/had a site that got into the history of TMOQ, very interesting read. The book also details the artwork of Robert Stout who was very prominent in those early pressings. Most art was on a 8 x 11.5 xerox copy inserted into the shrink. Anything larger than that is again a later pressing. Third, the Doors you showed is a pirated cover, was the record an exact copy of the original? I've collected boots for a long time and probably have a couple of hundred of various artists. BTW I like your vibe! Cheers
Michael Danieli good info! I’d love to read that book!
Finally heard somebody else bring up Mike Millard.
All the records I heard from Mike are heard sucks amateur at best like hundreds do not stand out as better or different sorry 😔
I remember the bootlegs that came along in the Nineties -- there was a tremendous number of Nirvana boots. In fact, what killed the Nirvana bootleg market was the box let that came out around 2002 -- it had decent sounding versions of all those songs. I remember one of the bootleg labels was called Kiss The Stone. There was a great Smashing Pumpkins unplugged boot (from a Paris show, I think) which came out on that label.
That’s interesting! Thanks for watching! 🙏
Have you got any Genesis with phil collins era bootlegs or phil collins solo bootlegs?
I know a guy in Toronto, Canada who has over 1500 Grateful Dead bootleg tapes.
Is the kiss vinnie vincent brazil promo a bootleg?
Can you tell me, why if it’s illegal, Phish has a bootleg series and the band selling them. Is there something call license bootlegs
justin patterson well some artists get their bootleg tapes and issue them officially which makes them official releases and not bootlegs. It can be a marketing scheme. That’s probably what they did. Dylan and Zappa did that too.
Bootlegs were fun to buy but the sound always kinda sucked. That being said I use to buy and trade Dead tapes. Lol. Enjoyed it man
happyhippy the vinyl guy ,some of the biggest bootlegs come from the U.K famous for bootlegging American Music,from Rock ,Soul ... I’ve picked up good pressed bootleg records sound very good better then the original press
GREAT , VIDEO I ALSO LOVE BOOTLEGS , SOMEONE SAID YOU CAN GET A LOT BOOTLEGS IN JAPAN, I DON,T KNOW IF THAT S TRUE. ENJOYED IT MUCH PAUL
PabloRock that’s interesting! I would love to go to Japan to look for vinyl!
You can definitely get a lot of bootleg cds from Japan still have not seen much vinyl though
great cast man. Remember to differentiate between bootleg, pirate and counterfeit. As an example, Bob Dylan GWW, is a bootleg, The Doors is a pirate and Zay Z is a counterfeit.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that there are collectors out there who don't know what a bootleg is, but I kinda was. I remember there were bootleg labels that could be relied on to have better quality material. Trademark of Quality was one of them. The ToC release of David Bowie Santa Monica was superb. The official CD release was taken from an off air recording that had been recorded with automatic recording level, so when the band kicked in, the volume suddenly dropped. I only played once.
Bootlegs are illegal, period. I doubt anyone would get into trouble for owning one, but selling them is different. Try to sell a bootleg on Discogs, or Ebay. If it's a known boot, it;ll be blocked. If it's a less familiar one, you may get away with it until the copyright owners find out.
I have the Enjoy Jimi Hendrix Bootleg vinyl. Wish it was in better condition , however lol.
I'm learning english with Dillon. Thanks Dude 👍
Thanks,love your videos.
Glue eater 500 thanks for watching!
thanks you best regards
Holy shit I didn't know one of the best record stores in CLT had a youtube channel
I love my Kate bush Bootlegs one i own is called a bird in the hand IS WORTH TWO IN THE (BUSH) SOME bootlegs albums are superb ..
The only bootleg i own is Limp Bizkit chocolate starfish on white marble lp it said import but im not upset it sounds absolutely killer even tho the pa stamp on the front is huge lol but u know
Superb video enjoyed it
At a garage sale I purchased an original copy of "Pb" by LZ. Bwahahahaaha...
Awesome! I wish lol...
... selling bootlegs is illegal ... or at least they used to be .... about 15 years ago, while setting up at our local record show in Des Moines, Iowa, about 15 minutes before the doors opened, all of us dealers got a heads-up by the promoter to put any and all bootleg albums and CD's under our tables ... he had seen what he suspected were law enforcement agents waiting at the front of the line ... there was one dealer, from out-of-state next to me that had nothing but bootleg CD's for sale, his table would have been empty because that's all he had with him, so he took a chance and left them all out ... sure enough, when the doors opened, about 5 local, state and federal agents busted the poor guy ... they inventoried and confiscated all his stuff, packed it into boxes, loaded it all into a van and after about an hour of checking out everybody else's tables, etc, they took the guy away in handcuffs ... I haven't heard of anything like that happening locally since then.
MondosBongos that’s nuts. I know they cracked down on it more in the 70s and 80s. Who knows. 🤣
You have forgotten the whitelabel bootlegs that in the electronic scene are also big.
Iv some amazing ABBA Bootlegs also .
Love the Zumbo lp!
would the doors be a pirate or a boot?
Neither, it looked like a counterfeit to me, probably from Asia not likely from some guy in the US who had a lathe or cutting machine in his basement.
Well you may have started a bookleg thread. I added my two cents this morning after viewing yours.
Norman Maslov loved your video mazzzzz
Hi. In Scotland it is illegal to reseĺl bootlegs . It is called resetting. Selling stolen or illegal goods for profit.
I have a bootleg of the outlaws. Have never been able to find anything about it
During the late 80s and early 80s bootlegs were huge grails and you would be shaking trees looking for them. They were hard to find them and still hard to find now. Now Russia prints and sells them to the mass market. Lol. At least Discogs considers them a bootleg. Funny how you had companies put out bootlegs in volume, how did they not get shut down? I just picked up a Pink Floyd bootleg that must have been recorded from the sound board. I was looking at another one but it was an audience recording and it did sound awful. Fun stuff, I love finding bootlegs just hard to find. Steve
Vinyl Community- Steve Carlson yeah, I’ve been at it for years. I have a ton of zeppelin and Pink Floyd boots, but it took a while.
Springsteen was a much-bootlegged artist because of his legendary live shows. Of course over the last few years he has gone back and officially released many of these performances, but in his early days (especially before he had released any official live albums) there was a lot of surreptitious recording going on. I haven't even looked at my bootlegs in a long time but I have one of him at Winterland in 1978 (or at least that's what I think it is lol), and as I recall the sound isn't too bad. I believe I also have a Van Morrison boot of some kind and maybe a Dylan too. Now that I'm back into vinyl I may have to pull these out and see what they are. :)
I had a few of his as well. Watching this video I can't believe Bruce wasn't mentioned as one of the most heavily bootlegged artists in history.
Cool video...thanks for all that information. What's up with VeeJay Introducing the Beatles? Why are so many of those called bootlegs? Didn't VeeJay have the rights? I have one that is a bootleg but I've never known why they're called bootlegs. I used to have tons of Grateful Dead tapes. Never paid for one...just the cost of the blank tape...gave 'em all away now. Enjoyed it - thanks!
Randall Weaver VJ did have the rights but only for a short time. The only album they had the authority to produce was “introducing the Beatles” but a lot of bootlegs got out that we’re allegedly by VJ but probably just by some bootleggers using the name.
Bootlegs are interesting.
Some of the most collectable ones had artwork done a guy called Robert Crumb. Tales from The Who is one of my favorites
I think you might be a tad mixed up. The artist was actually called William Stout. Robert Crumb did do some artwork that was related to musical culture and the hippie movement.
that would probably be stout, love his work, crumb did do the cheap thrills lp tho
That wasn't Robert Crumb. That was by the TMOQ artist in residence William Stout. Look him up. He's a cool dude.
My first bootleg was Paul McCartney in Scotland, 1975... I paid for it too, if you know what I mean. I get it home and the sound was horrible. Now, I'll wait for him to pass and sell for a profit.. (ouch, that sounded bad....sorry Sir Paul).
Chris S. Yes some sound quite bad. I used to have one where Jimmy Page passed out from a heroin OD half way through the set 🤣
@@noblerecords Wait.. are you saying that Page was on mind altering substances???? lol
What puzzles me is they mass produce these in Europe, South America Etc. Ok, I can see them getting away with that, but then there are US Distributors that are selling them en masse. In fact I just bought (3) GNR Boots this past week. How do the US Distributors freely sell them with no issue with the law?
There are dozens of Led Zeppelin bootlegs considering their manager, Peter Grant, hated them. But most bands record all of their shows to listen to next day for quality the audience hears, and they ‘get lost’!
My guess is that the 2010s vinyl boots would better than the older ones of the same recording. The cd versions of many came from better sources as they went through the years, and I'm sure the Vinyl now comes from those improved sources. The Beatles Star Club '62 is waaay better sounding than the first vinyl versions. On the other side, Your Rubber Dubber Zeppelin LA 70 (the only pressing) is the only source for that recording (though there's at least 6 of that show), as is Going To California and For Badgeholders Only.
Great white wonder with stamp
Pretty much got the law down right
It's illegal to manufacture and sell the bootlegs but the bootleg itself isn't actually contraband that's illegal to own. Same with those game consoles you get off Ebay or Alibaba that are obviously filled with stolen roms
It's not illegal to buy and own them but the manufacturer and distributor can get into deep shit if someone ever tracks them down and catches them
Great video thanks for the info, im just getting into vinyl properly now and just bought (i think) my first bootleg from ebay sold listing 153765786517 quality looks amazing, from the casino records entertainment press? managed to get a load of liam gallagher stuff from LA to the UK. crazy
Great video and excellent information. I know in the 80's there were what looked like legitimate repress's of VJ Beatle Lp's sold right in big name record stores. A friend who owned a record store once showed me a copy of a recently released Billy Joel LP, except for a few tell tale signs it looked legit right down to the Columbia label , but in reality it was a well crafted Russian boot. Speaking of Russian bootlegs, have you ever seen the records that they cut on old xrays?? Talk about a flexi picture disc.
Take care
Onteo yeah i would love to find an X-Ray bootleg!
mike millard is a true hero in the music community check out joe maloney masters he made some really good recordings of david bowies 1974 tour
Amazin!
Sons of Otis thank you for watching!
Hi again, noble , don't know your actual name but my first comment ( actually a question ) must not have appeared; let me know and I'll repost it for you but I basically asked you if you collect Beatles bootlegs and which ones do you have?
philip franklin hey! I have had a lot
Of Beatles bootlegs in the past but don’t have many now. My buddy Mazzy has a ton and recently made a video. He’s a Beatles genius. Here’s a link:
ua-cam.com/video/pBOvfVdLLjE/v-deo.html
I just bought a Sodom/Hellhammer split bootleg and there’s a song missing from one of the albums despite the fact it is listed on the LP itself. Another thing to be aware of buying bootleg records
i have been collecting Pink Floyd bootlegs for many years. I see the bootleggers ( like Miller) people who have captured a concert forever, a piece of history. Studio outtakes are also good for the more enthusiastic fan. But studio copies are not bootlegs they are counterfeits, like fake Channel perfume. My bootleg albums and CD's give me hours of pleasure because pink Floyd in the 70's played their live material very different from the studio release.
I was fairly clear on the whole concept since I collect action figures and there are several bootlegs in that world too. I think you did a good job on this video. My question is, do you actually enjoy listening to these or just collecting them?
Jerry Read I do like listening to them but some sound terrible and are more for historical significance than anything 🤣
nice vid. good info. i just made a video about Prince bootlegs.
One thing I have never understood. If you are caught with any stolen property it is a crime. Obviously the recording itself is stolen property.
Greatest dylan bootleg Bob dylan 12 of swords 12 album set
Bootlegs sound better while drinking moonshine for some reason.
Funny thing is, Bootlegs wound up winning the war anyway though it took decades for the artists, managers & industry to come around to the fan's way of thinking. It was stupid to waste so much money for them to get all those busts of people from the 70's on, because look at the internet today. They're all over. And if any of the artists are still upset about "bad night concerts out there", well, welcome to finding out you're a human being, because the fans are largely joyfully celebrating all the legit issues since that time! Come off the high horse & understand your FANS for once.
There is a difference between a Counterfeit and a bootleg
Well yeah but people call the counterfeits bootlegs too
It might be just me but there's some strange videos in this playlist...Shrek & Cricket movie clips??
HAHAHA my son added those. I’ll fix it, thanks 🤣
@@noblerecords Thank you Dylan...I thought I was going mad..or that Shrek & Cricket were part of the VC ha ha 😎
@@noblerecords can a album with outtakes that was never officially released be a bootleg I know some studio albums and cds by all artists can be bootlegs they can make up there own record label to print that record or cd and sell it and make profit a legally
The black TMOQ label are just later European counterfeit . So, bootleg of a bootleg of a bootleg
I make bootlegs of bob Dylan concerts
What is a very daft beard? See Dylan 😆
Jazz and classical concerts were heavily bootlegged
I collect the Byrds and I'm pissed off I paid good money for radio shows and now most of the live ones are being released and I have ended up buying stuff I already have. I have all their lp boots too. They have the worst boot to their credit the original live in Lincoln not only is it appalling quality but some of it is live in Amsterdam. I draw the line however at companies releasing official releases in different color vinyl it is a rip off to far. There are Italian releases that were official there but classed as bootlegs here. Stuff from the east pays no royalties therefore are a strange case. My gripe is I buy a second hand record the artist receives no royalties yet secondhand boots are banned on e bay discogs etc because of the royalties so called argument. You forgot to mention things like the Michael Jackson picture discs which are both boots and counterfeits which is some achievement. A russian made up some picture sleeves for Beatle singles which were revealed as a con yet today are extremely collectable. Theres an interesting book about the subject but I forget title and author it had a white cover. You should tell your viewers to beware many boots are shite. Interesting topic lets see your zep/yardbirds radio shows please.
Dillon, here's the "Dub" link, enjoy reading: douglasongww.blogspot.com/2010/03/it-coulda-happened-this-way-dub-dubbed.html
But please people never buy bootleg albums from smaller bands that hurts them more then the big hitters.
AOIO
This might be a common question now but do you collect Beatles bootlegs and have a video on them, if so ?