Your greatest Beatleg moment

[Lord Reith]

Someone mentioned How Do You Do It...

Although it's not really a "beatleg" moment, a short while before I discovered bootlegs there was a radio special called "The Days In Their Life" which was going to play every released Beatles track plus "more". I was massively excited about this because the concept of a Beatles event so long it would cover most of an entire weekend was just mind blowing. It was due to start at 3pm on the Friday, and I "sagged off" from school early to be able to get home in time to listen (and start taping) . Even so, the buses/trains were late and I can remember running like mad down the street to my house at literally 2.59pm. Alas, by the time I had gotten inside, plugged the cassette recorder in and gotten my breath I had already missed the first three minutes! The first thing I heard was John's old headmaster saying what a pain in the arse he was. "Hey!" I thought, "I can relate to this already!"

That was a magical weekend for me, hearing many new interviews (hey, Beatles interviews were just as rare as unreleased music in those days!) the Christmas flexis (complete!) for the first time and what were actually extracts from bootlegs but in my ignorance seemed like impossibly improbable rarities. I can remember my utter astonishment when after some musings about How Do You Do It from Paul and George Martin, the actual Beatles version started playing! And they played the whole thing! And my cassette was rolling! Oh, joy unconfined!

In the end I ran out of cassettes of course, being only a schoolboy, and started pausing first during the album tracks and then only began recording when an interview or rare track came on. I still have those tapes somehwere, recorded in a bleary eyed state at 2am on a Saturday.

That was the great (or bad, depending on how you look at it) thing about the Old World - you only had one chance. If you missed the broadcast, or you didn't put that Beatleg aside in the store, then that was it. No second chances. Conversely, when you did manage to snare something unique then it became an object of pride and happiness.

[mojofilter]

I've been collecting records since I was in kindergarten. So as they years went on I was no stranger to browsing through piles and stacks and racks of records wherever I found them. In the early 1970s, there were numerous head shops on Yonge Street in downtown Toronto that sold hardware and T-shirts and black light posters and... one day I noticed a box of albums on a stool behind the counter. I asked if I could look at them. They were all in plain white sleeves, some with paper inserts, some without. There were some Beatles albums that I'd never heard of. "Renaissance Minstrels" and "More From The Fab Four" were what I took home that day. It was kind of thrilling to hear "No Pakistanis" and "WTNMJ." The other album was live, and it didn't really make an impression on me. It sounded pretty bad. Later on, I got "Spicy Beatles Songs" and "Sweet Apple Trax" (Newsound 909-1) and "Live At Houston Collosseum [sic]" and later "The Black Album" and "Vancouver 1964" and "Wonderful Picture Of You" and "Behind Closed Doors."

Then one day I was at a store where they sold this kind of thing, and a bootleg dealer came in with boxes of 25 copies each of '20x4" and "Xmas Album" and "Rough Notes" and "No.3 Abbey Road NW8." I was in so awe that I couldn't speak. This was a guy who knew where these things came from! I was afraid to ask him any questions. After he left, I bought one of each. It was unbelievable to hear outtakes from "Abbey Road," and I'd never heard all of the Xmas flexis before. And what on earth was this "Peace Of Mind" that was the worst tape recording I've ever heard?

A friend of a friend had a hobby of going to record conventions and selling VHS dubs of Beatles footage. I got to know him, and about the world of record conventions. One day in 1988, I went to his apartment and this was playing on his stereo:


TF T 1961-1962

OMG! On the BBC, in you are there quality. And then he put this one on:


Condor 1987

I thought I had died and gone to heaven! Studio outtakes, in stereo! That was it. I had to acquire these, and any more of them, if there were more. I started scouring Toronto stores and going to record shows, and I was there just in time for Yellow Dog to unveil "Unsurpassed Masters." I managed to get them all. I had about a dozen of these things before I had a CD player to hear them on. The I found out about Belmo, and then about Doug, and later about Chip and Mark and John and Mark Lewisohn.

And now there's all of this. Man, what a ride!

[Rickenbacker325]

Had to be buying my very first boot…Sweet Apple Trax Volume 2…I thought I was quite important in the Beatle world…the SFF LP was also a memorable one

[Phil_Lip]

First time I'd heard 'bootleg' when buying a cassette dub of Ob-la-di Ob-la-da from a market stall. First time I had heard any outtake, didn't even know such things existed. Bought a few more, found record fairs where you could buy these wonderfully designed LPs. First ones I bought were Not for sale and the first Beatles at the Beeb albums.
My favourite memory though is when going to Paris by coach for Paul's 1989 concert. I had bought the first 2 Ultra rare tracks and had made cassette copies. The driver asked if anyone had any tapes to play, so I of course gave them to him. A couple of fellow travellers in the seats behind were obviously very familiar with the albums and were proudly announcing each track before it started. This was ok, but as the albums were seriously short, I had filled the end of the tapes with some tracks from another bootleg which they had not heard and completely stumped them.

[sam004]

I was at the Allentown Fair, August 31, 1980. In one of the exhibition halls was a flea market, and one of the stands had boxes of various records. Imports and promo LP's, many by The Beatles, some that I'd heard of, others that I'd never run in to. Among them was "The Deccagone Sessions". I knew what a bootleg album was...I'd read about them in "Crawdaddy" magazine, but this was the first one I'd ever held in my hands, and it was a nice one. Cool looking color cover, intriguing track listing, and I was a budding Beatles freak, so I brought it home. Spent the entire night listening to it over and over again, unsure of what I was actually hearing, but pouring over it like it was some kind of clandestine communique that only I knew about! There was no looking back, I was a bootleg collector from then on. There were many more and better ones to follow, but that first one that sinks the hooks in is always special.

I seen that cover and it Reminded me of the "Growing Up With The Beatles " book. I remember looking at other books on the market at the time.
I regret buying that thing, still have it however.

Back on topic - My favorite moment was finding and discovering the Get Back LP.
I have come to prefer that version over Let It Be.

[ToddS]

My first Greatest Moment was when i bought two Boot Lp's titled " Studio Outtakes " + " Yellow Matter Custard " back in the 1970's at Poo-Bahs Record Store in Pasadena California when they were still on Fair Oaks just north of Colorado Street .

[Lord Reith]

Ahh, I love these stories.

[Kwai Chang]

My first Greatest Moment was when i bought two Boot Lp's titled " Studio Outtakes " + " Yellow Matter Custard " back in the 1970's at Poo-Bahs Record Store in Pasadena California when they were still on Fair Oaks just north of Colorado Street .

I've never heard of Poobah's! Tee hee hee!
Let me tell you about the PCC Swap Meet and the big beat! PCC = Pasadena City College and AFTER you go everywhere else for the month...the most consistent place to catch up was PCC. FIRST Sunday of the month EXCEPT when the Rose Parade is on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday because the bleachers on Colorado Blvd. haven't been removed yet. When that happens, the swap meet is on the second Sunday. The college is on Colorado. This affects two big parking lots where the swap meet takes place. So, I was the only person who showed up once. So, THAT time, I went straight to the original Poobah's(in the old house on a residential street). I never did see any boots for sale at Poobah's. Maybe he had them behind the counter. It didn't matter, Poobah's was a rich resource for obscure imports. Besides, I have never seen more bootleg action and negotiations ANYWHERE that could rival PCC. I was going to sell there once. The lady told me that the waiting list was five and a half years for vending space. What a relief. So, I went 20 years without missing a meet. K-Earth 101FM DJ Brian Byrne(Mr. Rock And Roll) used to sell there. The piano player for the Big Bopper was a regular vendor. The Jefferson Airplane's bass player(Jack Casady) would spend approx 1 Sunday per year at PCC record swap. There was never a dull moment. Maybe two swap meets were ruined by weather. But, it was free to get in. Nobody cared about bootlegs. There was just too many records. Most dealer's specialized anyway. But, bootlegs? Pasadena City College first Sunday of the month...MAYBE that's why I never saw any boots at Poobah's...because they were only a mile away from the mighty PCC! There were other record stores in Pasadena, but NONE as cool as Poobah's. Eventually, the PCC built a parking structure and the record vendors were relocated it. Everything CHANGED. It was NOT the same...around the same time, Poobah's relocated to...where else?...Colorado Blvd about a half mile from the college but to the East. I haven't even been to either place in 10 years.
The Beginning...
KC

[MarkRJones1970]

Mine would be the period around 1987-88 when all of these came out:





I'd been hunting down bootlegs since 1984 (age 13) when I 1st bought a tape of the NEMS bootleg 'Strawberry Fields Forever'. You lot know the significance of these so I won't blather on about it. 2 extremes though, stereo studio outtakes in amazing quality and rough as flip, but amazingly interesting, home recordings from 1960. I did have the book 'Shout!', the 1st Beatles biog I ever bought when I was about 14 years old, which mentions these 1960 tapes but I hadn't read that bit because when I was a teenager I wasn't really interested in this period of the Beatles as I couldn't hear anything to go with it. So, before getting these bootlegs I had no idea the recordings existed. I did have to order myself a copy though. I spoke to the dealer I bought most of my bootlegs off and while he was aware of it he said it had proved quite hard to get hold of. He kept to his word though and eventually found me a copy, informing me via the post! I was so excited that I was going to actually be able to hear these tapes.



I loved the mystery that surrounded the Ultra Rare Trax tapes though. For years we had no idea how these had escaped from EMI. Did someone copy them in the 70s and then sat on them? Was it Mark Lewishon? George Martin? Did someone break into Abbey Road and copy the tapes? For years no one knew. Well, it was DJ Roger Scott who copied these when he was involved in the Beatles At Abbey Road presentation in 1983.

What a star he was and what a time to be into Beatles bootlegs!

[Sid Burnsteen]

My story is very similar to many above - I even frequented the same head shops as mojofilter, on Yonge Street in Toronto, but I wasn't aware they sold boots (I'd go to look at posters and join the crowd watching an airbrush artist paint t-shirts in a back room, circa 1968. He was incredible!). First boot was borrowed (LIB outs, forgot the title) in '70, followed by Yellow Matter Custard (BBC sessions) sent from NYC by a friend in '72. Cassette copying of a friend's discovery was often the best I could do, as with the amazing Ultra Rare Trax in '88. 'Je Suis Le Plus Mieux' (I'm The Greatest rehearsals) was mind-blowing, the content and quality. Cold Cuts! So many moments to choose from, can't pick just one. Taping of 'Days In Their Lives' interfered with school in '82. Discovered 'Wayne' (Rogers?) of R'n'R University and bought interview cassettes in '81; also by mail (AND by surprise) came 'Serve Yourself' (obscene version) and Paul's demo of "On The Wings of A Nightingale", and both brought me to tears, for different reasons.