What was your 1st Experience of buying a Stones Bootleg what was it , and how did you feel?

I remember travelling to London to watch a Scotland v England football match in the early 70's [1973] I think. Prior to my visit I was doing some research as to where I could buy some unofficial recordings of the Rolling Stones.
I was told to visit 'All Ears Music' a side street just of Carnaby Street - Pread Street. After due dilligance I stumbled across this small phone booth sized shop - Walked in and asked the owner who was sat on a stool taking up half of the Store. 'You got any Stones stuff that I may not have ?'. He svivelled round and brushed aside a curtain to reveal a 3 tier shelf of stacked vinyl LP's . I bought Bright Lights Big City - Could not wait to get home to Edinburgh to play this LP.
I was not dissapointed, and so started my lifelong search. The buzz from having this recording was the start of an addiction.
How was it for you ?



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2020-12-04 19:04 by bv.

Probably 1975 or maybe 1976.
Bought Welcome To New York MSG 1972 from somewhere off the Classifieds in the back pages of Rolling Stone magazine.
Came in the US mail with the plain white sleeve with the separate pink paper cover drawing that i taped to the front sleeve. Guess it was the Trade Mark of Quality label?
Can't remember if i mailed cash or a check from my parents when i ordered it through the mail.

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nellcote'71
Probably 1975 or maybe 1976.
Bought Welcome To New York MSG 1972 from somewhere off the Classifieds in the back pages of Rolling Stone magazine.
Came in the US mail with the plain white sleeve with the separate pink paper cover drawing that i taped to the front sleeve. Guess it was the Trade Mark of Quality label?
Can't remember if i mailed cash or a check from my parents when i ordered it through the mail.

Hi Nellcote I remember buying this one also - Playing it for the 1st time and could not believe I had a recording of the Stones that not everybody had and the sound quality was great. Like you over here in the UK I would buy the weekly music papers' Sounds & NME' scour the adds and write snail mails for lists . Happy days when you really appreciated collecting.

I remember it well! June 2000, wasnt part of online Stones community, and had read about films like CS Blues, Marquee 1971, L&G 1972 - wondering would I ever see them. No YouTube then.

Through a trader, he was in Australia, he emailed me his Stones VHS list and I was astonished - there they were, all of the unreleased films I'd read about and never thought I'd see!! The excitement, I remember asking him was his list real, how did he get them lol

Ordered 2 VHS compilations, 8 hours of stuff - Marquee, L&G, CS Blues, Paris 1976..etc. Incredible, and the quality was great when these 2 VHS tapes arrived.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-12-04 17:06 by IrelandCalling4.

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IrelandCalling4
I remember it well! June 2000, wasnt part of online Stones community, and had read about films like CS Blues, Marquee 1971, L&G 1972 - wondering would I ever see them. No YouTube then.

Through a trader, he was in Australia, he emailed me his Stones VHS list and I was astonished - there they were, all of the unreleased films I'd read about and never thought I'd see!! The excitement, I remember asking him was his list real, how did he get them lol

Ordered 2 VHS compilations, 8 hours of stuff - Marquee, L&G, CS Blues, Paris 1976..etc. Incredible, and the quality was great when these 2 VHS tapes arrived.

Ireland you got the buzz. !!!

My memory is fading on all the details, but I'm pretty sure my first vinyl bootleg was also Bright Lights, Big City.
I must have been about 12 or 13, after spending the entire 1982 summer listening to a tape of Hampton and Made In The Shade. After that summer I started buying Stones vinyl in earnest. High Tide and Green Grass was my first Stones vinyl record, I think.
I must have gotten the bootleg at Goldie's on Thayer Street in Providence. Either that or I had my older brother get it for me.
It's possible I got it at Luke's in Pawtucket, but I don't think so. I got many other bootlegs at Luke's and just about all the studio albums over the following few years.
Still Life, Undercover and Dirty Work I bought new.

My dad had been buying Stones bootlegs for decades starting in the 80's. He would go to record shops in the village in NYC. When I was younger, he would take me to work with him, than we would take the Subway down to the Village for lunch and go to the record stores. I don't remember my exact 1st experience or what the first Stones bootleg I bought was but it was just so much fun searching through the CD's to find some rare Stones bootlegs. Unfortunately when I went back to the Village a few years ago I noticed many of the record stores had been closed, but still a few were open.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-12-04 17:26 by JordyLicks96.

Not sure whether my first bootleg was a 12" red vinyl Brown Sugar (with Eric Clapton) and CS Blues on the B side . Bought from a record shop in Gloucester.
Or Nasty Music (double vinyl ) from a record shop called "At the Hop " opposite Fulham Broadway Station ...

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JordyLicks96
My dad had been buying Stones bootlegs for decades starting in the 80's. He would go to record shops in the village in NYC. When I was younger, he would take me to work with him, than we would take the Subway down to the Village for lunch and go to the record stores. I don't remember my exact 1st experience but it was just so much fun searching through the CD's to find some rare Stones bootlegs. Unfortunately when I went back to the Village a few years ago I noticed many of the record stores had been closed, but still a few were open.

Great post Jordy, I think we have all experinced this. Very sad that all great record stores are closing or closed due to the digital age. I used to love going into local record stores and flicking through the shelves,

December 1969.
Chicago. A record store in a hippy section of "Old Town' called Piper's Alley.
I'd heard an ad for the "LIVEr Than You'll Ever Be" (Oakland 69 second show) bootleg on an underground radio station and the ad was run by this hippy record shop. This was just after I'd heard about Altamont.
The disc was $5.50 and I thought that was a lot for a record, but I bought it anyway being a Stones fan.
The store also had copies of the current Dylan bootlegs (Great White Wonder and Stealin') as well as the Plastic Ono Band performance from their Toronto show a couple of month's earlier. (This was eventually released legally as "Live Peace In Toronto")
The records all had white sleeves with rubber stamps on them indicating the title. None were shrink wrapped.
I was surprised upon listening to the Stones bootleg. It was not the complete show. The recording was an audience tape. The audience seemed only moderately enthusiastic until the last few numbers of the show. I was surpirsed by the differences in arrangements between the studio versions and these live performances, with the exception of "Love In Vain".
I'm an old man now and that's all I can remember.

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thkbeercan
December 1969.
Chicago. A record store in a hippy section of "Old Town' called Piper's Alley.
I'd heard an ad for the "LIVEr Than You'll Ever Be" (Oakland 69 second show) bootleg on an underground radio station and the ad was run by this hippy record shop. This was just after I'd heard about Altamont.
The disc was $5.50 and I thought that was a lot for a record, but I bought it anyway being a Stones fan.
The store also had copies of the current Dylan bootlegs (Great White Wonder and Stealin') as well as the Plastic Ono Band performance from their Toronto show a couple of month's earlier. (This was eventually released legally as "Live Peace In Toronto")
The records all had white sleeves with rubber stamps on them indicating the title. None were shrink wrapped.
I was surprised upon listening to the Stones bootleg. It was not the complete show. The recording was an audience tape. The audience seemed only moderately enthusiastic until the last few numbers of the show. I was surpirsed by the differences in arrangements between the studio versions and these live performances, with the exception of "Love In Vain".
I'm an old man now and that's all I can remember.

Fantastic thkbeercan , great story thanks

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JordyLicks96
My dad had been buying Stones bootlegs for decades starting in the 80's. He would go to record shops in the village in NYC. When I was younger, he would take me to work with him, than we would take the Subway down to the Village for lunch and go to the record stores. I don't remember my exact 1st experience or what the first Stones bootleg I bought was but it was just so much fun searching through the CD's to find some rare Stones bootlegs. Unfortunately when I went back to the Village a few years ago I noticed many of the record stores had been closed, but still a few were open.

There were some good shops on Bleeker Street .One called Bleeker Bob's I think ,and one on Thompson Street also .Went back there 3 years and sadly all cd shops are gone , but there was one selling vinyl .

I went to the Oakland show in November 69 and less than a month later, as I recall, I went to my favorite record shop, Village Music in Mill Valley near where I lived and they had this weird Live'r Than You'll Ever Be thing there. Had to buy it. Took it home and listened to it and loved it despite the hollow sound. Came to love that hollow sound on that one, had it copied to 8 track tape and drove around playing it all day for weeks. I then bought Dylan's Great White Wonder there and in years to come it was my boot connection.

Village Music was THE esoteric record shop visited by all sorts of musicians from the sixties till sometime after 2000 when they closed down. Store was owned by this guy who grew up in the midwest and as a teen attended all these soul and blues shows in the area before moving out west. He had all these great photos of blues and soul stars on the walls, many of them featuring him next to the stars and most of them autographed. Most were before he was old enough to actually go into the clubs he went into, so he had connections. I remember I fell in love with this autographed photo of him with Mary Wells and tried to buy it, but no way. When he went out of business the photo was still on the wall and I tried to buy it again but still no go.

Also got the poster for the Oakland 69 show there that I dragged around with me for decades before trading it off one day to a friend of mine for his second state Yesterday and Today album.

jb

Liver Than You'll Ever Be ... before Ya-Ya's

My first was a cool record store on Haight Street in SF, sometime in the mid 80s.

They had a large selection of vinyl bootlegs, and I had no point of reference on which titles/labels to look for. So.. I made my best guess based on the tour I wanted and what looked like a cool show.

This was my pick:

Rock Out Cock Outn

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IrelandCalling4
I remember it well! June 2000, wasnt part of online Stones community, and had read about films like CS Blues, Marquee 1971, L&G 1972 - wondering would I ever see them. No YouTube then.

Through a trader, he was in Australia, he emailed me his Stones VHS list and I was astonished - there they were, all of the unreleased films I'd read about and never thought I'd see!! The excitement, I remember asking him was his list real, how did he get them lol

Ordered 2 VHS compilations, 8 hours of stuff - Marquee, L&G, CS Blues, Paris 1976..etc. Incredible, and the quality was great when these 2 VHS tapes arrived.

That's great! I also got in touch with this geezer back in autumn 1999, I received, L & G, Paris '76, @#$%& Blues on VHS and some other stuff. However my first boot experience was in the summer of 99 as I got hold of a boot with stuff between december 72 (GHS recordings)- Munich 1976. The cover was the same as GHS and it had Cellophane Trousers, Slave, Hand of Fate, Let It Loose (rehearsal Dallas 1972) on it. Pity I can't find it today, it was magic when I got hold of it. Then in the summer of 2000 I got hold of Rattlesnake's Bruxelles Affair and from then on I bought pretty much any Stones boot I could get my hands on.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-12-04 19:46 by MadMax.

My first was One More Time (Gothenburg 1982). Still have it, still playing it.

Like thkbeercan, I bought my first bootleg LP "Live'r than you'll ever be" in December 1969 (WoW, just 51 years ago). A small tobacco store in Amsterdam sold them (sneaky off course).
I had to hitch hike my way from Utrecht to Amsterdam (some 50 km) to become the proud owner of this, soundwise "very good" bootleg.
I still remember that is was a really very small tobacco store and behind the counter there was a thick curtain. I only had to say "Rolling Stones" and the man (I guess he was in his early sixties, where I was 21) disappeared behind that very oldfashioned curtain to return within a minute with that treasure. After that is was hitch hiking another 50 km back to home
Thkbeercan wrote that he visited that specific concert a month earlier. Well, I didn't know it was from that concert for quite a while, but no big deal.
I'm surprised that the bootlegs were in Amsterdam only a month or so later. My guess is that someone (or more) smuggled them in several suitcases. Customs must have been low profile is those days.
Some time in 1970, a well known newspaper (Het Parool) spent half a page discussing both the Stones' and Bob Dylan's bootleg!

My first bootlet was "Bedspring Symphony".

I purchased it from an ad in Goldmine magazine.

I still have it and it is still my favorite bootleg and I think it has a better

mix than the officially released version.

It's the one bootleg I just will not part with.

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DandelionPowderman
My first was One More Time (Gothenburg 1982). Still have it, still playing it.

Got that one too, I got it on my 20th birthday from mum and dad! It's not the same night Keith fell over during Beast Of Burden ne-c'est pas Dandy?

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JordyLicks96
My dad had been buying Stones bootlegs for decades starting in the 80's. He would go to record shops in the village in NYC...

My first was in a "head" shop I heard about in New Hope PA, probably in 1980. I got Brussels Affair and a 10" of C*cksucer Blues / Andrew's Blues! I still have them.

Not long after I heard about the underground shops in The Village/NYC. I would go just to check out the bootlegs, probably 2 or 3 times a year. The "underground" ones were my favorite, somewhere below 4th st./Canal St. but the one w/ the most choices was always Revolver Records, it was on 8th st. off of 6th avenue. I remember buying Black & Blue sessions with Worried About You, before Tattoo You came out!

My first boots were In Again Out Agan and a double of Gravestones and Rape Of the Vaults. Counted in the mid-80'and had 70+ LP boots. Some 30-40+ extra with CDs. Don't count CD-Rs

First boot ….. Liver Than You'll Ever Be

Was livin' in the hills of Hounville, Tasmania...…..Hillbilly country
with Heidi and.... James and David two eccentric brothers who came from The Jersey Island ..

James had some bootlegs and he was dead-$$$-broke so bought
Liver Than You'll Ever Be and Hendrix's Live Experience from him ....

Never got ta play them till returned to the main land
some months later ..... Still have 'em both somewhere …






ROCKMAN

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Rockman
Was livin' in the hills of Hounville, Tasmania...…..Hillbilly country

I got a fishing hook called "Tasmanian Devil"...named after that little beast.

I have a couple of Stones bootlegs where it looks like they snuck into the record pressing factory at night with a bunch of waste plastic.

The record pressing stamp comes down and creates a radial pattern of plastics of all different colouers. Very unusual. I have a half dozen bootlegs and they all sound terrible.

I think vets etc are now getting on top
of it but the Devil's have been battling
a facial tumour disease for the last few years



ROCKMAN

Hello,

my first one was "Satisfaction Guarantee" the Sun Devil 1981 concert. I bought through internet at a Japanese record store called backtrip records.
As It was at the begining of the internet I did not wanted to put my credit card in the web page, so I sent the money inside a letter. I got my cd one month latter or so.

Bye
Fernando

I had borrowed some studio recording boots, mainly from the SOME GIRLS sessions, but the first one I bought was SEVENTH OF JULY and it was, and still is, spectacular!

It was my first boot ever and vinyl.
It's one of only two vinyl albums I own.
I donated thousands.
Liver Than You'll Ever Be.
Rutgers Student Union says the label.

It was before I heard Ya Yas and as God Almighty great as Ya Yad was, one of the most incredible documents I'd ever enjoy, but I still listened to the boot because that's where I really fell in love with Keith's lead work.
Taylor too if course.
But that sftd Keith lead section.

I just can't describe how much it took me to places
So won't try.

I was 17 almost 18.
I wouldn't see them Live until 2 stops NA 72.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2020-12-05 20:03 by hopkins.