It must have been in 1987. I was a student, living in Berlin at the time. I already knew about bootlegs but I'd never seen one in a shop. Some years before a friend of mine had brought a Led Zeppelin boot with him back from his holiday in Italy. It sounded raw end exciting. I wanted one too, but living in a small village then, there was no way to get it. Until now.

I went to a big flea market on Potsdamer Platz. This was not the heart of the reunited Berlin as it is now, but a vast, deserted, muddy area, carved by the Berlin Wall (which were in fact two huge walls with a mine-peppered section in between). You also had the blocked up stairways of the Potdsdamer Platz subway station capped with thick concrete slabs in between these walls.

Not a place you'd like to visit on a cold and lonely night, but a very crowded place on this certain Sunday afternoon. German and Turkish marketeers all over the place, many amateurs among them, selling everything from Nazi memorabilia to old bedside carpets. You could definitely get your bargain there just as long as you searched long enough...

It didn't take long till I found the certain type of dealer I was looking for. He was leaning on a huge desk covered with boxes filled with tons of records. Nobody talked much about CDs then, especially not on a flea market, so it was all good old Long Players.

I scanned the boxes...and there they were, BOOTLEGS OF THE ROLLING STONES! I could hardly catch my breath. I began to browse the many records with strange "non-professional" looking covers. They were so expensive! A double LP with Black and Blue tracks was 100 Deutschmarks!

Finally I tracked my item down: It was an all white cover. Wrapped around it was a folded sheet with the cover-content, an Image of Mick and the title: "TROPICAL WINDSONGS". On the backside were liner notes, telling me that this was a hot Stones show recorded in early '73 in Honolulu. Now, this sounded promising and the price was cheap by all means. 35 Deutschmarks!

TROPIOCAL WINDSONGS. This ominous title fired up my imagination. I could see the palms swaying from the tropical winds. I could hear the Stones rocking the lazy Hawaiians with oh so hot licks.

I bought it instantly and took it home. I was so lucky and trembling with excitement. Could hardly wait to put it on. But then came the real surprise: When the first noise hit my ear I could only notice crackles, loud and crystal clear.Then came the muddy noise underneath. Was it a song? Was it...Brown Sugar? Could well be, but this was...crap. Your couldn't HEAR this record!!

Twenty years later it's still in my record collection. From time to time I pull it out. I cherish the nicely written liner notes. I admire (somehow) the guts of some crazy people who dared to press THIS on record. And I get to realise just how much we all love the Stones to go out and buy boots like this.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2008-03-10 12:07 by Greenblues.

mine was the vinyl OUT ON BAIL , the rest is history

First one I got was back in the mid 70's - maybe 1975 or '76 I would guess.
I had a subscription to Rolling Stone magazine and in the Classified ads in the back they had advertisements for bootleg records.
First one I bought was Welcome to New York, which was the July 26, 1972 MSG gig.
I don't remember who was selling it or how much I paid for it - couldn't have been too expensive since I was in high school and didn't have much money.
It arrived in the mail in a plain white record sleeve. The cover, which was a separate pink colored piece of paper, was a drawing of the Stones with the title Welcome to New York at the top.
It was an incomplete recording but the sound was good. I must have spun that record a 1000 times. No idea where it went over the years. One of these days I'll download it and listen to it again.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-03-09 20:07 by nellcote'71.

I found Necrophilia and Make The World Go Round in California 1986. Followed soon by Claudine. I like some of these boots more than official releases!

Got an 8 track tape with Cops and Robbers TMOQ ep and Liver Than....
Probably about 1972.

JR

I still rememeber that vividly! This is 1975 and I was living in Malmö. No bootlegs here though. I went with the ferry to Copenhagen and bought "Bedspring Symphony" on TMQ (green vinyl). I bought it in a small shop "Love Records" of Ströget" but I really can´t remember the sum that I paid but it was probably not cheap for its time!

I can't remember what exactly the first bootleg that I ever got was, but I know I got a copy of "Garden State '78" on tape pretty early on. I also got a cdr copy of "Live'r Than..." , a tape copy of Paris 6/6/76, a cdr of the audience recording from Ft. Worth 6/24/72 1st show. Then I got silver copies of "The 1972 Unreleased Decca Live Album" and the "Box Lunch and Meat Whistle" version of the Brussels/Wembley '73 soundboard material for Christmas one year. The rest, as they say, is history.

Liver Than you'll Ever Be album at a record store in New haven, 1970
Price??
$4.99

I bought my first bootleg in 1976 at a record store/head shop in my hometown of Roslyn, New York. The Stone Cellar, I think it was called. It was The Beatles, Live At The Hollywood Bowl, August 23, 1964. Still the best available recording of a complete, unedited Beatles concert.

Stone age San diego 69

it was "liver than you'll ever be,,and "beutiful delilah(for many i belived that last album was studio outtakes,later in mine collection welcome to ny,,
i also bought many i copenhagen shop in a cellar ,it was an underground store
selling poster ao stuff,,the name was "superlove"any dansish know what happen to that shop ?

When the Stones in july 1982 came in Italy I was too young and too far from Turin to go alone at the concert,Turin it's the place where they played the day Italy won the football world championship , and my father did not brought me to the show, even before we know Italy was in the Final match!
So - i think it was my first bootleg - in a very nice shop - called Bushemi dischi, in Milano -, two years later I saw and I bought the bootleg, called Mundialito Stones - the first of many show that i missed (milano 1998) or Lyon 2007, and with two tickets of Twickenheim in 2003!! (and no money for the airplane ticket !!!!) -
Well the first bootleg got no great sounds , luckily the others sounded better !
Bye

Mad Hatter---Central ave Yonkers ny...across from Roosevelt HS.

Being a child of the 70's, I was into The Who, Zep and The Stones. mostly Zep.

I bought a ton of Zep boots, I think Going To California was the first one? I remember buying a Stones bootleg, I can't remember which one....but I remember thinking "These guys sound like shit live" I never bought another Stones boot.

Sorry, that's the truth.


Now, my tastes have changed, but I only collect Stones boots from 76 or earlier.

I was thumbing thru a record bin at a used record store on the Elmwood Strip in Buffalo near Forrest Ave. across from Mr. Goodbar (for those who know) and I came across an album with Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix at the Scene Club in NYC.

At the time I was heavily into the Doors and I immediately bought it and hopped on a bus and ran home to check it out. Loved it and had to tell a close friend to turn him on to it. We thought we had it all.

I had that on red vinyl.

The first ones I ever heard were on Christmas '81 - I was 9 and just getting into the Stones from my older cousin, who had a cassette of Out On Bail '78 as well as the audio of the Hampton Pay-Per-View from the week before.

The first one I ever bought was The Life & Times of the Sex Pistols on vinyl sometime in late '84/early '85. The record had blank white lables and a photocopied insert between the plastic bag and the plain white sleeve was the "artwork". It was another repackaging of the Spunk demos. Second Coming Records (may they rest in peace) in Cambridge, MA, hooked me up.

For some reason, I didn't get any Stones boots until about '92, after years of picking up tons by R.E.M., the Monkees, more Pistols, and the Misfits. My first Stones was "Love In Vain", which was basically a fairly lousy quality version of the '72 live album (lots of drop-outs, pretty muddy sound, especially when compared to STP). Of course, that was the first time I ever really heard Mick T. cut loose, so I can't really complain.

In 1988 I was 14. I started getting my own Stones cassettes & LPs (instead of "borrowing" my older sister's). There was a place called 'Dr. Disc' in town which sold boots & imports. I found & picked up "Rolling Stones New York Tour 1978". I'm still not sure what show it's from, but I remember slapping it on, loving it, then thinking "I guess this was their last great tour" when comparing it to the 1981 tour album & video at the time.

[thepowergoats.com]

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rooster
Stone age San diego 69

it was 77 or 78 there was this little comic shop in rottedam called ''fantastic visions'' i was 13 years old...and had started to buy Stones albums.....i went into the bunker of this place...and hidden behind books....there were those white lp s...all RS!! A new world!! I was going wild...so i bought Stone aged...came home and listened....i remember i liked it and was excited...but i was shocked to!! the crowd was so laid back quiet ...and i had LYL and ''Got live'' and YA ya...so i didnt understood the reaction or the lack of reaction(those were the days...punk and hard rock and wild crowds!)later i found out they was STONED!!! But i liked the album my punky hard rock friends didnt! but they digged LYL....The stones were considered a bit old back than..(can you believe that!) so on one friday night my mother invited friends her age( people 16-18 in 69 but not stones fans) i proudly played my first boot....they just said ''is this what the stones have become?'' they didnt like it! they did not realize i was playing a 69 boot! Anyway those days if someone talked bad about the stones...i got angry! so i went upstairs mad! lookin back now i can understand it...they were used to the golden oldies(like some crowds on the 78 tour) so i learned very early that ar boots are not good for casual flower childs....my god i did not play LIES!! for them...so i went upstairs and played the Sex Pistols!

It was 1977 or 78 and I was 12 or 13 and a big Elton John fan. I saw an ad in the back of Creem for "rare recordings" from a place in New Jersey called Still Rare Records ( later became Pied Piper). I ordered a title called 'Closet Keepers' and was disappointed when it arrived and I recognized all the song titles, thinking "I've already got this stuff". Threw it on and lo and behold, it was live ! ( L.A. Forum '74 as I discovered when I started buying Hot Wacks books).
As for Stones boots, we had a really cool record shop here in Victoria, Canada back then called Richard's. They sold boots for $4.99 per single, $8.99 per double. One day I picked up 'Bedspring Symphony' and 'Welcome to New York'( w/ the great Stout cover on a pink insert) and I remain addicted. I really recall those days fondly, riding my bike home from school, wondering if a package would be waiting...I remember getting, the '75 Tour of the Americas' box set for my 14th birthday. It's cool and all that everything can be downloaded for free now but somehow it's not the same.

Used to hang out at this "Head Shop" called GRASSHOPPA (I know, Morrison talks about the idea - naming a shop GRASSHOPPA" - during his vocal improv/rant in THE END at the 68 Hollywood Bowl Show out on DVD/Video. I'm sure the GRASSHOPPA man was in the audience where he got the idea for the name) The place had a big giant electricity cable spool on it's side for a table and issues of VERY early Rolling Stone Magazines thrown all over the table - incense burning everywhere AND all the time. Walked in one day and LIVEr THAN YOU'LL EVER BE was up on the wall New Releases Record rack, about 20 of em. I asked the GRASHOPPA dude WTF were these (all white with just a red stamp of the title and a black label) and he said live STONES CONCERT RECORDING, he put one on and sampled it for me - thought he had advanced promo copies - no time for labels and covers). Sounded shitty on first spin but who knew what a bootleg was back then... I figured this was the official release... Bought it and listened many times but still wasn't sure about where it came from. Even the radio was playing it so that didn't help (since they would never play anything but legit stuff). Then when "ZEP'S BLUEBERRY HILL", "CSNY - WOODEN NICKEL", "BOB DYLAN'S - GREAT WHITE WONDER", and "GET BACK - THE BEATLES" all came out us brainiac punks started to figure out what was going on.....

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andrewm
It's cool and all that everything can be downloaded for free now but somehow it's not the same.

That is painfully and completely true.
It was so exciting to come across the LP that took your breath from you....doesn't happen very often anymore.

'The Slicer' - a copy of 'Garden State' (Passaic'78), bought from a stall on London's Portobello Rd around March 1981 for around £15-20. What's interesting is that it still sounds better to my ears than any subsequent CD re-release I've heard. Just after this I bought 'Stoned Stones' (mostly Knebworth) and a tape copy of Nasty Music, followed by Leed Stones and then many hundreds more in the next 27 years.......

Miscelleaneous in 1977 (14 years old) - the day after I bought "The Best of The Rockers" and another day later "Bright Lights-Big City" (the black&white one). All in the same store in Vienna. The same week I went to the flea-market on Saturday and came back home with Gravestones/Rape Of The Vaults, Beautiful Delilah and Mick Taylor We Miss You. What a week :-)

Thank you for all those fine stories! What's also interesting: Most of you did an much more successful "first pick" with their boots, compared to mine ;-)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-03-10 12:59 by Greenblues.

I remember Tropical Windsongs as a good to very good record on vinyl? So I guess your copy was used, wasn't it? But DM 35,- seems expensive to me - I'd never payed more than about 200 ATS (< 30 DM) for a single boot except for a few rarities I bought years after they were released.

Still I wonder about the DoLP with Black & Blue-tracks - I think I never saw that one and I'm still having only single albums. Do you remember the title? ok, it's been quite a few years...;-)

silkcut, to be completely honest, I looked at Tropical Windsongs yesterday, after writing my post and it was indeed only 25 DM! In fact, I haven't played it for a very long time but I thought it was a very weak effort, when I first played it (maybe I just wasn't "schooled" enough then).

But the Black and Blue boot, well... It's really been a long time. I really don't remember a title, but I think it contained several versions of songs, just like the Tattoo You boots ("Tattoo Too", "Early Stitches"...). Or did I confuse things and it WAS a boot from the Tattoo You sessions? Hmmmm...never rely on memories.

But it's true what some posts here said: It was soooo exciting then, finding a bootleg release and paying too much for it!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-03-10 13:59 by Greenblues.

Claudine 2LP sometime in the eighties. 17 years old. Took me two hours to go to this record fair in the North of Holland. Got there saw the record, bought it, left and had to take the bus / train back home. It took a looooong time! Couldn't wait to here the mistery of a boot. And then, when I played it.....I became a hardcore fan. If I never would have gone to that fair, I would be a rich man now......

Mine was a vinyl Live At Detroit (1969). It came in a plain white sleeve and label. I bought it in Hull Market sometime around 1974/75. I remember how excited I was to get something rare and slightly dodgy. The sound quality was pretty poor but I still treasured it. I even decorated the plain white sleeve myself with Stones pictures and some of my own felt tip pen artwork.

Andy

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silkcut1978
I remember Tropical Windsongs as a good to very good record on vinyl? So I guess your copy was used, wasn't it? But DM 35,- seems expensive to me - I'd never payed more than about 200 ATS (< 30 DM) for a single boot except for a few rarities I bought years after they were released.

Still I wonder about the DoLP with Black & Blue-tracks - I think I never saw that one and I'm still having only single albums. Do you remember the title? ok, it's been quite a few years...;-)

i have Hawaiian holiday .LP...and well the sound is not good but hell yeah i like the show! thanks for remembering me! i go play it tonight!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-03-10 13:58 by rooster.

BTW great thread i just love all those stories....now we wait for the'''story behind your second''!!? But i really hope more people will react on this...i miss some real famous tell me cats...on this thread...and they know who they are....lets wait and seee!!!