I love bootlegs (but never counterfeits) for what they are, a snapshot from the past, but certainly not for the audiophile in all of us (just joking). My motto, buy it when you see something interesting, but never play the stuff. This is not in order to save the media, but to avoid being disappointed about the sound quality. Fact is, most bootleg LPs/CDs are sonically meant for the bin. You buy these things to add it to your collection and there they sit on your shelf, until dust gets the better of them. Although, truth be told, every now and then an excellent bootleg (audiowise) turns up and you wouldn't want to miss it. That's probably one out of onehundred.
I do remember times when the prosecutor's office raided record fairs (I was there and witnessed it myself) on the request of the Rolling Stones' management and confiscated everything that looked, felt and tasted like a bootleg. Not just Rolling Stones media, mind you, but everything with a "questionable" provenance. And it actually worked, in a way. Bootlegs were never seen at record fairs for the next four or five years, except that, when you asked a vendor for a certain release, you were told, to meet him in an hour or so in the parking lot, as he probably had something you wanted in the trunk of his car. Oh well, innocent times!
In the nineties (I think) the leash got longer and bootlegs started to reappear in record fairs (and in no small numbers, I might add). Give it a few more years, and record stores stocked up to a point where they were brimming with bootlegs. Nowadays, walking into a collector's record shop, you can easily walk out the door with a lot of "unofficial" releases, be it CD or LP. And I'm not talking about new releases only, but also about the classics from way back when, say TMQ and the likes. At a guess, I'd say, collectors who hoarded these items, are pushing up the daisies now and their heirs cashed in at a fraction of the actual value due to some record dealer telling the poor sods that one cent on the Euro was a generous offer indeed.
Again: I'm not talking about counterfeits, these make my hair stand up and in my book, noone has a right to counterfeit product, be it records, books, pharmaceuticals and any brands you might come to think of. Bootlegs, however, are a world of their own. This is what I've got during the last couple of months (a lot of other stuff I've left in the racks, because the condition didn't look to good):
Rolling Stones, Dragon Slayers, Live In Houston, June 6, 1972 - Hoffeinz Pavillon, 1st show
Rolling Stones, London Roundhouse, March 3, 1971
Rolling Stones, Something Old Something Blue (What Pleasant Company), Live At Candlestick Park, San Francisco, October 18, 1981
Rolling Stones, Empire Pool, Wembley. September 8, 1973 - 2nd show
And finally, Bad Company, Live In Japan
Can't say anything about the audio quality on these, but I don't expect much. In fact, I really doubt it, I'm ever going to spin these. Let's see, there are two record fairs in the near future. If I'm going to watch proceedings, I'm pretty sure, some more bootlegs will make the trip home with me.
Cheers
Roland
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