THEM DAMN BOOTLEGS...!

... Catchy title, if I say so meself !

The very first tiles appeared, circa 1970, in Holland [ of all places!]

The one, who started things rolling, was Please Release Me. Followed

by I Wanna Be A Rock n Roll Star, and the first really important one:

Good Rockin Tonight! An album [ with nice artwork, for the time]

featuring unreleased Sun outtakes, such as the slow Blue Moon Of

Kentucky. A sensation at the time! Having said that, was My Babys

Gone featured on I Wanna Be...? If so, that would make this title,

the 1st one, of great importance, to collectors...!

Were talking, 35 years ago. And I work from memory [ too lazy, to

dig up, the old paperwork!]. So much for the Dutch. It would take

a while, before they came back, in to the game...

With Elvis, performing Live again, boots with Vegas/ audience

recordings, saw the light of day. Such as The Hillbilly Cat Live.

Both the Yanks and Canadians, had stepped in, doing fine jobs...

But the Big Bang, came with albums, in the 2nd half of the 70s!

Rockin Rebel, From The Waist Up, 68 Comeback, Behind Closed

Doors, Hawaii 61, and the legendary 76 New Years Eve.

A never ending string of great [ US] releases. Till one day, the

guys in black stepped in, and ended the dream.

At the start, of the 80s, Europe came back into the picture, and the

2nd explosion happened. First on vinyl, and from 91 onwards, the

cds. Or was it even earlier?... My question is- to you all- : can you

remember buying your first boots? How did you learn about their

existence, what were your first impressions, at the time, would the

interest in Elvis, by the fans, have died a little, without the boots.

and... why is it a mans world, collecting bootlegs?!

So very few ladies, are a part of this hobby... How come?

I hope we can turn this into an interesting topic, with lots of memories,

from both the old, and young collectors. And please dont hesitate,

posting covers here, of your fave titles!

By the way, no detailed names, of people/ shops , where you do

your shopping...

Get to work, and lets have fun, here!

I got my first bootleg lp's back in the late 70's.I think Live at the Hilton 72 was my first one.I remember seeing an ad in the back of a fan club magazine advertising them for sale.A little later on I would buy them at record conventions and sometimes I would see them at collectable shows.The second wave of boots on cd was a time I shall never forget.Mainly because I nearly went broke.All those great packages coming in the mail all the time.Hours with the headphones strapped on.I still remember opening the box when the Profile box sets arrived and just marveling at them.Back then it was like Elvis was releasing "new" cd's all the time.I go to 2 different Elvis meetups in my area every month.The biggest one has maybe 30-50 people attend every month.I've yet to meet the first person who has a boot.The women have never even heard of them period.To me the female fans I meet are more interested in something that looks good sitting on a shelf.Mcfarlane dolls,plates etc.I know Im generalizing but that's been my personal experience.
Jak

Cool topic oh tall haired one.

My first boot LP was back in 1984. Prior to then I had seen a few crop up now and again at record fairs though they averaged about 15 quid for a single and 25 for a double LP. Far too much for my resources (at the time I had just left school and was only earning £25 a week). Can you imaging blowing a weeks wages on a boot? Anyway, it was cool to at least get your hands on ‘Rockin’ with Elvis’ and ‘Good Rockin’ Tonight’ after reading so much about them.

It was about this time that Record Collector mag started out in the UK. At the beginning there were far more classified ads than nowadays and the odd boot sneaked in. Looking at the listing from a Dutch trader I noticed he was selling a copy of ‘Rough Cut Diamonds – Vol 1’. For a mere £8! Before I’d finished the mag the phone call was made and an IRC for £9 (inc post) was on it’s way. I think it took about a week to arrive.

When it finally arrived I couldn’t believe the quality. The artwork was stunning. Far, far superior to anything RCA were dishing out at the time.



As for the material, it was superb. Listening to the Nashville tracks without overdubs for the first time in excellent sound quality was amazing. From the same dealer I got ‘Vol-2’ a while after which was just as good.

Soon after, Record Collector clamped down on the boot trading going on so that was that. Not before I got my hands on these classics though!

Here’s Ernie’s review of the original vinyls.

http://www.elvis-collectors.com/ernie/boyes16.html

... Thanks Jak, for your interesting comments! Its quite amazing, fans,

who must have discovered Elvis thru his music, dont touch boots!

It wasnt any different, when I browsed around, at whatever Elvis

convention, in the past. Lots of fans, would buy the shittiest things,

but wouldnt touch a good boot... Not even, if the seller, would point

out, the rareness of the songs, on these releases! Is it just the image

they get off on? We have some board members, say: "I dont touch

boots, cause I support FTD..." File such comments, under : I have

brains, but dont use them, imo.

Hi Ger,

Great topic!. I remember clearly when I first heard a bootleg. It was at a friends house who played me a double LP with 'Cincenatti' in the title. An audience recording from the last tour in '77. Then, at another friends house, I was introduced to 'Behind Closed Doors' and out takes such as 'It Hurts Me' (1968) with the psychedillic part in it. That was my introduction in to the unofficial work of Elvis and it fascinated me.

The first bootleg I ever bought myself was 'The Other Side Of Memphis' (BILKO) together with a great magazine called 'Elvis, The Man And His Music'. It was at a great store in Amsterdam that, sadly, is no more. From then on I was 'Hooked On Boots' and collected them all, my collection growing rapidley. I still remember clearly being very excited over 'Just Pretend' (FORT BAXTER) and drooling over the 'There's Always Me' (BILKO) series.

I still play all of my boots and treat them with great care as they are now almost impossible to find. My goal is to have all important bootlegs on cd in my collection and to have every soundboard release that comes out. I love to listen to Elvis at work in the studio, although only movie stuff is sometimes too much to enjoy at one time. For me those soundboard releases a little time capsules that allows me to hear Elvis on stage at different times in his carreer. It gives me a little bit the feeling that I was there at that time. And in every concert there is something special that makes the concert worthwile. I also feel priveleged to collect them as I know there are not enough copies released to accomadate every Elvis fan in the world.

So, a BIG thank you to all those people who brought many rarities to the fans over the years. Although illegal it was/is a major part of being an Elvis fan. The days of many releases per year are long gone with the coming of the great, offcial, FTD label but I hope every now and then good releases still escape and find their way to the fans, like the fantastic 'Legendary' (MADISON) series!.

(And by the way: BMG shouldn't act as if Elvis is the only artist of whom bootlegs are made and released: there is a bootleg scene out there for every (major) artist).

I've never owned a bootleg but the topic does fascinate me, good choice Ger!

PS: I was in Memphis in 2002 and met some female American fans. They refused to believe that there are recordings out there of Elvis singing 'cocksucker' during the 1969 American Sound Studio recordings. They said: 'Elvis would never use that kind of language'. Yeah, right...

Then we met two older english ladies: they never heard songs like 'I've Lost You', 'Sound Of Your Cry', 'Promised Land' etc, etc. They considered themselves as being 'huge fans'. But, yes, they were the ones buying all the stupid stuff like mirrors, cussions, scrafs, buttons.. Just about anything that has an Elvis picture on it. They realy do get off on his image and looks...

There's still al lot of field work to be done to bring Elvis' best music to every fan in the world!!.

... Thanks guys! 3 great replies, with entertaining stories- for the

whole family, to enjoy! Isnt it kinda weird, the boots [ the better ones]

kicked RCAs ass, when it came to design! And have they learned from

it...? We all know the answer to that...

If I had to choose between my boot collection and my RCA/BMG I would go with the boots!
Jak

I was in high school--1978--and I ordered The Legend Lives On from a place in Texas. And I picked the '76 New Year's Eve concert 2lp set if that one was sold out.

When the package arrived--it had both lps in it!

I still have them.

Terry

Interesting topic!

I discovered Elvis when I was 22. Then I started to browse the Internet for information and discovered Oven Egeland's great site Elvis In Norway. My fascination grew as I read about all these weird soundboards listed on that site. In fact, I became so fascinated that I bought "A Life In Music" and after that I was a lost cause. I started to build up a collection of official CDs and I bought my first soundboard some time later. I think it was "Old Time They Are Not Forgotten". No, I actually bought an old LP first, "The Request Box Show" on the TCB label. I still have them all and I will never get rid of them. There are only two soundboards that I'm still trying to hunt down.

Keith Richards, Jr.

Last edited by Keith Richards, Jr. on Mon Sep 01, 2008 3:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

So very few ladies, are a part of this hobby... How come?

for me it seems that some female fans are more interessted in elvis pictures and so on.

i bought my first boots in all together.
It was:
finding the way home
burning in burningham
Good times never seemed so good
Hang Loose
american corwn juwels

This was it as far as i can remember.

For these boots were as mentioned before like new album from elvis.
It was so good to hear "new" version of so well known songs.

I remember the first time I encountered an Elvis-bootleg. At an Elvis-convention in Sweden back in the 1980´s, I was about 12 and had no money of course. This great looking album was in front of me, DORSEY SHOWS on Golden Archives, wow, had never seen anything like it before. Cost SEK 500 so that was a NONO from the start. Later I got a record-list from a lady selling her collection. She listed 3 or 4 bootlegs and unfortunately there was no DORSEY SHOWS but an album titled RADIO RECORDERS REVISITED on Laurel Records. I remember paying SEK 130 for it in mint condition, that was and still is a bargain, was delivered to me in a week or so and the album looked even better than the Dorsey-front. And the songs are fantastic, I really preferred the catchy movie-songs when I was a child, and hearing outtakes of Riding The Rainbow blew my musical mind.
Almost 20 years later I´ve collected them all but RADIO RECORDERS will still be no 1 for me, such a way to start, thanks Dutch Elvis-fellows. How about re-releasing those Laurel-albums on CD from the tapes originally used?

Cool topic

I bought my first bootleg the Portland show back in Oct 85' at a russel Square in London record fair......i bought it for 10 pounds and an American collector their had pittsburgh 76' and 'America's Own' too...but at 20 pounds each i couldn't afford them....after listening to the Portland 11.11.70 show i was IMPRESSED by the live sound and crowd atmosphere...so next Elvis record fair i returned with 50 pounds picked up rough cut diamonds(still love this release) and the previous 2 boots i couldn't afford. From then on i used to go to Spinning Disc and see Terry and his latest Elvis boots. He was a great guy and sorely missed (since he died) i was hooked because the boots offered so much that RCA didn't...it was years later i got the re-release of the last farewell...,but when i did hear it i was 100% a fan-great show AND Atmosphere! hopefully good quality labels like 'Madison' (nowadays) can continue to bring us 'surprises' and i collect every one of their super releases- Legendary performer Vol 8 (for example) was a super release!

I bought the PLEASE RELEASE ME LP at the Luxembourg Convention in 1970, and the single of My Baby's Gone (same sleeve design as the LP) on the same day.

Live Experience In Vegas 1971 is another early one I got, with the black "Cisco Kid" pictures on it. This was the first time I got to own a live version of How Great Thou Art.

The problem with 'boots' for many years was (a) finding a source and, (b) being able to afford them. Luckily, (a) was a problem because (b) was also a big problem with a young family and other priorities for money. It's only really over the last 10 years that I have been able to indulge myself with selected bootlegs - when I can locate them.

Steve Morse

...What great response, guys... and a gal!

drghanem, what I heard, the Master tapes, to many 80s albums, were

thrown into a dirt container, after the owner was alarmed, a possible

visit, from the cops, was to be exspected! Never a dull moment, for

the bad boys... I guess? Well, it didnt happen, but the tapes were already

swimming in pasta sauce Yes, there gone, for ever. Still, 99.9 of the

movie outtakes, survived on FTD, didnt it? Oh, the original artwork,

to many classic albums, went thru a cutting machine, at the printers,

by mistake Like I said ; never a dull moment, in the boot

bizniz... so I was told!

I was 13 when I bought my first boot LP. It was Rockin' New Year's Eve, and I purchased it from a mini Elvis fanfest that came to the local mall.

They had tables with records and memorabilia, and a few chairs set around a TV playing Aloha, Burbank, and CBS '77 footage. This, of course, was very special, since I had no access to video at the time. I saw Elvis once, maybe twice a year. It was very, very cool.

One of the next LPs to make its way into my collection was The Last Farewell. When I was in high school, I spent a summer in Israel. I couldn't bear to be without E.P., so I asked a buddy to make a cassette dub of Indy for me. His turntable had pitch control, so I was excited at being able to hear the music at the correct speed.

My friend, not being a bootleg devotee, took one listen to the noise coming from the speakers, and said "Why are you taping this? NOBODY is going to let you listen to it!"

And, not to go off-topic, I picked up a couple of cool Israeli LPs that summer, including the just-issued Guitar Man.

I was extremely lucky by getting a from a big collector the creme of the crop including behind closed doors, all the audifons etc..SEALED! For a while I did not even know where to start... It was great Christmas in July! The first CD is probably Stax Trax's which turned out to be not real and then Elvis On tour and When All Was Kool...

....Then I started to browse the Internet for information and discovered Oven Egeland's great site Elvis In Norway. My fascination grew as I read about all these weird soundboards listed on that site. In fact, I became so fascinated that I bought "A Life In Music" and after that I was a lost cause. I.....
Thank you, Oven. Thank you, Ernst. Thank you, bootleggers.

Keith Richards, Jr.

Thanks Keith.

Nice to hear this. In fact my first experience with bootlegs was one of the main reason why I started my own web-page....

My first bootleg was a HUGE disappointment! I talked to an Elvis fan club in Norway back in 1993 and they highly recommended "Pure Stage Power" (http://home.online.no/~ov-egela/purestage.html). It had great sound and interesting material, I was told. I was unable to listen to the CD before I bought it, and had not read anything about this release beforehand. I was totally new to bootlegs and had to rely on others advice.

Getting a CD with virtually the offical On Stage in poor sound on a scratchy (CD-rot) CD, with some bad sounding extra material on it, was hardly what I expected!!! I was disappointet and felt almost betrayed.

Luckily I got saved by Just Pretend (http://home.online.no/~ov-egela/pretend.html) a bit later. This CD was the start of a long line of quality bootlegs, and - to me - meant a great deal for my overall Elvis interest! Some bootlegs might hurt BMG, but in general I think bootleggers have done more good than bad to the Elvis interest and to the business for BMG.

However, back to my site. My bad experience was part of the reason why I decided to create my own page. Personally I found that other sites was too positive on Elvis releases. Almost everything was "good", "great" and "fantastic" etc... The reality was - in my view - more varied and balanced. I think there are/were really bad bootlegs, bad bootlegs, uninteresting bootlegs and so on. Severals of the kind that you don't want new Elvis fans to accidentially get their hands on, under the false believe that it is actually good. So it kind of became my "duty" to tell the real story..:-)

However, today I think that Elvis sites and magazines are more critical - and correctly so - to Elvis releases. Some even find certain Elvis fans to be too critical. However, in sum the Elvis fans represents both a mixed *and* balcanced group. No harm in that!


Regards

... I like to know, once and for all ; are the tracks on Stax Trax fake?

Ive heard, both positive, and negative comments... I dont have a

copy anymore, so I cant check. Ive been told, long ago, these were

rough mixes, sneaked out of the RCA studio... They did come from

acetate, didnt they? If some joker faked these recordings, why bother

to cut them on to an acetate? It wasnt tricked by computer. PCs werent

around, at that time, as far as I know. Well, not accessible to your

average Elvis collector...

Hi Ger,
my Mother gave me,, I Wanna Be A Rock n Roll Star,, in the seventies.It was here in Dordrecht in De Bengel,a bookstore,who also sold records.I sold all my records in 1990,so I dont have any records.My question is,what is the price now of ,, I Wanna Be A Rock n Roll Star,, ?
Best regards Dirk.

I think that it was taken from a quad 8 track tape and just used 2 channels (not the normal 2 channels for stereo) and that is why they sound so weird or different.

Love this topic!

The first bootleg I went after was Rockin' With Elvis New Years Eve. I had read about it somewhere (might have been in a Paul Lichter book) and really, really wanted to get my hands on it. I was just 12 at the time, and didn't understand what a bootleg was. I thought it was an "official" release even if it was released on the Spirit Of America label, and not RCA. I even tried to order it from a regular record shop, who said it wasn't legal to sell records like that. I still didn't understand why! Eventually I managed to find it at a fan convention a few years later. And I wasn't disappointed! Other bootlegs I bought in the early 80´s were classics like Hawaii 61, Burbank Sessions, Rough Cut Diamonds, Behind Closed Doors... All much more exciting than anything RCA was putting out. Then there were LP's like Elvis Is Alive And Well And Singing In Las Vegas and Cadillac Elvis... not the greatest bootlegs, but I still have a lot of affection for them.

My first boot was "The Legend Lives On". it cost me £7 in 1981?? Is that the right year.
The album played slow which promted me to get a record deck with pitch control - Dual Turntable. This is how I got into hi-fi.
I now have a NAIM system - you have nt heard Elvis until you have heard him through a NAIM system with Isobariks Speakers!!! Its so clear you can hear Elvis hair ruffling between verses

The first boot I ever bought was the LP, "Rockin Rebel" with the cool fold out cover. I was a teenager at the time in the late 70's and I knew this was something special with all unreleased tracks on it. I bought it at a regular record store. Yes some boots got into the main stream.
After that I found the address to a supplier in a fan club type catalog.
Then i started getting all I could find.
There is nothing like the artwork to the "1961 Benefit show".
Movie outtakes, live shows, hayride stuff. The boots had it all long before RCA finally got around to it.
The "behind closed doors" 4 LP set was like discovering gold.
Also I recall excellant booklets with LP's like, "the blue hawaii box"
and "shake rattle and roll".
I treasure my boot collection. Really great stuff.