Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I didn't see any threads specifically dedicated to bootlegs(or Beatlegs if you will) so I figured I'd make one. I'm just getting into Beatles bootlegs and so far all I have is all of the Artifact I albums and Soul Sessions. They all have a lot of great takes on them and you can really see the progressions of the songs.

What bootlegs do you have and what are your favorites? Feel free to discuss any other things about Beatles bootlegs too.

Good thread, Mike! As for Beatle boots go I collected them throughout the 70's when I lived in NYC. I cant say I have them ALL, but its fairly close to it.

They've moved with me from here to there and back again.... they sit on the shelf and are an impressive presentation to any visitor who takes an interest. Other than that, many of them haven't been played for decades and I wonder what I'm going to do with them all.

i have never really had any bootlegs apart from the ones floating around on the internet, there was one group of bootlegs that i heard once and have been trying to find them for years, they are all acoustic demos, i think some of them were on anthology 3, i heard a acoustic dear prudence, back in the ussr and child of nature (jealous guy)
among others, does anyone know what this actual realese is called and where i can get one?

I think those are known as the Esher Demos. I believe they were recorded at George's house to gather material for the White Album. There are two bootlegs that I know of with most of the songs on them. One is called "Acoustic Masterpieces-The Esher Demos." The other is called "Complete Home Recordings 1968." You can find the Complete Home Recording series plus a lot of other Bootlegs at http://www.withthebeatlegs.com/anteriores_beat_eng.html

Harry, these recordings are also known as
"The Kinfauns Sessions" Here's a link where you can hear many of the demos.
http://www.geocities.com/kinfauns_2000/kinfauns.htm?200531?200626

I like the "River Rhine tapes" (or sessions). It's some good Get Back era stuff from the soundboard.

Another collection of stuff I like is the outtakes from the early days. There's one in particular called "One before 911" - it has a ton of outtakes of early stuff.

The live stuff that's out there is nice to hear if it's soundboard, if it's an audience recording- forget it. I know it's history but all you hear are fans cheering and a slight audible Live Beatles

What's the best way to deal with the storage problems associated with downloading "www.withthebeatlegs.com" files?

Download a few and burn them to disk and then delete the files.

Download to a portable harddrive, etc.

I'm interested in most of these cd's. Does anyone know if there's much duplication of songs scattered through the collections?

Thanks!

I've collected a lot of the Beatles boots back in the early 80's and I was fortunate enough to around the people in L.A. that made this stuff.
The Pasadena Swapmeet was the place to be for new boots.
My first bootleg was a copy of the Get Back album on the TMOQ label on yellow trans vinyl.
I guess because of that, I have a penchant for the Get Back sessions. I have yet to get the 30 Days boxset but I do have the Get Back Sessions vinyl boxset on colored vinyl.
After the Get Back sessions I would have to say The Sessions album, White Album/Escher Demos and then the Pepper sessions along with the evolution of Strawberry Fields Forever. This filled almost two discs. Great album.
I was never into the Live material since it was just not engaging enough. I preferred unreleased or alternate takes.
I recall when the first Beatles Bootleg CDs came out. The three disc set of Sessions, Get Back and Beeb, the one where that college kid walked into the Capitol CD pressing plant and requested to have 100 copies of each pressed up for fan club release. So the discs themselves were pressed by Capitol machines and silkscreened with authentic EMI logos. Very cool. I heard he sold each disc for $100 bucks a pop. I see these pop up every now and then on the Bay. Value has dropped and the quality leaves little to be said since the source material was taken from vinyl copies of the albums. But the excitement it drew from the collectors was amazing. They sold out fast. Of course he sold all copies at the Beatles convention in 1985(?).
Even the Ultra Rare Trax discs lost their lustre in regards to quality. Not sure if anyone of you listened to them recently but the quality is just average. I can't believe when these came out, the labels were up in arms about how they got to the masters and they sounded better than the officially released CDs. Very much not the case. You can tell these were taken from a mediocre source that was mastered improperly.
I like Let It Be...Naked. But I wish they would master the Glyn Johns versions (2 & 3) as a limited edition release on 200 gram complete with original artwork. And press up a few on colored vinyl.
Anyway, I LOVE BEATLEGS!

thanks so much mike, that site is awesome, i started downloading a few then it said the site ran out,dont know exactly what that mean but i love the acoustic yer blues,i will get all those demos if its the last thing i do, cheers mate.

Harry,
If you like I can burn you a copy of the complete Kinfauns Sessions/Esher Demos.
Let me know.
Cheers

Back in '90-'91, I almost ruined my eyes going thru Goldmine magazine looking for Beatle Boots. It paid off. I have a ton of them. And my eyes are in terrible shape now.....

Heh.

No problem Harry it's a nice site. If you have further problems I'd just email the guy that runs the site he's pretty helpful.

To John Devault, They come in ZIP files so they don't take long to downlaod and they don't take up that much space. I just keep what I download on my computer's hard drive. I just dont' download more than 6 at a time. So if you have a decent computer and you dont download a **** load of albums you should be ok. Other wise get an external hard drive. They're pretty cheap now days.

John,
I was relegated to goldmine once all the record conventions were busted by the RIAA and the FBI. I was there when the Buena Park convention was busted. It happened right after I left and luckily I walked away with boots under my arm.
After that, it became difficult to find them and many of the guys weren't allowed to setup at conventions or swapmeets. Some just sold them straight out of their trunks.
I miss those days and walking away with rare vinyl. Didn't care much for the CDs with their tiny artwork and silver disc.

Since the topic of Beatlegs has been brought up, has anyone ever come across the holy grail of Beatlegs tracks, the full 27 minute version of Helter Skelter?

Hey Edgar

that would be awesome, id be happy to pay for them too!! you have just made my day man, do you have an e mail addy i could get a hold of you on?

cheers