Tuesday 21 August 2012

#19 LITTLE FEAT - Electrif Lycanthrope - Ultrasonic Studios [WLIR], Hempstead, NY. 1974 (Flac)

Little Feat Live
Ultrasonic Studios [WLIR], Hempstead, NY
September 19, 1974




In the previous post, the guest writer mentioned this classic bootleg which has long been available on vinyl. Still unreleased and one of the best ever radio live performances. If you are wondering about the original bootleg title, my assumption is it means electric werewolf or shapeshifter hence the unusual artwork. (sic)
(see correct and detailed expanation below)

01 Rock and Roll Doctor
02 Two Trains
03 The Fan
04 On Your Way Down
05 Spanish Moon >
06 Skin It Back >
07 Fat Man In The Bath Tub
08 Oh Atlanta
09 Willin'
10 Cold Cold Cold >
11 Dixie Chicken >
12 Tripe Face Boogie

Tracks 1-9 Source: PRE-FM (Master 1/2 Track Broadcast RR) >
Mastering (Custom Analog & Digital 10/04) > WAV
Tracks 10-12 Source: FM rebroadcast on WLIR > reel > reel >
m-audio transit > cool edit > cd wave editor 

LINK HERE

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

 Fri, 28 Aug 2015

Yesterday I received this e-mail from someone who wishes to remain anonymous. They used a temporary email address to protect their privacy but had difficulty posting it in the comments section. I reproduce it below:

Greetings thebasement67 and all:

To begin with, it is very, very kind of you to list 'Electrif Lycanthrope' as one of The 100 Greatest Bootlegs. This is especially delightful considering it began its Fifth Decade Of Providing Listening Joy a few years ago.
And anyone who has not followed your suggestion to get the broadcast is missing an extraordinary opportunity to get a pristine transfer of this performance.

At the time of 'Electrif Lycanthrope''s release, LITTLE FEAT were the definition of A Cult Band. Radio, even FM Radio, rarely played them. Probably more people saw them performing live during those years than ever had ever purchased 'Salin' Shoes' or 'Dixie Chicken". This would, happily, change over the next few years with the next few releases but when 'Electrif Lycanthrope' was originated and released they were far closer to A Well Treasured Secret than Indispensable To Any Record Collection.
Over the years, I have read many interpretations about the packaging. Especially the title. As you have been so very kind in your words about this work, I thought, if you do not mind, I would use this ability to comment here to answer some questions about it.

'Electrif Lycanthrope' contains no misspelled words. It appears exactly as intended. The title was inspired by a motion picture that was been broadcast as the cover was being assembled. Way back when, the US television network ABC ran movies and other odd programming late at night. This night there was a movie about a teenage werewolf that was created by Dick Clark Productions. It was a silly movie but the word "lycanthropy" was repeatedly used throughout it. I liked the overall sound of that word very much. For the cover it was changed to be a singular noun. It was used to represent the transformation we hoped would soon take place to change those who never listened to LITTLE FEAT into those who always listened to LITTLE FEAT. The word 'Electrif' was a portmanteau of two words: 'Electric", for the guitars being played, and 'Terrific', for the way LITTLE FEAT music made us all feel.

The subtitle '(Be-Bop Deluxe)' was not an error and was not listed as a reference to the English band of the same name. It was included as a reference to a genre of music, bebop, with a superlative added and was a phrase used by someone at the Anytown Office to reference any music she thought was "irresistibly cool". Its inclusion as a subtitle was the first of three clues to appear on three different LITTLE FEAT titles on Kornyfone.

The artwork on the cover of 'Electrif Lycanthrope' was from a calendar made, printed and given away by A Local Record Store. It was used because, first and foremost, it was by Neon Park and, just as importantly, the original calendar could be trimmed so that the art would fit the available space on the cover. That the art contained a Rin Tin Tin with antlers and an El Camino Real bell with a quizzical face, both entities seemingly also having transformed, just made it all the better.
It took about two hours to assemble the cover and get it camera ready. Letraset for the titles. A bottle of ink and a drafting pen, as always, for the handwritten text. The final printed piece does not have the Neon Park art in its intended position as the printer changed it after the final camera ready art was delivered. But other than that, it was printed as intended.

By the way, the seemingly nonsensical notes under the song titles, written in and around The Amazing Kornyfone Record Label ongoing mythology, do reference real places and real people. And do tell a little more about the album's creation. For example, the source for "Willin'" was supplied by someone who was, at the time, a Railroad Engineer. And the reference to Second Street was a reference to an actual Second Street and to actual people who gathered in various establishments along it to listen and, particularly, to dance to LITTLE FEAT. Girls dancing are, by definition, A Natural Wonder. And Girls dancing to LITTLE FEAT are far, far closer to Answered Prayers.

I hope this brings a little enlightenment about a few things. And, if nothing else, will answer the questions about the origin of the title once and for all. Thanks again for all of your kind words.

If It's Too Loud, You're Too Old.

Cheers,
THF

--------------------------------------------------

It doesn’t take much reading above to realize that THF or a close friend was involved in the production of this most famous bootleg. Many thanks to him for sharing this invaluable information.

Wednesday 15 August 2012

Recollections from a Bootleg record dealer

A former bootleg record dealer left a comment on the Rolling Stones post live at Oakland Coliseum 1969. I asked him if he would like to share some memories of his former employment and he has agreed to do so. I’m sure many blog readers will be interested in how bootlegs were distributed and sold before the arrival of the Internet enabled us all to gain access to a world of free unreleased music.
He wishes to remain anonymous so I would just like to say many, many thanks ‘Anon’ for your contribution and taking the time to write the following:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I have been asked by `thebasement67` to give a few recollections about being a Record and Bootleg dealer in the U.K.  Don`t `Flame` me if I get some details wrong…can you remember what you did 30 years ago?

In the early 60`s in the U.K. record shops sold Classical and Light Orchestral music, Novelty records and Sheet music...`POP` music records were few and far between.

The only opportunity for us `Teenagers` to listen to `POP` music was late at night on a transistor radio tuned into `Radio Luxemburg` fading in and out as you tried to get a signal.

Then a friend lent me an album called `Freewheelin` by a `Folk Singer` named Bob Dylan …and I was hooked.

A few years later my record collection Jazz, Prog, Blues, Rock, Folk, Beat, Soul etc., had grown so large that I needed to have a clear out, and a friend told me of a sale he had heard of where people gathered to trade and sell records…this was my introduction to the wonderful world of Record Fairs.

Over the next few years I gained Knowledge and developed contacts in the trade, so that when the first Bootleg albums came along I was well placed to start to trade.



The first albums that I recall being available were `The Great White Wonder` by Bob Dylan, and  `H-Bomb` by Deep Purple, though Led Zep, The Who and The Rolling Stones were also well represented, strangely I don`t recall any Beatles bootlegs at this time. The covers were just plain white cardboard sleeves, with in many cases the titles just handwritten or stamped on the sleeve. Later black and white printed covers were just glued onto the cardboard.



I still have my treasured copy of `Electrif Lycanthrope` by Little Feat (the `F` in electrif is not my error, it was a typo at the printers and they had to use it), This must surely rate as one of the best boots ever, (Reputedly mixed by Lowell George himself), The almost `whispered` version of `Willin` is spine tingling, and knocks spots off any commercial version.



Dylan`s `Little White Wonders` Vol. 1 /2 /3 Notable for the unissued tracks of `Dusty Old Fairgrounds` and `Angelina` were much in evidence, thought these were mainly imports from Italy on the `Joker` label.

When it came to labels `Trade mark of Quality` and `Swinging Pig` were the ones to go for as they were usually of good quality.

From this period Bruce Springsteen`s `You can trust Your Car to the Man Who Wears the Star` (Texaco service staff wear a Star on their caps), was by far the biggest seller and fabulous quality, also Elvis Costello`s `Live at the El Mocambo` was better than any of his official albums. Later Prince`s `Black Album` would break all sale records, reputedly selling over 500,000 copies! (In the video for `Alphabet Street` there are letters falling from the sky, if you paused the video at the right place the letters read `Don`t Buy the Black Album`!”



To be able to deal in Bootlegs you first had to find a supplier…..This was like asking Al Capone if he had any jobs going!  Finding a supplier was hard enough, but you then had to convince them that you could keep your mouth shut, and you had lots of cash to buy in bulk, The Masons, MI5, and the Magic Circle were easier to get into!

I recall meeting a contact in the dead of night at a service station on the M1 Motorway to take delivery of my order. Many deals were done behind the skips at the rear of Hotels.

You always had to be wary of being raided by the BPI (British Phonograph Industry) there was always a danger of having all your expensive stock confiscated, placed in plastic bags and taken away, and then you were threatened by court action and a VERY large fine. I saw this happen several times, but luckily not to me, as I did not do the London Fairs, or open markets (Camden Lock). The thing was that the BPI did not have a clue as to what a `Bootleg` actually was! and so they would take anything , they were unable to understand the difference between a `Pirate` album and a `Bootleg` album, no one in the business would ever Pirate an official album.

As far as we were concerned the only `Criminal` action here was the fact that the record companies were content to sit on unissued tracks for years with no intention of ever releasing them to the fans, ( Dylan`s `Blind Willie McTell` ) it was not until the advent of the Internet when their sales plummeted, and they were forced to find another way of generating sales ,that they realised that the true fan would have bought ALL the official albums anyway, and they needed to provide more.

The organizers of the fairs had `Fits` about Bootlegs being sold and often put an outright ban on the sale of any item that might not be legitimate, this was got around by selling from lists on the stall (Lists could be moved quickly!) But this was never satisfactory and the Bootlegs soon appeared again.

Originally most of the Bootlegs were pressed in Belgium and Luxemburg, but later as the covers became more elaborate production moved to the Far East.

As the production values increased the `pride in quality` aspect of Bootlegs fell by the wayside and the record fairs were flooded with poor quality Boots with elaborate covers, and awful quality `Audio tapes` and `Videos`. This was about the time of the `Goth` and `New Romantic` era, which had no interest for me.

Nowadays the Internet has almost put an end to Record fairs, and the `Product` has diversified with so many `Indie` and home produced bands doing their own thing, that the great `Classic` bootlegs are hard to discover, which is why it is important that Blogs like `100GreatestBootlegs` exist to point the way."

Saturday 11 August 2012

#18 THE BEATLES - Esher Demos (Flac)



There are many variations of the Esher demos circulating, speed corrected, phase corrected, remasters etc.
This is as good as you can get at the moment (2012) 

 
THE BEATLES – THE ESHER DEMOS
1: Julia
2: Blackbird
3: Rocky Raccoon
4: Back In The U.S.S.R.
5: Honey Pie
6: Mother Nature's Son
7: Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
8: Junk
9: Dear Prudence
10: Sexy Sadie
11: Cry Baby Cry
12: Child Of Nature
13: The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
14: I'm So Tired
15: Yer Blues
16: Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
17: What's The New Mary Jane
18: Revolution
19: While My Guitar Gently Weeps
20: Circles
21: Sour Milk Sea
22: Not Guilty
23: Piggies
24: Happiness Is A Warm Gun
25: Mean Mr. Mustard
26: Polythene Pam
27: Glass Onion
28: Junk (anthology mix)
29: Honey Pie (anthology mix)
(79:44)

Demos from George's house (Kinfauns) and John's house (Kenwood) in late May 1968.
For what it's worth, not only do tracks 1-23 sound better to us than on "From Kinfauns To Chaos" but they're also in the 'correct order', at the correct speed and in true mono for the first time (as best we can tell). Purple Chick PC-135 (2007)

LINK HERE

Wednesday 1 August 2012

#17 THE CURE - L'Olympia, Paris (June 7, 1982) (Flac)

This is the best sounding show from the Pornography tour and a stunning nerve shredding performance. Another bootleg of this show Live At L'Olympia includes Killing An Arab and All Mine but it doesn't have the sound quality of this.



The Cure
1982-06-07
L'Olympia - Paris, France
M bootleg - SBD > ? > Bootleg CD > EAC > CDR

1. M
2. The Drowning Man
3. A Short Term Effect
4. Cold
5. At Night
6. Splintered In Her Head
7. Three Imaginary Boys
8. Primary
9. One Hundred Years
10. Play For Today
11. A Strange Day
12. A Forest
13. 10:15 Saturday Night
14. The Figurehead
15. Pornography

Grade: EX+
Source: SBD
Length: 74 minutes
Artwork included 


Original Set Running Order

1. the figurehead
2. m
3. the drowning man
4. a short term effect
5. cold
6. at night
7. splintered in her head
8. three imaginary boys
9. siamese twins  (missing not broadcast available on an audience recording)
10. primary
11. one hundred years
12. the hanging garden (missing not broadcast available on an audience recording)
13. play for today
14. a strange day
15. a forest
16. pornography 

encore:
17. 10.15 saturday night
18. killing an arab (missing, see link below)
19. all mine (missing, see link below)


from Live at L'Olympia

Killing An Arab (3:03)
All Mine (10:56)



>