“You wouldn’t steal a car”: exploring the controversial world of bootleg records
Remember the days of somebody sidling up to you in a pub, copies of slightly off-looking DVDs in hand? Well, I hate to break it to you, but those were probably bootlegged. Bootlegs are defined as unofficial releases that are not approved by the artists or filmmakers who own the copyright of the work. While bootleg DVDs have fallen by the wayside with the advent of the internet, the bootleg vinyl industry is still going strong. Although they might be the natural enemy of struggling artists, many bootleg albums have become prized collector’s items, eclipsing the prices of some official releases.
Unsurprisingly, bootleg records first became popular within the hippie counterculture of the 1960s. Spurred on by works like Abbie Hoffman’s Steal This Book, the subculture had a particular penchant for bending the rules, living by your own means and, above all else, rejecting capitalism. As such, some of the most infamous early bootlegs covered the likes of The Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane and Bob Dylan. In fact, Dylan is credited with having the first rock bootleg in 1969’s Great White Wonder, which compiled demos and studio outtakes from the folk hero.
The vast majority of bootleg records are recordings of live performances. Ranging from scratchy, lo-fi recordings pressed onto vinyl from cassette to fairly professional productions, live albums form perhaps the most interesting part of the bootleg genre. After all, most artists have their craft rooted in live performance, so live bootlegs are a fairly interesting account of their artistry. Not to mention the simple fact that artists die; in the modern day, it is incredibly valuable to have recordings of live Hendrix gigs or Miles Davis live in Paris because those sounds will never be recreated.
In fact, some bootlegged live recordings have become so legendary and sought-after that they have eventually received widespread official versions. This has been a fairly common theme throughout bootleg history, as it seems the dedicated few who spend time making these lo-fi releases are more connected to music fans than industry professionals. Some bands have been bootlegged more often than others. Fans of the Grateful Dead, for instance, have recorded a frankly incomprehensible amount of Dead live shows, many of which have found their way onto vinyl – some of which eventually saw official releases.
In a more recent example, it took over a year for Beyoncé’s Lemonade to receive an official release on vinyl, but by that time, it had already been released in various forms by bootleggers. The same goes for the debut studio album of Lana Del Rey, which has been extensively bootlegged after the official label could not fund the release. Even in the world of jazz, it was up to bootleggers to put out the glorious sounds of Alice Coltrane playing live at Carnegie Hall after the original label scrapped plans for a live album. Again, though, these bootlegs eventually led to the release of official recordings by the label.
With the advent of punk rock in 1976, which was firmly rooted in a DIY ethos, bootlegs became much more common. As it became easier to record gigs to pretty high quality, soon there was scarcely a band on the scene that had not had their shows taped and pressed onto, admittedly, low-quality vinyl. Bootlegs fit in perfectly with the spirit of punk, though the artists that lost out on some revenue as a result might disagree.
Generally speaking, bootleg records rarely sound as good as official releases, given their DIY nature. However, for fans, bootlegs can often be interesting collector’s items, sought out specifically for their unofficial qualities. There is an entire market for Joy Division bootlegs, for example, in which completionist vinyl obsessives seek out rare and lo-fi vinyl. Admittedly, it is quite impressive that bootleg vinyl still exists in the digital age, especially as pressing records becomes an increasingly expensive venture. However, the ever-growing body of bootleg records should certainly not be looked down upon, as they can often be more interesting than official releases.
