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Bootleg discs have always been the thorn in any record company's side, regarded as a detraction from their artist's sales and unfair competition. This is true in the case of records which are virtually identical to the ones released by the major labels. But in these examples of boots, I would argue that not only is the legger providing a service to the public, but to the artist besides. In all three cases, the unofficial discs are even superior performance-wise to the officially released albums.
Take Elvis Costello & The Attractions album, which is in itself a fine argument against recording studios, record producers, and the whole machinery. Contained herein are song demos made on a home two-track, featuring the guitar and voice of Elvis unaccompanied by anything but a slight hiss. The performances of songs like "You Belong To Me," "Radio Radio," and "Alison" are every bit as musically compelling as the versions on This Year's Model, possibly even more so. There's also a demo with The Attractions working out "Lip Service" which makes the album version pale by comparison, and an outtake of "Red Shoes" which is more human and real than the seemingly faultless version on My Aim Is True. The rest of the album is a live show from the first week of Elvis' American tour of 1977, and, although the sound quality seems a hit muddled, the power of the performances is unlike anything that's been heard on record by this man before. His guitar playing is exciting and unbridled, the band is on fire, and his vocals breathe with an intensity that lives up to the hype. Without a doubt, this is Elvis Costello at his best. Precision is lacking in a few places, but it's more than made up for by the obvious conviction in the delivery.
Anyone Can Play is by a defunct group from which no albums have been released in over ten years, although The Yardbirds were perhaps one of the best guitar improvisation groups of all time. Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton — one of whom is practically anybody's favorite guitarist — did their first stepping out with this pop-blues outfit during the mid-Sixties, and it is absolutely a crime that only their hits are still available on record when their misses are far more interesting and plentiful (at least on tape). The bootleggers have, in this instance, again provided the public with an album that makes the commercially released documents obsolete. Anyone Can Play contains almost an entire side of live Yardbirds tracks featuring James Page at his most agile, half a dozen live rave-ups with Jeff Beck wailing frenetically, and two rare studio tracks with Mr. Clapton, if I'm not mistaken. This is the group that recent bands like Aerosmith and Nazareth try to emulate, but Anyone Can Play will reaffirm your faith that there is no equal to the original heavy-metal dynamism of The Yardbirds.
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers are an excellent band but have never been properly captured on record — their first album was intermittently successful at displaying their essence; their second (which took ages to record) was not much better. Tearjerker, a live radio broadcast recorded and mixed in one night, seems to have the energy and fire that Tom Petty's fans want from his albums and only receive in concert. Superbly recorded chestnuts that have never found their way onto record, like "Route 66" and "Jaguar & The Thunderbird," appear here in fine form, as well as previously unrecorded Petty originals like "Surrender" and "Dog on the Run." If this album were actually available through the normal channels, Tom Petty's sales might quickly jump from gold to platinum; as is, the fans can get their taste of where the band genuinely is at.
All three of these records are pressed in what I would term a highly professional manner, and the only time the mastering volume isn't high enough is when the records have eight songs or so per side. I would strongly recommend them to any serious record collector who wants to hear what his favorite bands really sound like. In twenty years, when people look back and want to find out what this generation's rock & roll was all about, I hope someone has these albums lying around.
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