Given the small sums of money to be made (most boots have runs of only a few thousand), it's usually not worth risking prosecution or disruption of service by annoyed wholesalers. Thousands of bootleg albums exist (and there's an emerging wave of bootleg videos), but you're not likely to find them in your local record store. Most boots originate with concerts, radio and television broadcasts, demos, rehearsal tapes and studio outtakes. The average collector is a young white male rock fan. There is no market for Kenny Loggins or Melissa Manchester, and there are virtually no bootlegs of popular black artists, even those with large crossover audiences, such as Prince and Michael Jackson. Most boots are of rock acts with commercial or cult followings, ranging from the aforementioned dinosaurs to youngsters such as R.E.M. Other heavily bootlegged artists include the Beatles (800 titles), the Rolling Stones (600), the Who, Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead. Before the end of Springsteen's three-day run at England's Wembley Stadium last July 4, high-quality cassette tapes of the opening concert were available on the streets of London. There are at least a dozen "Born in the USA" tour sets out right now. He too has inspired a 10-record set ("All Those Years," covering his work from 1971 to 1982), as well as many four- and five-record concert sets - in part, no doubt, because he has yet to release an album of his long live performances, which many of his fans consider his most powerful medium. Just look at Springsteen, also a CBS artist. think their fanaticism exempts them from legal niceties.In fact, those fans will buy and produce bootlegs despite the pleas and criticism of the very artists they so admire. Yet there has never been any real dialogue between record companies and artists seeking to maintain control over their creative works and those enterprising collectors who think their fanaticism xl xr exempts them from legal niceties. Dylan has since been "booted" some 500 times (there's even a widely available book titled "Bob Dylan: His Unreleased Recordings," discussing them in critical detail). They are at one time defaming the artist and defrauding his admirers." That's pretty much been the battle line ever since. "The sellers of this record are crassly depriving Bob Dylan of the opportunity to perfect his performances to the point where he believes in their integrity and validity. "We consider the release of this record an abuse of the integrity of a great artist," CBS stated in 1969. Now as then, bootlegging is illegal, and it raises serious ethical and artistic questions. "GWW" launched a pirate cottage industry that has continued to bedevil record companies and artists even as it has satiated hard-core fans and collectors. The same parties had faced off in 1969 when the first important public bootleg, "Great White Wonder," appeared in Los Angeles and was written about extensively in Rolling Stone. Indeed, when Rolling Stone magazine reported on "Ten of Swords" last March and CBS Records temporarily withdrew its advertising in protest (claiming that the article was endorsing an illegal product), the confrontation had many familiar echoes. Dylan (whose recent five-record iograph" has had to compete with a 10-record boxed boot, "Ten of Swords") and Springsteen (whose fabled live concerts, not available on any legitimate releases, are represented on more than 100 bootleg collections) are among the most heavily booted artists.ĭylan has been fighting boots for the better part of his career. What Dylan and the Boss don't like are bootleg records and tapes - and with good reason. "Out-and-out theft," his manager, Jon Landau, has said. Then you wonder why most artists feel so paranoid." a cover that's got a picture of you that was taken from underneath your bed and a striptease-type title and it costs $30. "If you're just sitting and strumming in a motel. "Outrageous," he says in the liner notes to his recent "Biograph" anthology.
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