Tag Archives: Bootlegs

Jackson Browne, live on Soundstage

A few weeks ago, I caught Jackson Browne’s recent performance on the PBS show, Soundstage. It was captivating. PBS sells some of the Soundstage performances on DVD so I immediately checked if this show was available — it wasn’t.

The other day I was delighted to see one of the bootleg blogs I read posted a link to the audio: Jackson Browne: live on Soundstage 2009.

One highlight of the show was “Time the Conqueror,” the title track from his latest album, which shows he definitely hasn’t lost his talent for songwriting.

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Springsteen’s halftime show

Clarence Clemons and Bruce Springsteen in silhouette

I’ve posted before that sports and rock & roll don’t necessarily go well together. Having said that, Bruce Springsteen’s halftime performance was my favorite thing about yesterday’s big game.

Springsteen and his band are the quintessential showmen, even when they’re only playing for twelve minutes, they push it to the full limit.

And you’ve got to love that introduction…

I want you to step back from the guacamole dip. I want you to put the chicken fingers down, and turn your television all the way up!

Update: The NFL had YouTube remove the videos I was linking to. (Boo!). It was available for a while on the bootleg website, TUBE: The Ultimate Bootleg Experience, but no longer. Such is the nature of those bootlegs. The lesson is, download them when you see them!

Recording: Ryan Adams & the Cardinals in Madison

Thanks to Muzzle of Bees, I discovered a recording of the excellent Ryan Adams & The Cardinals show I attended about six weeks ago. Here’s one of my favorite songs from that night, “Easy Plateau.”

This is an outstanding recording, available in lossless FLAC format, released by the Cardinals themselves. The entire show is posted in the audio section of the Internet Archive: Ryan Adams Live at Overture Hall on 2008-10-05.

What a great souvenir of a great concert. A must for all Ryan Adams fans.

Sting Unplugged

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I recently stumbled upon this little gem: a bootleg of Sting’s Unplugged performance at MTV studios, in March of 1991 — back when MTV actually had music on the channel.

Sting was touring to support his latest release at the time, The Soul Cages. He plays four songs from that underrated CD, but the highlights of the session are outstanding versions of “”Fragile,” “Tea in The Sahara,” which segues into “Walking On The Moon,” an excellent cover of Bill Wither’s “Ain’t No Sunshine,” and my favorite song of the set, “Message in a Bottle.”

Although a cover image is included in the archive, I didn’t think the publicity image of a Synchronicity era Sting made sense, so I came up with my own cover based on images from The Soul Cages CD.

Share and enjoy.

The Ultimate Bootleg Experience

I recently discovered an outstanding resource at T.U.B.E.: The Ultimate Bootleg Experience. Featuring both live and studio recordings (outtakes, rarities, etc.), T.U.B.E. is veritable goldmine. Some of the more interesting things I found there include:

  • Joe Strummer – Solos, Soundtracks, & Rarities
  • Van Morrison – Gypsy Soul (Studio Demos)
  • Peter Tosh – Equal Rights Demos 1977
  • Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – 1969-08-26 – Los Angeles
    (the earliest completely recorded CSNY concert)
  • Talking Heads – CBS Demos (1975)
  • U2 – Pulled The Covers (1979-2006)

The one minor downside of T.U.B.E. is the slightly complicated downloading process. It usually is worth it however. The files are well documented, and often include cover art. The bootlegs I’ve downloaded have been of very good quality. Every time I check out T.U.B.E., I’m just amazed at the variety and sheer number of bootlegs posted on the site.

Neil Young, Chrome Dreams

For you Neil Young fans out there, That Truncheon Thing (an excellent music blog) has posted a bootleg of Neil Young’s Chrome Dreams.

Chrome Dreams is described as “one of those great lost albums, from the further reaches of rock history, that never saw the light of day, except to boot collectors.”

This particular bootleg also includes a “select batch of bonus cuts to give you a further taste of just how creative Neil was during this fertile period” (the mid 1970’s).

Definitely worth downloading. Share and enjoy.