Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Beatles Bootlegs

Full disclosure: major Beatlemaniac here, okay? Their music is one of my most deeply cherished possessions. The joy from that music is unspeakable. In this I am one of tens of millions, which is not all that indie or nichy. So. During my prowlings one night a year or two ago, I came across a website called Beatlegs. Although I’m not down with site names that combine words in an oh-so-clever way, the name became irrelevant when I found what was there. Somehow the owner has collected a stash of rare Beatles bootlegs. Here are my two favorites, and you will find many more at the site itself. These are .zip files, so go through the clicking process until the song launches. “Bad to Me” was a top ten hit for Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas. Through his association with Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein, Kramer was allowed to record and had hits with several Lennon & McCartney songs The Beatles themselves did not release. According to Richie Unterberger at Allmusic, The Beatles gave away songs they considered inferior. Perhaps by Maclen standards they were. I am moved by the power of tender emotions simply and beautifully expressed. It wasn't all screaming and jelly babies, fun though that must have been, too.

The Beatles
Bad to Me (Demo) (.zip)
I'm in Love (Demo) (.zip)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm here for the first time (via NYMary).

Great blog. Keep up the good work!

pplist said...

'Preciate it, man/woman. Keep coming back.

Anonymous said...

Glad you enjoyed the site. Though I'm certainly not the first to coin the term "Beatleg." ;-)

pplist said...

I was totally kidding. Notice the name of my own blog! ;-) Maybe it's masochism, but I enjoy taking the occasional punch at myself. And, yes, I love your site. Needless to say, I took more than those two songs, but I wanted only to share my two favorites and hope that others would visit Beatlegs. BTW, how did you actually get these bootlegs?

Incidentally, I have a dear friend who does a lot of Beatles collecting--high dollar stuff. Although I'm not sure how much they cost, she was able to buy a lot of concert recordings, Live in Paris, that sort of thing. Have you acquired any of those types of recordings?

Serious thanks for your site and for sending your comments.

.

Anonymous said...

Nice blog

If you are interested in Beatles Bootlegs, I have just started "Lossless Beatles", a page that features Beatels Bootlegs.

http://losslessbeatles.blogspot.com/

I'd like to exchange links anytime!

Take care

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