Bootleg Nation: The Rolling Stones 02/24/73
Published April 20, 2006
Sound quality is always an issue with bootlegs. We're not dealing with official studio recordings here. The music isn't mixed separately, on to individual tracks. A record producer isn't standing over a mix board going through the music note by note painstakingly manipulating the sound to produce the optimal sound.
This is in the moment, live music. A singer's voice is unfiltered and raw. Guitarists hit wrong notes, strings break, and a myriad of other problems can affect the final product. Soundboard engineers must make decisions on the fly to get the best possible product to an audience.
Bootleg sound comes in all shapes and sizes. The best come straight from the soundboard, mixed for the band. Many bands record their concerts so they can be played back later, and the performance can be reviewed by the musicians - much like a sports team will watch game tapes.
Other times concerts will be recorded with the intention of a later, official release. These tapes are sometimes leaked into the fan base, or stolen and slipped into trading circles. The sound quality is pristine and the tapes are treasured by fans and collectors.
FM radio is a treasure trove of concert recordings. Live music has been a staple of radio since the first transmitter released its madness. It is also an easy method for fans to get their first bootlegs. Landing a pre FM version of the same show makes it even more stellar for the sound must be compressed a great deal before it makes the airwaves.
Taper-friendly bands will often allow their fans to patch straight into the soundboard, allowing phenomenal recordings of the show, recorded on DAT machines and then traded to the masses.
The worst sound comes from audience recordings. These come from microphones set up by fans smack dab in the middle of the audience. Depending on the equipment used, and the ability of the recorder these tapes can either give an excellent feel of what it was like to actually be there, or give an intimate portrait of the stoned-out, screaming fan sitting next to the taper.
There are also mixes between audience and soundboard recordings called a matrix recording. This usually consists of a soundboard patch with an audience mike filtered in. When done right this can produce the remarkable sound of a soundboard tape with the live feel of being there on the ground with the rest of the audience.
The Rolling Stones
02/24/73
Western Australia
I only recently would consider myself a fan of the Rolling Stones. All I ever really knew of them were the radio hits. Tunes like "Honky Tonk Women," "You Can't Always Get What You Want," and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," are classics songs and I would never have knocked them (though for my buck, Otis Redding blows the Stones out of their own water on "Satisfaction"). But, they are so overplayed by classic rock and oldies stations as to make them tired and old.
Mat Brewster is an American stumbling as an ex-pat through the streets of Shanghai. He is helped by his lovely wife and an enormous piles of bootleg DVDs. He is chronicling his adventures in the Shanghai Diaries and musing on pop culture at The Midnight Cafe.
![Let It Bleed [DSD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41H1R6QX15L._SY90_.jpg "Let It Bleed [DSD]")
- Bootleg Nation: The Rolling Stones 02/24/73
- Published: April 20, 2006
- Type: Review
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Classic Rock and Oldies, Music: Live Concerts
- Part of a feature: Bootleg Country
- Writer: Mat Brewster
- Mat Brewster's BC Writer page
- Mat Brewster's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
That the Stones have yet to release a truly definitive live album is one of the great shames in music. The 4 Flicks DVDs are good and you have Ya-Ya's which wins by default but in each case they only hint at what a Stones show could be.
yep, very much like their studio albums, the live records tend to be all over the place too. i'm very partial to Love You Live
I think that's why I always loved Exile On Main Street - it looks and sounds like a boot.
I'm with Mark on Love You Live, and I've never really understood why it has received bad reviews. The El Mocambo selections in particular are pure prime Stones.
i think it's because you can't get your GenuineJadedRockWriter(tm) badge if you don't dump all over live records.
stupid, in my opinion.
Well, I bought Love You Live in college and played it regularly, right alongside another live classic, Bob Marley's Babylon by Bus -- which is also always tagged as being somehow lame or timid or uninspired or some such phrase. I don't fathom how any fan could dislike either.
we've had posts about live records before. some people just can't stand it when the tune doesn't sound exactly like the studio version.
i'm with you...Babylon By Bus is a great record.
A great look at The Stones on and off stage is the film Gimmie Shelter, which is framed around the Altamont concert.
My favorite thing about live albums and other bootlegs is when I was actually at the show. The first time this happened was when Jane's Addiction released some live B-sides and a video where at the end of "Ain't No Right" Perry gets hit with a Birkenstock and comments on the guy's poor fashion sense. Since then, and with the explosion of bootleg/trading, I have found many shows that I was able to bring home.
Even their detractors should give The Grateful Dead major credit for the state of live music trading today.
very true bicho. i wasn't a part of it, but do remember people being able to get the special tickets in the taper section...which they used to refer to as "the forest" (because of the 'trees' of microphones)
I love live albums but think the Stones have yet to release a really great one. I think their live albums all have some genuinely good moments but nothing that really hits hard from beginning to end (and don't get me started on these "live hits" packages that aren't really live albums at all...).
I won't quarrel with you on that regard, DJ; I'm just saying the live albums are terribly underrated, generally, and I think the same goes for their studio records of late. Even when they're just so-so, the threshold of musicianship is still pretty damn high.
I tend to love live music be it bootleg or official release. I also get annoyed when the live version sounds too much like the studio song. I mean what's the point, I already have the studio version.
The Dead truly were pioneers in live recordings. Not only did they create a tapers section, but they've released countless live shows officially.
Thanks for the comments fellas
I have a couple of shows from that 1973 Australian tour and they are all amazing. That period was probably the best for the stones as a live act
Mat
Try to get "Brussels affair definitive edition" bootleg. Recorded in Brussels October 17 1973, but has also tracks from other various European 73 tour shows. Was supposed to become an official live album, never made it for some obscure legal reasons.
There are incredible versions of famous Stones tunes. The energy over Street Fighting Man is really awesome and the CD contains an amazing version of Angie (far from being my favorite Stones song, but listen to this one).
Mick Taylor is key in the quality of this album, listen also to Keith rhythm.
Even if they still have a lot of energy as a band, they're far from their peak period 1969-1974.
Thanks. Any tips on where a fella should start looking for such an affair?
Try eBay, it shows up there from time to time. The "definitive edition" has it all from the Europe 73 portion of Goat's head soup Tour. However, most of the songs appear on other bootleg CDs with titles such as :
"Bedspring Symphony"
"Europe 73"
"Nasty music"
"Nasty remixes"
"Brussels affair" (this one is similar to disk 1 of Definitive edition and is probably easier to find)
I don't know which version of the 2/24/73 show you own(Rocks off or another one), but "Brussels" has a better sound quality.
Look at the following URL for more info. There will be a link "the CD's".
Good luck.
http://www.rollingstonesnet.com/Brussels.htm
I collect and trade Rolling Stones bootlegs. It's true that the Brussels 10/17/73 recording is probably the most famous Stones bootleg out there. It's really good. Everything everybody says about it's quality is true. I have the Perth 2/24/73 show too and it's also really good. There are a couple of other shows from the '73 Winter Tour available in similar soundboard quality (Sydney 2/26 and 2/27/73). If you're looking to get into Stones bootlegs of the Mick Taylor era, I would go for Leeds, England 3/13/71, Ft. Worth, Texas 6/24/72 (2nd show), the aforementioned Perth, Austrailia 2/24/73 show, and Brussels 10/17/73 (1st show). There are other good ones but these are the best as far as sound quality and performance is concerned. If you liked the Perth show, you'll love some of these others.
Thanks Matt. I've got one other Stones show, but it is from 02 and and not nearly as stellar as this one. I'm always up for a trade, if you're interested. My etree list is here
Almost any show from 72 and 73 shows a band that really was the greatest rock n roll band in the world. And a number of those shows are from soundboard and were originally intended to be released. But only a few people here have mentioned the reasons they aren't. The contractural problems are long behind them, but with Mick Taylor this band was so good it's impossible to believe almost even as you're hearing. Given that Taylor walked right before rehearsels of a new album and tour after being tired of getting screwed over on songwriting credits, Jagger will never release these. These LPs blow away any live album they've done since because that band blows the current band away like confetti. Woods is an ok guitar player but as a replacement for Taylor it took the Stones from the top to the rest of the pack. IMHO
Very interesting Mike. I hadn't heard that before. I'll have to find some more bootlegs from the era.
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the interesting thing about this is that the Stones right now probably play in a way more energetic fashion than they did back in their drug-induced haze.
i saw them recently and it was pretty amazing.