Back Pages: Vital Statistics (November 1996) Bootleg releases by AC/DC, Prince, Family & more

[About 80% of the content of Live! Music Review was feature articles with extensive reviews on current releases. However, in the golden age of bootleg CDs, in which most manufacturers sent us sample copies, along with other previously overlooked items found in the bins of retail vendors, there was always an overflow for a 48-page publication. We tried hard to give reviews to everything that passed through our hands and thus started a column named Vital Statistics – a roundup of CDs that weren’t included in feature articles. Filling out the final 20% of content, this column provided sound quality ratings, track lists, and micro-reviews, helping to fulfill one of our objectives – a comprehensive buyer’s guide for bootlegs. Now available on the Internet for the first time.]

AC/DC: From Bars to Stars (Kobra KRCR 03)

Sources: 1-2 first AC/DC with Dale Evans on lead vocals (1974), 3-5 Marc Bolan TV Show, London, UK (8/28/76), 6-10 London, UK (March 1977), 11-15 Paris, France (12/9/79)

Sound Quality: very good to excellent broadcast and studio recordings (8-9)

Cover: Simple one piece insert and tray card

Tracklist: Can I Sit Next To You, Girl/ Rockin’ In the Parlor/ Live Wire/ Can I Sit Next To You, Girl/ Jailbreak/ Let There Be Rock/ Problem Child/ Hell Ain’t a Bad Place To Be/ Bad Boy Boogie/ Rocker/ Sin City/ Walk All Over You/ Girl Got Rhythm/ T.N.T./ Let There Be Rock

Comments: No upgrades here. The Bolan TV show material is comparatively hard vto find but the remainder of what is her has seen far too many bootleg releases already.

AC/DC: Thunderball Boogie (Kobra KRCD 08/9)

Venue: Arco Arena, Sacramento, CA (2/5/96); disc 2, tracks 9-14 Paris, France (3/28/91)

Sound Quality: good audience recordings, (6) and (7) respectively

Cover: 4 panel insert and tray card in slimline jewel case

Tracklist: (disc 1) Intro> Back In Black/ Shot Down In Flames/ Thunderstruck/ Girls Got Rhythm/ Cover You In Oil/ Shoot To Thrill/ Boogie Man/ Hard As A Rock/ Hell’s Bells/ Down Payment Blues/ The Jack/ Ballbreaker/ Rock ‘n’ Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution (disc 2) Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap/ You Shook Me All Night Long/ Whole Lotta Rosie/ T.N.T./ Let There Be Rock/ Hail Caesar/ Highway To Hell/ For Those About To Rock/ Fire Your Guns/ Sin City/ Heatseeker/ Who Made Who/ That’s The Way I Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll/ Money Talks

Comments: Angus Young, the eternal brat of hard rock, continues to amaze. But this band hasn’t had a good live singer since Bon Scott. Here is ample evidence that Brian Johnson’s voice continues to deteriorate. I don’t know how their records sound so good when Johnson can only reach less than half his notes  and sounds as if his throat will explode from infection on every live CD I've heard of the post-Scott era. [2021 editor’s note: Brian Johnson “retired” mid-tour in 2016 stating hearing problems, but some speculated that it was actually throat damage due to years of singing above his natural register. After a four year hiatus, he returned in 2020 for the group’s Power Up album.]

Bon Jovi: Hidden Treasures (Oxygen OXY 048)

Source: 1-2 Sippery When Wet Outtakes; 3-6 Slippery When Wet demos; 8-16 New Jersey demos; 17 Keep The Faith demo

Sound Quality: Excellent studio tracks (9-10)

Cover: attractive 8-page inset and tray card

Tracklist: Borderline/ Edge Of A Broken Heart/ Too Much, Too Soon/ Game Of The Heart/ Lonely Is The Night/ Deep Cuts The Night/ Love Is Way/ Let’s Make It Baby/ Judgement Day/ River Of Love/ Now And Forever/ Growing Up The Hard Way/ Does Anybody Really Fall In Love Anymore/ Rosie/ Backdoor To Heavem/ Love Hurts/ Starting All Over

Comments: These sessions have made the rounds numerous times. This is as good as any of the other releases.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: The Funeral Tour (Rarities & Few RFCD 1189)

Venue: stated only as “live 1986.”

Sound Quality: Excellent soundboard recording (10)

Cover: 4 panel inset and tray card

Tracklist: I’m Gonna Kill That Woman (Double Trouble)/ Your Funeral, My Trial/ She Fell Away/ Long Time Man/ All Tomorrow’s Parties/ Sad Waters/ The Singer/ By The Time I Get Ton Phoenix/ Stranger Than Kindness/ The Carnival Is Over

Comments: Pretension from the dark side. Decidedly non-commercial!

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: More Pricks Than Kicks (Pil 08)

Source: See Track listing

Sound Quality: Excellent, mostly from official sources. The Boys Next Door recording is an unmixed soundboard that has received prior bootleg releases in the same quality.

Cover: 4 panel insert and tray card. All source information is printed inside but not on the back cover.

Tracklist: Helpless (Neil Young The Bridge tribute LP)/ Rye Whiskey (Reflex magazine flexi-disc)/ I Put A Spell On Yoy/ (NME Dept. of Enjoyment cassette)/ Tower Of Songs (unedited version from I’m Your Fan Leonard Cohen tribute album)/ 500 Miles/ Sunny (FM broadcast)/ Blitzkreig Bop/ I Put A Spell On You/ Commando/ These Boots Are Made For Walking (Boys Next Door, Swinburne College, Melbourne, Australia 1977)

Comments: Far more enjoyable than The Funeral Tour. But Nick Cave’s music is not for enjoyment, is it?

Family: Play House (Gold Standard GS 96002)

Venue: Playhouse Theatre, London, UK 12/16/71

Sound Quality: excellent stereotaken from BBC transcription disc. Some light vinyl crackle.

Cover: One piece insert and tray card

Tracklist: Good News, Bad News/ Spanish Tide/ Part Of The Load/ Drowned In Wine/ Holding The Compass/ Between Blue And Me/ Children/ In My Own Time/ Take Your Partners/ The Weaver’s Answer

Comments: Family is introduced by John Peel as “one of England’s best bands.” He’s absolutely right, but Family never really gained more than a cult following in the United States, and a very small cult at that. That makes this a surprising, but welcome, release. As with most fan-generated bootlegs, this one is certainly a worthy affair. Perhaps a slightly cleaner copy of the transcription disc used as the source would have been welcome, but overall quality is still a notch above an off-air master cassette. Very dynamic. Very cool!

Kiss: Kill Or Cure (Party Line PLCD 024/25)

Venue: Osaka, Japan 4/18/88

Sound Quality: Good to very good audience recording (6)

Cover: Attractive period photo of Paul Stanley on the front and group photo on back of traditional “fat-boy” double jewel case.

Tracklist: (disc 1) Love Gun/ Cold Gin/ Bang Bang You/ Calling Dr. Love/ Fits Like A Glove/ Crazy Crazy Nights/ guitar solo/ No, No, No/ Reason To Live/ Heaven’s On Fire (disc 2) drum solo/ War Machine/ Tears Are Falling/ I Love It Loud/ Lick It Up/ Black Diamond/ I Was Made For Loving You/ Shout It Out Loud/ Strutter/ Rock & Roll All Night/ Detroit Rock City

Comments: This isn’t a great recording but it certainly is more welcome than another version of the Tokyo broadcast which has already seen far too many bootleg releases. Hard-core fans will welcome this release for the rarity of the source tape. But if you want perfect sounding discs, this one isn’t for you.

Greg Lake: Moore Attack (no label)

Venue: Hammersmith Odeon, London, UK 12/31/81

Sound Quality: Clean broadcast

Cover: Not much to it – very basic

Tracklist: Intro/ Fanfare For The Common Man/ Welcome Back My Friends/ Nuclear Attack/ The Lie/ Retribution Drive/ Lucky Man/ I Love You Too Much/ 21st Century Schizoid Man/ In The Court Of The Crimson King

Comments: The official release of this King Biscuit Flower Hour broadcast makes this bootleg useless.

Moody Blues: Question (Joker Productions JOK-029-A)

Venue: Says Hollywood, CA 1986

Sound Quality: excellent broadcast recording

Cover: Psychedelic question mark

Tracklist: Lovely To See You/ Tuesday Afternoon/ Bless The Wings/ Lean On MeTonight/ Say It With Love/ I’m Just A Singer/ Nights In White Satin/ Legend Of A Mind/ Question/ Ride My Seesaw

Comments: As Moody Blues concerts become more of a “hits on parade” affair, it becomes harder to tell one tour from another. But the inclusion of such songs as “Say It With Love,” and “Lean On Me Tonight” would indicate that this is much later than the 1986 date stated on the cover. Joker Productions re well known for supplying ficticious dates. They are now out of business and any remaining copies of this were probably seized in a raid several years ago. It’s a solid recording for those interested in tracking down a copy regardless of the bogus venue information.

Alanis Morissette: The Queen Of Intimidation (Moonraker 152)

Sound Quality: Outstanding audience recording. The Grammy Awards recording is from an excellent broadcast source.

Source: The Grosse Freiheit, Hamburg, Germany, plus a bonus track from the 1996 Grammy Awards

Cover: Attractive 8 panel fold-out with lots of pix

Tracklist: The Feeling Begins/ All I Really Want/ Right Through You/ Right Through You/ You’re Not The Doctor/ Hand In My Pocket/ Mary Jane/ Head Over Feet/ The King Of Intimidation/ Forgiven/ Perfect/ Can’t Not/ You Oughta Know/ Wake Up/ You Oughta Know

Comments: The only thing that sets this recording apart from a radio broadcast is the amount of room ambiance. If this is not a broadcast recording, the taper had excellent position, avoiding crowd noise. Or perhaps the crown was extremely polite.

P.I.L.: Rotten To The Core (Big Music BIG 054)

Venue: Helsinki, Finland 1992

Sound Quality: Excellent soundboard. Some hiss. (9)

Cover: 8-page fold-out insert, ½ of which is the KTS catalog

Tracklist: This Is Not A Love Song/ Criminal/ Love Hope/ Think Tank/ Rules and Regulations/ Acid Drops/ Cruel/ Don’t Ask Me/ Body/ Disappointed

Comments: Candy when compared to the Sex Pistols. Space cake when compared to the Sex Pistols reunion.

Prince: Dance To The Beat (Moonraker 132)

Venue: First Avenue Club, Mpls., MN 3/8/82

Sound Quality: very good audience recording with noticeable hiss

Cover: Very attractive 8-page fold-out

Tracklist: Bambi/ All The Critics Love U In New York/ When You Were Mine/ Sexy Dancer/ Still Waiting/ Head/ Sexuality/ Dance 2 The Beat/ The Stick/ Party Up

Comments: This was one of the first Prince concerts ever to see release on a bootleg compact disc (This Is A Dance). It features a very heavy performance and has been remastered for this release. However, the sound quality of the o0riginal tape was never that great and there are other CDs I would rather see back in print on Moonraker’s Classic Prince series.

Prince: 4 Those Of You On Valium (Moonraker 136)

Venue: First Avenue Club, Mpls, MN 3/21/87

Sound Quality: excellent soundboard

Cover: Attractive 8-page insert and tray card

Tracklist: Intro/ Housequake/ Girls and Boys/ Slow Love/ Hot Thing/ Now’s The Time/ Sheila E drum solo/ Strange Relationship/ Forever In My Life/ Kiss/ It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night

Comments: Part of Moonraker’s Classic Prince series, this release is a remastered version of the already excellent Housequake CD. The sound quality is noticeably softer and there’s more thump to the bass, making this worthy of attention, even if you have the original.

Prince: Live (Moonraker 133/34)

Venue: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY 3/30/85

Sound Quality: Excellent stereo broadcast

Cover: Beautiful 12 page insert featuring many stills from the video

Tracklist: (disc 1) Let’s Go Crazy/ Delirious/ 1999/ Little Red Corvette/ Take Me With U/ Do Me, Baby/ Irresistible Bitch/ Possessed/ How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore/ Let’s Pretend We’re Married/ International Lover/ God (disc 2) Computer Blue/ Darling Nikki/ The Beauriful Ones/ When Doves Cry/ I Would Die 4 U/ Baby, I’m A Star/ Purple Rain

Comments: This is probably the most common of Prince’a broadcast recordings, being easily available on video in high quality as well as countless bootlegs including Flesh For Fantasy (Great Dane). Despite the fact that Great Dane is now out of business, Flesh For Fantasy and other versions still show up in dealer’s stocks. This doesn’t add any noticeable improvement in quality,so there is really very little to offer unless you’re trying to assemble a complete collection of the Moonraker Classic Prince series.

Prince: Something Paisley (Moonraker 129)

Source: Paisley Park Studios 12/6/90

Sound Quality: excellent soundboard recording

Cover: 8 page booklet and tray card

Tracklist: Something Funky/ Let’s Go Crazy/ Horny Pony/ Money Don’t Matter 2 Night/ Diamonds And Pearls/ Cream/ Willing And Able/ Live 4 Love/ Daddy Pop/ The Flow/ Do Me, Baby/ Something Funky/ Let’s Go Crazy/ Horny Pony

Comments: This one isn’t part of Moonraker’s Classic Prince series, as it features material available to collectors for the first time. That makes it no less a classic, though. This is great stuff! It is a snapshot of an artist at work, a great look at how Prince develops a masterful performance before actually taking the stage. The first 11 tracks were apparently recorded early in the sessions with Prince singing out instructions to the band while the songs are in progress. The final 3 tracks are more polished versions, obviously recorded after all the kinks had been worked out. Happy with the band’s progress, Prince announces that it is time for a break after the final track. There’s a lot going on in the grooves here. “Something Funky” proves to be The New Power Generation’s take on Sly & The Family Stone’s “Dance To The Music” while James brown riffs abound through much of the disc.

Prince: Into The Vault (Oxygen OXY 080)

Source: see track listing

Sound Quality: Excellent studio quality

Cover: Typically professional job from Oxygen

Tracklist: Mad (1995 unreleased track from soundtrack of From Dusk ‘Til Dawn)/ Superhero (Prince version of a song given to Earth, Wind & Fire)/ Funky Design (unreleased)/ Stray Of The World (Come outtake)/ Don’t Talk To Strangers/ Be My Mirror/ I’ll Do Anything/ Deuce & Equator/ Black MF In The House (NPG unreleased tracks)/ This Groove (unreleased)/ Kamusutra/ Overture I/ Overture II/ Overture III (Kamusutra opera written by Prince for his wedding day)

Comments: Best available quality of these studio outtakes

Rolling Stones: Metamorphosis (CR 0462)

Source: Official albums

Sound Quality: Excellent studio recordings

Cover: Styled after official release

Tracklist: Out Of Time/ If You Let Me/ Each And Every Day Of The Year/ Heart Of Stone/ I’d Much Rather Be With The Boys/ Sleepy City/ We’re Wasting Time/ Try A Little Harder/ Don’t Know Why/ Don’t Lie To Me/ Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind/ Jivin' Sister Fanny/ Downtown Suzy/ Family/ Memo From Turner/ I’m Going Down/ Everybody Needs Somebody To Love/ Down Home Girl/ You Can’t Catch Me/ Time Is On My Side/ What A Shame/ Grown Up Wrong/ Down The Road A Piece/ Under The Boardwalk/ I Can’t Be Satisfied/ Pain In My Heart

Comments: This is a pirate of material from the Metamorphosis and Stones No. 2 albums, which haven’t yet seen an official CD release. The Metamorphosis album was the prize given to Allen Klein when The Stones sued him to get out of their management contract. Although mostly throwaways, the album also contains some real jewels like “Memo From Turner,” The Stones version of the song from the Performance soundtrack which features one of Jagger’s most intriguing lyrics and potent vocal performances. Also included is Jivin’ Sister Fanny,” a Chuck Berry-styled rockerthat was picked up by Izzy Stradlin and the Juju Hounds for their live set. “family” is notable for its morbid tale of incest.

With the recent release (finally) of Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus there is some hope that this album and other material under Klein’s control may see official releases on CD. This pirate was either mastered from a reel-to-reel or expertly declicked. The sound quality is fine without containing any (vinyl) surface noise. There is another version available but that one sounds horrible. That one also features the original album artwork. The way ton tell the difference is that this one states “includes 10 bonus tracks” on the front cover, while the inferior states “plus 8 more tracks.”

Bruce Springsteen: Austin 1975 (Whoopy Cat WCP-0009)

Venue: Austin Coliseum (now known as Palmer Auditorium), Austin, TX 9/12/75

Sound Quality: Excellent soundboard recording (8-9)

Cover: Period photos and short liner notes in slimline double jewel case

Tracklist: (disc 1) Incident On 57th Street/ Tenth Avenue Freezeout/ Spirit In The Night/ It’s Gonna Work Out Fine/ Growin’ Up/ Saint In The City/ E Street Shuffle/ She’s The One/ Born To Run (disc 2) Thunder Road/ Kitty’s Back/ Jungleland/ Rosalita/ Sandy/ Quarter To Three/ Twist & Shout/ Save The Last Dance For Me

Comments: Sprngsteen at his most reflective – lots of storytelling about his youth. The following night’s performance (Houston 9/13/75) is also available from a soundboard source. The tape source for this has substantially more hiss than the Houston show, but it’s only noticeable during the quiet passages.

Stevie Ray Vaughan: Three Bar Blues (Rupert 9687)

Venue: 1-11 Loreley Festival, Germany; 12-13 Los Angeles 1984

Sound Quality: Excellent broadcast recordings

Cover: 4 panel insert and tray card

Tracklist: Scuttle Buttin’/ Testify/ Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)/ The Things I Used To Do/ Honey Bee/ Love Struck Baby/ Cold Shot/ Couldn’t Stand The Weather/ Tin Pan Alley/ Pride and Joy/ Texas Flood/ Schoolgirl/ Mary Had A Little Lanb

Comments: Stevie Ray on the verge of superstardom! A classic example of moving from the clubs to the festivals, this broadcast recording has seen several previous releases. 

Whitesnake: Unwhited (Direct Box dbx 1-2)

Venue: Tokyo, Japan 1994

Sound Quality Good audience recording (6) In some places the audience drowns out the band.

Cover: As with most Japanese releases, this comes in a “fat-boy” double jewel case with no booklet. The pictures are current for the show contained on the discs.

Tracklist: (disc 1) Shake My Tree (recorded version played over P.A.)/ Bad Boys/ Slide It In/ Love Ain’t No Stranger/ Judgement Day/ Is This Love> Soldier Of Fortune/ Don’t Leave Me This Way/ Oil (disc 2) Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City/ Mistreated/ Don’t Break My Heart Again> Slow & Easy/ Lovehunter> Fool For Your Loving/ Here I Go Again/ Give Me All Your Love/ Still Of The Night/ We Wish You Well (recorded version played over P.A.)

Comments: Don’t adjust your volume until after “Shake My Tree.” It’s a recorded version played over the P.A. at low volume. When the band kicks in with “Bad Boys” it is MUCH louder.

After parting ways with Jimmy Page, Coverdale put together another version of Whitesnake and headed back to Japan the following year. This performance is one of the worst from Coverdale – his voice wretched and hoarse, perhaps the result of too much touring in too little time. There’s no evidence on this show of the voice that once recorded Stormbringer for Deep Purple of even the Coverdale-Page album.

[all reviews by Bill Glahn]