Pink Floyd bootleg recordings are the collections of audio and video recordings of musical performances by the British rock band Pink Floyd, which were never officially released by the band. The recordings consist of both live performances and outtakes from studio sessions unavailable in official releases. In some cases, certain bootleg recordings may be highly prized among collectors, as at least 40 songs composed by Pink Floyd have never been officially released.
During the 1970s, bands such as Pink Floyd created a lucrative market for the mass production of unofficial recordings with large followings of fans willing to purchase them. In addition, the huge crowds that turned up to these concerts made the effective policing of the audience for the presence of recording equipment virtually impossible. Vast numbers of recordings were issued for profit by bootleg labels.[1]
Some Pink Floyd bootlegs exist in several variations with differing sound quality[2] and length because sometimes listeners have recorded different versions of the same performance at the same time. Pink Floyd was a group that protected its sonic performance, making recording with amateur recording devices difficult.[2] [3] In their career, Pink Floyd played over 1,300 concerts, of which more than 350 were released as bootlegged recordings (sometimes in various versions).[4] Few concerts have ever been broadcast (or repeated once they were broadcast on television), especially during 'the golden age' of the group from 1966 to 1981.[5]
Pink Floyd was one of the mainstays of the bootleg industry in the 1970s.[5] [3] In 1999, the group was mentioned on BPI's list of most bootlegged British artists of all time.[6] [7] [8]
One of the best known ROIO's by Pink Floyd is Best of Tour '72: Live at the Rainbow Theatre with a concert performed on 20 February 1972. This bootleg includes one of the first performances of The Dark Side of the Moon. One year and one month before the official release of that same album, the bootleg had already sold over 120,000 copies.[9]
In 2008, the Pink Floyd bootleg Madison Square Garden, New York, NY – 2 July 1977 was mentioned on the Yahoo's Top 10 of Best Bootlegs of All Time.[10]
Most of Pink Floyd's early bootlegs concern performances from the European A Saucerful of Secrets Tour and the A Saucerful of Secrets US Tour. Most of these bootlegs were released by the label "Ace Bootlegs Production".
| Bootleg title | Recording details | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BBC Archives 1967–1969 | BBC Television Centre, London, UK, 14 May 1967 | Television performance. The Pink Floyd appeared on BBC One's "Look of the Week", hosted by Hans Keller. The performance consisted of a truncated version of "Pow R. Toc H." as well as "Astronomy Domine". Syd Barrett and Roger Waters were then interviewed by show host Hans Keller, who memorably asked the band why their music had to be so loud, finding it unbearable. The performance and interview have been repeated on BBC since,[11] [12] and consequently circulate on both audio and video bootlegs. It is one of the few pieces of professionally filmed footage from the Barrett-led era that has survived. | |
| Golden Circle | Gyllene Cirkeln, Stockholm, Sweden, 10 September 1967 | This bootleg is considered as the only complete recording of a 1967 concert by Pink Floyd. It includes the show's soundcheck and the 50-minute concert (played at a Swedish restaurant and jazz club called Gyllene Cirkeln a.k.a. Golden Circle).[13] [14] The recording was done by the Swedish sound engineer Anders Lind on his Revox machine. The setlist included "Introduction", "Reaction in G", "Matilda Mother", "Pow R. Toc H.", "Scream Thy Last Scream", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", "See Emily Play" and "Interstellar Overdrive". Despite the overall quality being very good for the time, the vocals are almost impossible to hear (An indication as to the poor quality of P.A equipment then). This concert was officially released in 2016 on The Early Years 1965–1972. | |
| Feed Your Head | Star Club, Copenhagen, Denmark, 13 September 1967 | Audience recording. Also released as "Wonderful, Wonderful Kopenhagen" and "Starclub Psycho". Setlist consists of "Reaction in G", "Arnold Layne", "One in a Million", "Matilda Mother", and "Scream Thy Last Scream".[15] | |
| Playhouse Theatre | The Playhouse Theatre, London, UK, 25 September 1967 | Also released as "Hippy Happy Fair". This is a recording made for the BBC Radio series "Top Gear". The circulating track list consists of "The Scarecrow", "The Gnome", "Matilda Mother", "Flaming", "Set the Controls For The Heart Of The Sun", and an incomplete recording of "Reaction in G". Officially released on The Early Years 1965–1972. | |
| The Live Pink Floyd – Oude Ahoy Hallen | Rotterdam, Netherlands, 13 November 1967 | Audience recording. Setlist consists of "Reaction in G", "Pow R. Toc H.", "Scream Thy Last Scream", and "Interstellar Overdrive".[16] | |
| BBC Archives 1967–1969 | Maida Vale Studios, London, United Kingdom, 20 December 1967 | Pink Floyd's second appearance on the BBC Radio show "Top Gear". This was Barrett's last recorded performance with the band. The track list consists of "Vegetable Man", "Scream Thy Last Scream", "Jugband Blues", and "Pow R. Toc H.". Officially released on The Early Years 1965–1972. | |
| Rome Vpro (Broadcast) | First European International Pop Festival, Piper Club, Rome, Italy, 6 May 1968 | ||
| Paradiso Amsterdam | Club Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 23 May 1968 | Audience recording, also released as "Syncopated Pandemonium" | |
| Live in Amsterdam – Fantasio Club | Fantasio Club, Amsterdam, Netherlands, second concert on 23 May 1968 | ||
| Shrine Exposition Hall | Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles, 27 July 1968 | Audience recording, includes 15:57 version of "A Saucerful of Secrets" | |
| Utrecht '68 | Margriethal Jaarbeurs, Utrecht, Netherlands, 28 December 1968 | Also released as "Owed to Syd Barrett"The track list consists of "Tunings", "Astronomy Domine", "Careful with that Axe, Eugene", "Interstellar Overdrive", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" and "A Saucerful of Secrets" |
In January 1996, the label See For Miles Records released the bootleg album "Psychedelic Games for May" which includes a collection of Syd Barrett era Floyd, featuring a pre-Floyd acetate, rough mixes of the early singles plus BBC TV and the unreleased single "Scream Thy Last Scream".[17] [18] [19]
As late as 2004, a bootleg album entitled "Outtakes From Outer Space" emerged from Israel on the dubious-sounding "Hippie Shit Label", featuring a compilation of studio session recordings and outtakes, some mentioned above.[20] The track listing was:
| Bootleg title | Recording details | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sound Resounds Around | St. James Hall, Chesterfield, United Kingdom, 27 March 1969 | soundboard recording including a 16 minutes version of "Interstellar Overdrive" and a 19:13 version of "A Saucerful of Secrets" | ||
| The Massed Gadget of Auximenes | Royal Festival Hall, London, 14 April 1969 | audience recording with a performance of "The Man and The Journey" | ||
| Beset by the Creatures of the Deep | University of Southampton, England, 9 May 1969 | |||
| From the Master Tape | Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England, 22 June 1969 | released by the label Ayanami, also released as "The Labyrinths of Auximenes" | ||
| A Man and His Lunacy | Royal Albert Hall, London, 26 June 1969 | audience recording | ||
| Plumpton Race Track | Plumpton Race Track, East Sussex, London, 8 August 1969 | audience recording also released as "The Journey Through the Past", live at 9th National Jazz Pop Ballads & Blues Festival, includes a 20:26 version of "A Saucerful of Secrets" | ||
| Complete Concertgebouw | Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 17 September 1969 | soundboard recording also released as "A Man and the Journey", "Amsterdam 69 (Swingin' Pig Version)" and "Amsterdam 1969 (Harvest)", plans for an official live album release of "The Man and The Journey" were considered, but abandoned due to overlap of material with Ummagumma. Officially released in 2016 on The Early Years 1965-1972. | ||
| Essener Pop Festival | Internationales Essener Pop & Blues Festival, Essen, West Germany, 11 October 1969 | released by the label 'Man of Leisure Music', also released as "Essen" and "Song Days '69" | ||
| Amougies Pop Festival | Amougies Pop & Jazz Festival, Mont-de-l'Enclus, Belgium, 25 October 1969 | first part of a unique concert in Belgium with Frank Zappa as special guest. The complete concert was released on "Interstellar Zappadrive" by Harvested. The songs "Green Is the Colour", "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" are in soundboard quality, but were performed without Frank Zappa.[21] | ||
| Afan Lido | Port Talbot, Wales, 6 December 1969 | audience recording, released by Man of Leisure Music. | ||
| Ahcid Atthak | November–December 1969 | 'Omay Yad'. Also released as 'The Midas Touch' Includes the officially unreleased instrumental "Fingals Cave".[22] |
During the two one-week recording sessions in November and December 1969 of the soundtrack for Michelangelo Antonioni's Zabriskie Point at International Recording in Rome, Pink Floyd experienced for the first time a studio leak. Three out-takes appeared on a bootleg album Omay Yad, also known under titles as Oneone, Fingal's Cave and Rain in the Country.
With the advent of a 1997 deluxe reissue of the movie soundtrack on a double compact disc, four previously unreleased Pink Floyd out-takes were also revealed. Almost simultaneously, a 15-track bootleg CD of the complete sessions appeared that revealed additional works in progress, among them a track that was long referred to by Pink Floyd as "The Violent Sequence". It was penned by Richard Wright for a riot scene in the movie and although unreleased in any form officially, was incorporated into their live set as an acoustic piano piece in the early part of the year. It was a forerunner to the melody of "Us and Them", which featured on their 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon.[23]
See main article: Atom Heart Mother World Tour.
| Bootleg title | Recording details | Date | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biding My Time in Croydon | Fairfield Hall, Croydon, England | 18 January 1970 | contains a 2:20 concert with an early prototype of "Atom Heart Mother" (then called "The Amazing Pudding", 24:34), "The Violent Sequence" (a 15-minute song with the piano sequence of "Us and Them" included), "Main Theme" from More (14:02) and "A Saucerful of Secrets" (16:54). The bootleg also contains a track from 22 December 1970, "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" (24.46) | |
| Elysees Floyd | Théâtre du Rond-Point des Champs-Élysées | 23 January 1970 | a part of this concert was also released as "The Man-Live in Paris", "Paris 23 January 1970" and "Broadcast from Europe" (containing 3 songs from the performance at Palais des Sports in Lyon on 12 June 1971) | |
| Project Birmingham | Town Hall, Birmingham, England | 11 February 1970 | audience recording including "The Violence Sequence" (26:31), "Atom Heart Mother" (25:27), a 12 minute version of "The Embryo" and "Sysyphus" (12:09) | |
| Six of One | Leeds University, Yorkshire, England | 28 February 1970 | contains 6 tracks of over 10 minutes each with a long performance of "A Saucerful of Secrets" (16:13) | |
| A Trick of the Light | Auditorium Maximum, Hamburg University, West Germany | 12 March 1970 | released by label 'World Production of Compact Music' | |
| The Injustice of a Kaleidoscope of Sound | Konzertsaal, Technische Universität, West Berlin, West Germany | 13 March 1970 | also released as "Richard, Are You Ready Yet?", this bootleg includes a 15:29 version of "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" | |
| Masters of the Mystic Arts | Meistersingerhalle, Nuremberg, West Germany | 14 March 1970 | ||
| Hannover | Niedersachsenhalle Hanover, West Germany | 15 March 1970 | ||
| Lund | Akademiska Forningens, Lund, Sweden, | 20 March 1970 | ||
| Genuine New York 70 | University of New York, Long Island | 11 April 1970 | released by the labels Monkey Records and Highland (as "Trademark Moo") | |
| Port Chester '70 | Port Chester, New York | 22 April 1970 | contains longer versions of "The Embryo" (15:36), "Cymbaline" (16:24) and "Astronomy Domine" (13:06) | |
| Interstellar Fillmore | Fillmore West, San Francisco, California | 29 April 1970 | soundboard recording, also released as "Interstellar Encore",[24] "Embryo" and "California Sun"/"California Moon" | |
| KQED | KQED TV Studios, San Francisco, California | 30 April 1970 | Broadcast recording, also released as "Colourful Meadows" | |
| Fat Old Gig | California, Philadelphia, Birmingham, Sheffield | 29 April, 26 September, 2 February 22 December 1970 | 4 discs bootleg, also partially released as "Electric Factory", "Electric Factory (Harvested version)" and "On Top of the World" | |
| Live in Santa Monica | Santa Monica, Civic center, California | 1 May 1970 | audience recording, another bootleg named "Santa Monica Civic Auditorium" contains a registration of the same concert | |
| Bath Festival | Bath Festival of Blues & Progressive music, Shepton Mallet, England | 26 June 1970 | released by the label Ayanami | |
| Stamping Ground | Kralingen Pop Festival, Netherlands | 28 June 1970 | This bootleg is released by the label Highland and includes a long version of "Interstellar Overdrive" (18:55) | |
| The Theme from an Imaginary Western | Soersfestival 3-Day Open Air Festival, Aachen Soerser Stadium, Aachen, West Germany | 12 July 1970 | released by R.D.Productions, also released as "Soersfestival in Aachen/A Heavenly Ride" | |
| Phenomena | BBC studios and Paris Cinema, London | 17 July 1970 and 19 September 1970 | released by Manic Depression, 2 discs with BBC Top Gear sessions and 2 BBC concerts. This bootleg is also released under the names "BBC Archives 1970–1971", "Libest Spacement Monitor", "Pink is the Pig" (with a 1969 version of "Point Me at the Sky"), "Mooed Music" and "Eclipse" | |
| Free Hyde Park Concert | Blackhills Garden Party, Hyde Park, London | 18 July 1970 | contains only 4 tracks | |
| Foreign Legion | Saint-Tropez, France and Palais des Sports, Lyon, France | 8 August 1970 and 12 June 1971 | released by the label Head, audience recording | |
| Fête de l'Humanité | Fête de L'Humanité, Bois de Vincennes, Paris, France | 12 September 1970 | audience recording released by the label "Cochon Productions" | |
| Fillmore East 27 September 1970 | Fillmore East, New York City | 27 September 1970 | ||
| Sing to Me Cymbaline | Santa Monica Civic Center, California | 23 October 1970 | ||
| Mind Your Throats Please | Concertgebouw, Amsterdam | 6 November 1970 | contains a long version of "Fat Old Sun" (15:06) | |
| Remergence | Grote Zaal, De Doelen, Rotterdam, Netherlands | 7 November 1970 | ||
| Pictures of Pink Floyd, Vol. 1 | Gothenburg, Sweden and Stadthalle, Offenbach, West Germany | 11 November 1970 and 26 February 1971 | also released as "The Pictures of Pink Floyd: Restoration Project" and "Command Performance" | |
| Copenhagen Sequence | Falkoner Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark | 12 November 1970 | Also released as "70/11/12", contains the track "Libest Spacement Monitor". | |
| Denmark Behind Us | Aarhus, Denmark | 13 November 1970 | ||
| Ernst-Merck-Halle | Ernst-Merck-Halle, Hamburg, West Germany | 14 November 1970 | also released as "Grooving with a Pict", includes the track "Moonhead (Corrosion)" (13:28) | |
| Smoking Blues | Casino de Montreux, Switzerland | 21 November 1970 | also released as "Montreux Casino 1970", "Reeling on Pink Floyd" and "The Good ... The Bad", "Too Late for Mind Expanding", soundboard recording including "Just Another Twelve Bar". One song from this concert, "Atom Heart Mother", was officially released on The Early Years 1965-1972. | |
| Mounting Pressure | Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Ebertpark, Ludwigshafen, West Germany | 25 November 1970 | ||
| The Killesberg Tapes | Killesberg-Halle, Stuttgart, West Germany | 26 November 1970 | ||
| Trip Through Germany | Niedersachsenhalle Hanover, West Germany | 27 November 1970 | ||
| Circus Krone | Circus Krone, Munich, West Germany | 29 November 1970 | ||
| A Psychedelic Night | City Hall, Sheffield, England | 22 December 1970 | also released as "Alan Psychedelic Mastertape" and "Rise and Shine" (last mentioned bootleg is considered to contain the best version of "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast"), the bootleg "A Psychedelic Night" includes "Atom Heart Mother" (31:25 + reprise 2:36), "A Saucerful of Secrets" (23:22) and "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" (19:08) |
At least 34 bootlegs of different concerts from 1971 were released (not counting the several bootlegs of each concert).[25]
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See main article: Dark Side of the Moon Tour.
Sometimes the smaller record mastering and pressing plants simply hid the bootleg work when record company executives would come around (in which case the printed label could show the artist and song names) and other times they would print labels with fictitious names. For example, the 1972 Pink Floyd bootleg called Brain Damage was released under the name The Screaming Abdabs.[1]
In January 1972, Pink Floyd debuted the live performance of their album The Dark Side of the Moon before its release. Many of Pink Floyd bootlegs date back from this period. Most of these bootlegs contain a pre-release version of the entire album.
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The bootleg Supine in the Sunshine contains an audience live recording with extended versions of two songs from the soundtrack Obscured by Clouds (1972); namely the title track (5:38) and "When You're In" (7:48).
Yeeshkul! is so named because the bootlegger, or someone close to him, mentions the word several times during the performance. The name has inspired a forum for discussing Pink Floyd bootlegs which closed on 28 February 2023.[26]
See main article: Pink Floyd 1974 tours.
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The bootleg British Winter Tour, a recording of the 19 November show in Stoke-on-Trent was a notable bootleg released in 1975. It featured the three new songs that Pink Floyd were playing on that tour. It sold an estimated 50,000 copies.[17] The record was issued with the lyrics to the songs, and the quality of presentation convinced a number of buyers that the album was a bona fide follow-up to The Dark Side of the Moon. The British Phonographic Industry were not impressed, and attempted to find out who the bootleggers were, with the intent of prosecuting them.[27]
See main article: Wish You Were Here Tour.
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See main article: In the Flesh (1977 Pink Floyd 'Animals' tour).
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The bootleg Animals Instincts concerns the recording of the Pink Floyd concert at 9 May 1977, at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland.
See main article: The Wall Tour.
See main article: A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour.
See main article: The Division Bell Tour.
See main article: Live 8.
The classic line up of Pink Floyd (David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Richard Wright and Nick Mason) played together on stage for the first time in 24 years (the band toured without Waters in 1987–1989 and 1994).
The band performed the songs "Speak to Me", "Breathe / Breathe (Reprise)", "Money", "Wish You Were Here" and "Comfortably Numb". They were the only band not to be verbally introduced; instead the house and stage lights were darkened while the introduction to "Speak to Me" was played, accompanied on the video screens by an animated version of the heart monitor graphic from The Dark Side of the Moon sleeve. Due to the death of Richard Wright in September 2008, this would be the only reunion of all four members of the post-Syd Barrett incarnation of the band.
The bootleg label The Godfather released in March 2011 an 8-CD box set of Pink Floyd songs called The Complete Rainbow Tapes. The box contains four Pink Floyd shows, recorded at the Rainbow Theatre in London (17–20 February 1972).[28]
In 2012 The Godfather label released a 10-CD box set of Pink Floyd songs called The Massed Gadgets of Hercules 1970–1974. The box contains five Pink Floyd shows, recorded at 14 March 1970, Live at Meistersingerhalle, Nürnberg, West Germany / 13 February 1971, Live at Students Union Bar, Technical College, Farnborough, Hampshire, England / 16 April 1972, Live at Township Auditorium, Columbia, South Carolina, USA / 12 October 1973, Live at Olympiahalle, München, West Germany / 14 December 1974, Live at Colston Hall, Bristol, Somerset, England.