The Smiley Smile Message Board

I got to wondering about how live BB shows were bootlegged back in the 60s and 70s... How much of a hassle was it? Was there a stealth aspect to taping back then, where people were afraid of getting caught? Or was taping in its infancy then, and therefore not on the radar of venue security?

For example, the Seattle live show from 1970 which has Brian playing… Do you think the taper knew in advance that  Brian would be in attendance, and that's why it was taped? Or was it just a fortunate coincidence that the taper happened to tape a show which the taper had no prior knowledge that Brian would be a participant of?

Before cassette tape recorders it must have been a quite difficult task.    What did it take to smuggle in a reel to reel?  Almost had to be an inside job or a very cleverly disguised personal  bit of carry in stuff.

If he did, surely he'd have taken a better quality recorder.  ;D

I just wish that whoever taped the 75 show at Wembley Stadium had had the foresight to lug his Ampex reel to reel a little closer to the stage that day...

I used to do recordings of live shows myself… Both audio and video. All stealth, long before the days of iPhones and such. It was an immense pain in the rear to sneak in a video camera into shows, but I took the risk! Would be fascinating to hear what the stories are for old-school tapers of Beach Boys shows. We're lucky for what we have from the early years, which isn't much.

I taped the 11/7/71 show at Georgetown University.  We had a cheapo battery powered cassette recorder with a meter we had to watch all night long because it overloaded at times.  We were very open about it.  No one paid us any mind.

Thanks for doing that! David Leaf has rated this his all-time favorite show, the one that turned him from a casual fan to a super fan. Dennis sings TWO unreleased songs!

That's awesome. Hats off to you for doing it! You made a difference for history.

Out of curiosity, were you a taper of other bands as well? Or just specifically the Beach Boys? Did you get the recorder specifically to tape this band/show? I wonder if the BBs had their own (much smaller) group of tapers like The Dead did.

That era was amazing...the college shows were phenomenal. Really fun!

Security was sort of lax, so you were lucky. I'd love to hear the real soundboard recordings... ;)

What's the earliest known live recording?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBL7V3zGMUA

I had no clue Mike was that old. ;)

The way it went down in the mid 70's. A cautionary tale.

A pair of menacing toughs approach a group of impressionable teens with an offer of fast cash and VIP front row seats to a big concert, in exchange for a recording of that show. The kids initially balk at the plan, but are coerced by threats of violence into recording the show for the duo.

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/dbwh1_zpsz9bhlkpv.jpg)

A cassette recorder is hidden under a large trenchcoat and strapped onto the chest of the teen who will be recording the concert from the front row. "All you need to do is press record".

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/dbwh2_zpsaklgiqaf.jpg)

During the show, the teens get swept up in the jubilation and heavy grooves coming from the band on stage, and begin to dance to the music. Unfortunately the hidden tape recorder breaks loose from under the coat and falls to the floor. The band sees it, brings the concert to a screeching halt, and confronts the group of teens who they thought were their friends.

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/dbwh3_zpseatn9xrd.jpg)

The teens explain to the band how they were "forced" into recording the show for the pair of tough guys, and the band sets up a bust for the bootleggers when they come to collect the tape at a local hangout. The band and the police step in, corner the two criminals, take down the operation, and bring the bootleggers to justice.

(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n295/guitarfool2002/dbwh4_zpsq5timda3.jpg)


You don't mess with the Doobie Brothers.

That happened to Steve Mayo :lol

He messed with the Doobie Brothers?

I have talked to people who smuggled portable reel to reel recorders into gigs in the late 60s.

Generally they were limited to Uher machines taking 5 inch reels or Phillips machines taking 4 inch reels, and to recording at 3 3/4 ips or even 1 7/8 ips. A portable machine was often run off 4-6 D size cells and would need to be hidden in a backpack or duffel etc. I know one guy who would record onto a 5" double play tape in a Uher getting 60 minutes per side. He'd time it so he'd sneak off to the toilet to swap the tape sides over and taping for another hour.

Cassette made things easier as the machines were more portable and flipping a cassette or changing to a second cassette was easier than swapping reels. However the quality in the early 70s was often poor.

Some bands and venues don't mind fans taping concerts. Others detest it. Today it's possible to record in fair quality with any smartphone but true high fidelity still needs a dedicated audio recorder.

I didn't want to know how you did it! :o What did your proctologist say about that?

You don't wanna know, believe me  :lol Ouch.

But seriously though, trying to sneak in a Hi8 videocamera into a show was not easy. Not to mention actually trying to film the show: looking into the viewfinder to know what you are actually shooting, and staying totally still to avoid bouncing around, all while trying to keep a lookout for security without getting caught, and somehow trying to actually gain some enjoyment from the show. Royal pain, that's why I don't do it anymore. But I did it successfully probably 20+ times for various bands. So I have massive respect for anyone else who took pains like these for the BBs; pre-iPhones, it really wasn't easy! Now that I think about it (I'd almost forgotten), I actually took these steps and brought my camera to a 2002 (or 2003) BW show, but the battery crapped out and I only got 1 song (City Blues). One day I'll find it and put it on Youtube.

Re: 11/7/71-  I'd like to hear a soundboard recording too.  I went with a group of 6 or 7 people.  The cassette deck was borrowed from my buddy's grandmother.  We were able to tape everything but "It's About Time" (we were changing tapes).  No one of our group (or probably anyone else there that night) was expecting such a knockout show.  And no, I taped no other shows- it wasn't long after that groups got more wise to the tapers.  The smartest thing I did, though, was to transfer the cassettes to a reel to reel recorder at 7.5ips the next day, because the cassettes ended up with the friend who had the recorder, and they were long gone within a year.

I remember that episode of What's Happening!!  Don't mess with Asia, either.  I saw something similar go down at a concert by the band Asia ca 1992 at Toad's Place in New Haven. (BTW, I'm not a fan of Asia, but the ticket was free & Steve Howe was in the band.) Some guy brought in a tape recorder slung over his shoulder, like a purse.  He had a big microphone, similar to the kind you would see a TV news reporter use on a location shot.  He was standing in the middle of the crowd.  It was open and obvious.  After a few songs, two bouncers saw him too and escorted him out of Toad's.  So, there was definitely a risk involved with taping back in the day.

Clinton Heylin goes into this somewhat in his book "Bootleg."  More tales from the early days of bootleg records can be found at Ken Douglas' old blog.  He talks more about producing the actual records, than how they were recorded, as far as I can recall.  Here's a sample:

http://douglasongww.blogspot.com/2010/03/it-coulda-happened-this-way-we-were.html
http://douglasongww.blogspot.com/2010/03/it-coulda-happened-this-way-big-dub-bad.html

Hey there
I just joined up and I liked this topic. I saw another one from a few years ago on what audio shows are out there. Is there an updated list of what audio and video are out there from the 2012 tour and what shows are the best? I wonder if another dvd will come out from the 2012 tour as the one now is way too short. Have a great day guys.
Joe

This is slightly off-topic, but boy, would it be interesting to hear the story of how the first SMiLE boots happened. Naming names, if possible...but unless the parties are deceased (and maybe even then), I suppose it's not likely that part could happen.

My first SMiLE boot was the #2 vinyl one, with the "Nancy Reagan" liner notes, which were really enjoyable. This was circa '85, I think. I owned NO BB albums prior to that, and it opened up an entire universe for me. (I bought it just to check out what this "Fire" thing was all about.)

Is there already a history, abridged or otherwise, of this somewhere on the web?

I Used to go to shows with a cassette recorder attatched to my belt with the mike cord rapped around my waist... i then would have a microphone that was flat and about the size or a little larger than cd jewel case .. im to lazy to look this up but i remember omni directional and uni directional mikes..i had the one that only recorded in front of you and not any sound coming from the side or behind you.. i had the mike attatched to a t shirt with duct tape.. i would then wear a untucked shirt over this and when concert started i would un button the shirt and expose the  mike and get good sounding tapes.. I NEVER booted anything.. i have never known anyone in that side of the bussiness.. but i did trade tapes with lots of people mostly BB and the dead.. were these booted..i have no idea.. i did this from late 70"s to late 80"s.. It was the only way to start a collection of stuff and not give money to bootleggers.. that recording  equipment cost me a couple hundred bucks at the time and i used chrome cassette tape..                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Heres a funny story.. I went to a Kinks concert at hollywood paladium.. in the mid 80"s..Los Angeles Ca..I had my set up on and my shirt covering it up im in line going inside and the guy does a quick frisk and jumps back and yells whats that??..I opened my shirt and he goes is that a BOMB..I go hell no its recording equipment..he pulls me out of line takes me to the side and makes me take everything off and put it in a trash can.. he wouldnt give it back to me and told me to go inside i told him give it back to me and id put it in the car.. he wont do it so i get pissed off and cause a ruckus.. his boss comes up and wants to know whats goin on..I explain situation and he hands me my stuff and i start to turn around to go to the car and he goes where are you going and i told him car ..he says go ahead and go in enjoy the show.. i run into him a little later during opening act and he gave me his number and told me he wanted a copy which i did provide later..LOL LOL.. It was the Think Visual tour.Last time i ever saw The Kinks..Great show..Dave Davies was hot that nite..This is a TRUE story.. I swear..!!..

This is what I've been told or heard these last 35-odd years:

The first known Smile boot was the so-called "Preiss Tape", which was provided by a member of Brian's household - not Brian, but someone he later wrote a song about that may, or may not, have been released on a 1978 album (possibly) - to said author for his authorised biography... although my understanding is that tapes were circulating at the stratospheric fan level before that. The first (awful) CD was pressed up by someone already mentioned in this thread and the second (still astonishing) one derived from a tape compiled for a collaborator on Brian's first solo album in response to his incessant pleas (hint: Brian hated the song), who copied it for a DJ friend, and so on.

The 1983 & 1985 vinyl boots were pressed up by a then-well respected fan, who has since fallen from grace with a mighty thud, despite his promise to do no such thing to the person who gave them to him. I gather it was the same person who spread the lately debunked story that the SOT tapes were 'liberated' by Ron Furmanek during the making of the American Band video biog. I know that's what they told me in the pre-email days.