''Live'r Than You'll Ever Be'' is a
bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...
of
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
' concert in
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
, from 9 November 1969. It was one of the first live
rock music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...
bootlegs and was made notorious as a document of their
1969 tour of the United States. The popularity of the bootleg forced the Stones' label
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...
to release the live album ''
Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert
Get or GET may refer to:
* Get (animal), the offspring of an animal
* Get (divorce document), in Jewish religious law
* GET (HTTP), a type of HTTP request
* "Get" (song), by the Groggers
* Georgia Time, used in the Republic of Georgia
* Get AS, a ...
'' in 1970.
''Live'r'' is also one of the earliest commercial bootleg recordings in rock history, released in December 1969, just two months after
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' ''
Kum Back
''Kum Back'' is the first bootleg album by the Beatles, released in January 1970. The album is an early version of what would become ''Let It Be'', sourced from a tape recording of an acetate prepared by the band's engineer, Glyn Johns. It is one ...
'' and five months after
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
's ''
Great White Wonder
''Great White Wonder'', or ''GWW'', is the first notable rock bootleg album, released in July 1969, and containing unofficially released recordings by Bob Dylan. It is also the first release of the famous bootleg record label Trademark of Quality ...
''. Like the two earlier records, ''Live'r''s outer sleeve is plain white, with its name stamped on in ink.
Recording and release
![The Oracle Arena, Oakland](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/The_Oracle_Arena%2C_Oakland.jpg)
''Live'r Than You'll Ever Be'' was recorded by "Dub" Taylor from
Trademark of Quality
In the music industry, Trade Mark of Quality (abbreviated TMOQ or TMQ) was a bootleg record label based in Los Angeles, California, during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The label was responsible for many underground records of Bob Dylan, Pink ...
using a
Sennheiser
Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG (, ) is a German privately held audio company specializing in the design and production of a wide range of high fidelity products, including microphones, headphones, telephone accessories and aviation headse ...
shotgun microphone
A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...
and a
Uher Uher may refer to:
* Uher (village), a village in Poland
* Uher (brand), a German brand of electronic equipment
People
*Karel Uher (born 1983), Czech curler
* Rudolf Uher, Canadian psychiatrist
*Štefan Uher
Štefan Uher (4 July 1930 – 29 M ...
"Report 4000"
reel-to-reel
Reel-to-reel audio tape recording, also called open-reel recording, is magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording tape is spooled between reels. To prepare for use, the ''supply reel'' (or ''feed reel'') containing the tape is plac ...
tape recorder.
It was the first audience-recorded rock bootleg to be
mastered
Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...
and distributed;
some sources consider it the first live bootleg.
Though the sound is not nearly as clear as the official release of ''Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!'', the recording is considered to be very strong for an audience recording, especially one of that era.
The Rolling Stones performed two sets that night and it is the second concert that was more heavily bootlegged and has sharper sound. Bootleggers had collaborated to record Stones shows across the United States, recording them on
two-track Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
recorders for months prior to the release of the album.
At least one source claims that the recordings initially came from rock promoter
Bill Graham's staff, who used the tapes for broadcast on
KSAN and released their edit on Lurch Records in early 1970.
The recording was made available about one month after the concert, and it became popular enough to spur speculation that the Stones released ''Ya-Ya's'' as a response to the bootleg
and the quality was high enough that it was rumoured that the band had even released the bootleg themselves.
The recording has been released through several bootleg labels, including the original release by Lurch and shortly thereafter Trademark of Quality (catalogue number 71002),
the Swingin' Pig Records The Swingin' Pig Records was a bootleg label that mostly released LPs and singles, best known for unauthorized recordings of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones. The first publications were made in the early 1980s, when they released t ...
, and Sister Morphine, usually documenting only the second set.
The Swingin' Pig release even replaced performances of "
Jumpin' Jack Flash
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as a non-album single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, the song was perceived by some as ...
" and "
Under My Thumb
"Under My Thumb" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Under My Thumb" features a marimba played by Brian Jones. Although it was never released as a single in English-speakin ...
" with different recordings from the band's 10 November performance in San Diego and their two-night stint in New York City
and attempted to enhance the sound quality by using de-clicking technology—both changes have drawn criticism in comparison to the original Lurch Records release.
Reception and influence
''Live'r Than You'll Ever Be'' was favourably reviewed by
Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics.
Biography
Marcus wa ...
in the 7 February 1970 issue of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
''. He praised its sound, erroneously stated that 'the LP is in stereo' and speculated that it may have been recorded from the stage.
The album also received praise as a more authentic example of the Stones on stage
because ''Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!'' was heavily
overdubbed
Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...
in many places.
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.
Life and writing
Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...
has noted that the recording is inferior to the sound quality of ''Ya-Ya's'', but displays a spontaneity that the official recording lacks and this helps to explain its long-lasting appeal to fans.
Reviewing the album in 1970,
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docum ...
called it "the best Rolling Stones record."
"
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
reviewed this in ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' magazine," remarked photographer
Ross Halfin
Ross William Halfin (born 11 August 1957) is a British rock and roll photographer. Since the late 1970s he has worked for some of the biggest acts in rock and heavy metal, including Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, The Who, Kiss, Metallica, ...
, "and said that it was the greatest live album ever, and a great lost live album."
The album eventually sold enough to qualify for a
gold record
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. ,
with TMOQ sources claiming that it had sold 250,000 copies by November 1970; 150,000 of which were produced by other bootleggers.
Although the album did not chart on the
''Billboard'' 200, the magazine included it in a list of best-selling bootlegs in 1971, noting that hard sales figures were impossible to confirm, but six-figure numbers had been routinely discussed.
The sleeve's generic design was copied by
the Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
's 1970 album ''
Live at Leeds
''Live at Leeds'' is the first live album by English rock band The Who. It was recorded at the University of Leeds Refectory on 14 February 1970, and is their only live album that was released while the group were still actively recording and p ...
''.
File:Greil Marcus 13.jpg, alt=Marcus standing behind a podium, A review of the bootleg by Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics.
Biography
Marcus wa ...
of ''Rolling Stone'' helped to promote and legitimise the bootleg
File:Goldrecord01.jpg, alt=A golden vinyl LP, ''Live'r Than You'll Ever Be'' is a rare example of a golden record sales award granted to a bootleg
Track listing
All songs written by
Jagger/Richards, except where noted
;Side one
#"
Carol" (
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...
) – 3:44
#"
Gimme Shelter
"Gimme Shelter" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. Released as the opening track from band's 1969 album ''Let It Bleed''. The song covers topics of war, murder, rape and fear. It features prominent guest vocals by American singer ...
" – 4:18
#"
Sympathy for the Devil
"Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones and the opening track from the band's 1968 album ''Beggars Banquet''. The song is a product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership.
It is consid ...
" – 6:23
#"
I'm Free" – 5:07
#"
Live with Me
"Live with Me" is a song by the Rolling Stones from their album ''Let It Bleed'', released in December 1969. It was the first song recorded with the band's new guitarist Mick Taylor, who joined the band in June 1969, although the first record ...
" – 3:33
;Side two
#
"Love in Vain
"Love in Vain" (originally "Love in Vain Blues") is a blues song written by American musician Robert Johnson. Johnson's performancevocal accompanied by his finger-style acoustic guitar playinghas been described as "devastatingly bleak". He rec ...
" (Robert Johnson
Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...
) – 5:24
#"Midnight Rambler
"Midnight Rambler" is a song by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released on their 1969 album ''Let It Bleed''. The song is a loose biography of Albert DeSalvo, who confessed to being the Boston Strangler.
Keith Richards has called the numbe ...
" – 7:40
#"Little Queenie
"Little Queenie" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry. Released in March 1959 as a double A-side single with " Almost Grown", it was included on '' Chuck Berry Is on Top'' (1959), Berry's first compilation album. He performed the song in ...
" (Berry) – 4:13
#"Honky Tonk Women
"Honky Tonk Women" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was released as a non-album single on 4 July 1969 in the United Kingdom, and a week later in the United States (although a country version called "Country Honk" was ...
" – 4:04
#"Street Fighting Man
"Street Fighting Man" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, written by the songwriting team of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Considered one of the band's most popular and most controversial songs, it features Indian instrumen ...
" – 4:10
:Different versions of the bootleg include different track listings. The Tarantura Records release includes both concerts performed on this date in their entirety and is represented here:
;Disc 1 – Early Show
#Band introduction – 1:36
#"Jumpin' Jack Flash
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as a non-album single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, the song was perceived by some as ...
" – 4:51
#"Prodigal Son" (Robert Wilkins
Robert Timothy Wilkins (January 16, 1896 – May 26, 1987) was an American country blues guitarist and vocalist, of African-American and Cherokee descent. His distinction was his versatility: he could play ragtime, blues, minstrel songs, and go ...
) – 4:03
#" You Gotta Move" (Fred McDowell
Fred McDowell (January 12, 1904 – July 3, 1972), known by his stage name Mississippi Fred McDowell, was an American hill country blues singer and guitar player.
Career
McDowell was born in Rossville, Tennessee, United States. His parents were f ...
and Reverend Gary Davis
Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis (born Gary D. Davis, April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972), was a blues and gospel singer who was also proficient on the banjo, guitar and harmonica. Born in Laurens, South Carolina and blind since infancy ...
) – 3:18
#"Carol" (Berry) – 3:33
#"Sympathy for the Devil" – 6:55
#"Stray Cat Blues
"Stray Cat Blues" is the eighth song on the Rolling Stones' album '' Beggars Banquet''. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and produced by Jimmy Miller. Miller's production of the song is very representative of his style, featuring ...
" – 4:18
#"Love in Vain" (Johnson) – 5:13
#"I'm Free" – 5:08
#"Under My Thumb
"Under My Thumb" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Under My Thumb" features a marimba played by Brian Jones. Although it was never released as a single in English-speakin ...
" – 3:15
#"Midnight Rambler
"Midnight Rambler" is a song by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released on their 1969 album ''Let It Bleed''. The song is a loose biography of Albert DeSalvo, who confessed to being the Boston Strangler.
Keith Richards has called the numbe ...
" – 8:17
#"Live with Me" – 4:00
#"Little Queenie" (Berry) – 3:56
#"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership, it features a guitar riff by Richards that opens and drives the song. The riff ...
" – 6:56
#"Honky Tonk Women" – 4:17
#"Street Fighting Man" – 4:03
;Disc 2 – Late Show
#"Jumpin' Jack Flash" – 4:05
#"Carol" (Berry) – 3:44
#"Sympathy for the Devil" – 6:23
#"Stray Cat Blues" – 4:13
#"Prodigal Son" (Wilkins) – 3:59
#"You Gotta Move" (McDowell and Davis) – 3:12
#"Love in Vain" (Johnson) – 5:24
#"I'm Free" – 5:07
#"Under My Thumb" – 3:23
#"Midnight Rambler" – 7:40
#"Live with Me" – 3:33
#"Gimme Shelter" – 4:18
#"Little Queenie" (Berry) – 4:13
#"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" – 6:04
#"Honky Tonk Women" – 4:04
#"Street Fighting Man" – 4:10
Personnel
;The Rolling Stones
*Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
– lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
, harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
*Keith Richards
Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...
– lead guitar
Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
and rhythm
Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
, backing vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...
*Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, h ...
– lead and rhythm guitar, slide guitar
Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...
*Bill Wyman
William George Wyman (né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who achieved international fame as the bassist for the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1993. In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member ...
– bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
*Charlie Watts
Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021.
Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an i ...
– drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
and percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
;Additional musicians
* Ian Stewart – piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
References
External links
A review of the release history of ''Live'r Than You'll Ever Be''
*
*
"Bootleg: The Rock & Roll Liberation Front?"
from ''Rolling Stone'', February 7, 1970
{{authority control
1969 live albums
The Rolling Stones live albums
Trademark of Quality live albums
1969 in California