Jerry Lee Bootlegs

[Richard Harvey]

There was recently an Elvis auction in the UK, and I picked up loads of old vinyl bootlegs. Some of the covers and artwork are lovely!

Amongst them was the 'bopcat' LP 'Good Rockin' Tonight', featuring Sun out-trakes.
I think it was on this release we first heard the classic Sam/Jerry argument?
I already had this, so I gave it to my buddy Mark as a gift. It got me thinking about Jerry Lee bootlegs. Were there many?
I'm thinking specifically of albums containing out-takes or concerts not 'officially' available. Would the Stompertime 'Breathless Cat' fall into this catagory? Or the 'Mona Lisa' or 'Hank Cochrane' CDs?

The obvious recordings to bootleg are the Caribou sessions though. I'm amazed these haven't had a 'proffessional' bootleg treatment. Perhaps there's just no market these days. .

[peterchecksfield]

There were quite a few vinyl bootlegs, but since CD-Rs became widle availble & easy to make (as well as very professional looking covers), it's been very difficult to classify what is or isn't a bootleg. My guess is that there's been more CD-Rs of the Caribou sessions made than most of the 'proper' bootlegs...

[Andrew McRae]

Hereunder are details of vinyl LP bootlegs in my collection (I think this covers all of them?!)

Andrew

Bootlegs (vinyl)
THE GREAT ROCK STARS (Liitle Richard/ Larry Williams/JLL) REDITA RLP 103 1970?
FOR JLL FANS ONLY (includes 'We Three') RSR 1114 1970
GOOD ROCKIN' TONIGHT (Elvis / JLL / Warren Smith) BOPCAT BR 100 1971
GIANT OF ROCK (Live Ernst Merck Halle 12-5-72) German no label 1972
ROCKIN' JERRY LEE (inc. 'It's The Real Thing') Mule 201 1975
BRIAN MATTHEW'S SATURDAY CLUB Star Shark 501 1975
GREAT BALLS OF FIRE Koala 14109 1979
WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN' Koala 14120 1979
MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET OMD 001 1980
20 GREATEST HITS Black Tulip 1983?
ROCKIN MY LIFE AWAY (Amsterdam 1981 live) KILLER 1982?
LA GRAND STORIA DEL ROCK VOL 9 GSR 9 1981
LA GRAND STORIA DEL ROCK VOL 57 GSR 57 1981
LA GRAND STORIA DEL ROCK VOL 91 GSR 91 1982
LIVE AT GILLEY'S JL001 1981
LIVE AT GILLEY'S (different cover) JL001 1981
LIVE AT THE GRAND OLD OPRY DK 1004 1983
OUT-TAKES SUNSTAR 1002 1986
FROM LONDON TO HAMBURG SUNSTAR 1003 1986
LIVE AT THE DOLPHIN THEATRE VOL1 SUNSTAR 1004 1986
LIVE AT THE DOLPHIN THEATRE VOL2 SUNSTAR 1005 1986
LET'S LIVE A LITTLE (2LPs) Killer 850406 1986
ALIVE AND ROCKIN' SUN' 1280 1986
THE KILLER'S 20TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW 20 JLL 1986
THE KILLER IS BACK! (2LPs) Silver Eagle SE8 3852 1986
ROCKIN' WITH JERRY LEE LEWIS Killer 1005 1987
FATS & FRIENDS DLC 1987 1987
LIVE FROM GILLEY'S (2LPs) Westwood One' 1988
LIVE FROM GILLEY'S vol 2 Westwood One' 1988
ME AND BOBBY MCGHEE no label 1989?
MONA LISA FLASH 1991?
IN LOVING MEMORIES TREASURE 318 late 80s?

[Richard Harvey]

Wowee! You're the man!

Never heard of most of those, 'cept for the million dollar quartet. I forgot that had a boot release before the Charly one.
I remember a mock up cover in the Escot/Hawkins book, with the caption 'Million Dollar Quartet Album sleeve, awaiting release'. This was before anything came out from the sessions. Tantalising!

I think, because it dribbled out on bootleg first, the MDQ album never achieved proper newsworthyness.

[Perk]

One addition i could add without thinking too much,

Live In Paris 1966 - Killer Records - Kill 01

Perk ; )

[Andrew McRae]

oo er, my mistake.. the records of my, er, records are incomplete! Well spotted, Perk!

Another piece of vinyl worth mentioning was the 4-track EP (45rpm) called "The Great Jerry Lee Lewis" on "Pumpin' Records", courtesy of which the Smash tracks "Skid Row" and "24 Hours A Day" first saw the light. If memory (it's obviously suspect) serves this EP appeared circa 1980.

Many of these LPs, of course, leave a lot (in some cases an awful lot) to be desired in terms of sound quality, being relatively primitive audience recordings (i.e. the recordings, not the audience are primitive), although the later Scandinavian examples, "Me & Bobby McGhee" (sic) and the 2LP "Let's Live A Little" are real treasures. Those derived from US radio shows (Gilleys, Silver Eagle) are obviously better than par though soem of this material has more recently been made freely available on commercial CDs.

Andrew

[jarireinikka]

And "Let´s Live A Little 2-lp" has been released with 2 different coloured covers (yellow & blue)
+ there´s certainly a bootleg,since it comes from Russia,called "18 Rock´n roll hits", I guess you forgot that one as well,Andrew?...)

Jari

[Perk]

I think that "pumpin records" Ep was before 1979 at least. There was a re-issue of it that i bought sometime in the late 80´s. I assume it was a reissue though, as i had been looking for it for several years, then suddenly it was available everywhere again.

The swedish "Me & Bobby McGee" album is taken from a radio broadcast, so it´s real good. I just wished they had used some of the pictures with Jerry wearing his leather fringed jacket from that show on the cover though. I seen some of them in the 80´s real proffesional photos and they are real wild looking!

Perk ; )

[flip54]

Probably not a bootleg but the 1966 Ember Sunstroke lp ( 1 side JLL 1side CP)always puzzled me , how did Kruger`s label get away with issuing Sun stuff, Decca/ London was still issuing Sun product and Sam hadn`t sold to Shelby by then so was it a legal licensing job?? If so ,one of the first Sun archival releases.

Ember also had Capitol artists like Esquerita and M Moore. There was also that dodgy Design lp with Johnny Rivers etc, with those dubbed JLL sides if memory serves me right

Both Pickwick (cd) and Mervyn Conn's own label (2lp)had VA Country releases with JLL live at Wembley country shows tracks, these must have been legally licensed by Conn so did JLL get any royalties??

I recall buying the Bopcat and Giant of Rock at Reddingtons in Birmingham and the Mule lp at John Beecher's shop in S London on trips to see JLL

Phil

ps there was bootleg 45 in the 80s of the High School Confidential advert promo

[peterchecksfield]

I think that "pumpin records" Ep was before 1979 at least.

Definately not. I remember where I was living when it was first released & announced in FBM, & I didn't move to that address until January 1980.

[ChrisdeB]

Wasn't 'The Killers Private Stash' Cd considered a bootleg?

Chris

[peterchecksfield]

Wasn't 'The Killers Private Stash' Cd considered a bootleg?

Chris

Yes, definately.

[Perk]

The "pumpin records" EP was before the Koala bootlegs, that´s how far back i remember. My copy is a later one though.

"Private Stash" yes, but that was on cd. Not a vinyl bootleg.

Perk

[ChrisdeB]

There does seem to be a number of Jerry Lee bootleg CD's lately that are reasonbly easy to get hold of. I am think of particularly Ivory Tears.

[Perk]

I guess many records among all the "best of´s", "Greatest Hits" & "18 rock and roll hits" etc are also bootlegs. Not necessarily containing anything rare or new.

Perk