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Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!newsswitch.lcs.mit.edu!uchinews!yellow.newsread.com!netaxs.com!newsread.com!netaxs.newsread.com!not-for-mail From: rzepelaa@netaxs.com (Anthony J. Rzepela) Newsgroups: alt.rock-n-roll.stones,alt.answers,news.answers Subject: Rolling Stones FAQ [2/4] Followup-To: alt.rock-n-roll.stones Date: 1 Mar 2000 07:01:21 GMT Organization: Netaxs, a Philadelphia ISP Lines: 3240 Approved: news-answers-request@mit.edu Expires: 30 Apr 2000 Message-ID: <89if81$i3q@netaxs.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: unix2.netaxs.com X-Newsreader: TIN [UNIX 1.3 950824BETA PL0] Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu alt.rock-n-roll.stones:56444 alt.answers:47497 news.answers:178239 Archive-name: music/rollingstones-faq/part2 Last-modified: 2000/02/28 Version: 7.02 Rolling Stones' Mailing list/newsgroup FAQ ==================================================== http://www.netaxs.com/~rzepelaa/undercover Part Two The Rolling Stones--Live and Unreleased recordings /***********************************************************************/ COPYRIGHT 1994-2000 (c) Anthony J. Rzepela (editor) This collection of four works is under the copyright of the editor, who may, at his discretion, relinquish said copyright to the authors named herein. This collection may not be broken up, or be made available by any publisher. It may not be redistributed in any form if any changes are made to it except by the holder of the copyright. The editor of this FAQ retains all rights for use of it. No author or proofreader or assistant credited herein grants the use of his or her name to any publisher. Be warned that attempts to publish this shared work-in-progress may interfere with legal commitments individual authors may privately hold with publishers. /***********************************************************************/ The Rolling Stones--Live and Unreleased Recordings (Version 6.02 of *this* document, February 28, 2000) The Rolling Stones have been around for over 30 years and have released many albums. However, for some fans, they haven't released enough. This is a guide for those fans who want to know what the Stones were doing on their many unrecorded tours, or are curious to hear the various working stages of a classic song. The only way to hear this is from unauthorized recordings. This portion of the FAQ is an introduction and guide to the unauthorized recordings of the Rolling Stones. This information is for educational purposes only. Please note that this article is _not_ written by Tony Rzepela. Your humble author chooses to remain anonymous; call me Mr. X. Any comments, questions, or additional information concerning this portion of the FAQ should be posted to Undercover; I will see it and modify the FAQ as needed. (Thanks to those of you who have contributed. You know who you are. Also thanks to those of you who have posted reviews to Undercover, which I have added to fill gaps in my knowledge. Hope you don't mind :)). This is intended to be a general reference, to be carried around when looking for unauthorized recordings. If you see such a recording, check the date/location in the FAQ for quality and my comments. This document doesn't have song titles but does include standard live set lists, in case you are looking for a live version of a certain song but aren't sure if it was ever performed. Set lists don't vary too much except for the first shows of a tour and the Voodoo Lounge through No Security tours. For song titles on a particular CD/LP, consult John Artukovich's "Fingerprint File" at http://www.primenet.com/~united86/ (was removed but now back), or Hendrik Mulder's "Love You Live" at http://www.gironet.nl/home/mulderha/, or Remco Terhoeven's page at http://home.wish.net/~gimme_shelter/. Books include _Hot Wacks_ (many mistakes but at least the song titles are right), Nico Zentgraf's _Collector's Delight or Collector's Disease_ (CD only, out of date now). For current CD info, especially Vinyl Gang Productions, consult Jaime Castenada's "The Stones Files" at http://www.zip.com.au/~jaime/. For setlists, try accessing Nico's data on the web at http://home.ins.de/~j.delmere/stones/books/zent.htm. For set lists on the "No Security" tour, see Bjornulf Vik's IORR web site at http://www.iorr.org/. For interesting analysis and commentary on Stones concerts and outtakes, see http://hometown.aol.com/chrism42/stones.htm. Also, a new version of Dieter Hoffmann's "Schwarzbuch" (Black Book) is now out. It's the definitive Stones bootleg book. This edition is done loose leaf style so future releases can be added easily. For brief information, see http://www.zip.com.au/~jaime/schwarzbuch/. Unauthorized recordings may be either live concerts or studio outtakes. Live concerts may be recorded in several ways: In the audience using a hand held tape recorder, by a sound man from the soundboard, or from a radio broadcast. Audience recordings will generally sound the worst, but modern technology makes it possible to have very good audience recordings. Studio outtakes are generally of good quality as the recording is usually professionally done. In all cases, sound quality will deteriorate as analog copies are made from one generation to the next. This is a partial list of unauthorized recordings of the Rolling Stones. It is not complete. I have omitted many LPs and CDs, and virtually all tape only performances. Many of the best recorded performances have been released by as many as 10 different companies; I have listed only the best or one of the best versions. This list is biased toward in- print CDs since they are what most people want, and can be found without too much difficulty. However, I have included some out of print and hard to get items which I consider important. Listings are by location, date, length, quality, and source. All quality ratings from 1 to 10 are done by the author, with 1 being unlistenable and 10 being perfect release quality. Since I can't listen to everything, some ratings are from books, fanzines, or postings to Undercover. These ratings are in the form of EX (excellent), VG+ (very good plus), etc. 'm' indicates mono, 's' stereo, and 'es' electronic stereo. Part 1: The Early Years with Brian Jones Most of the recordings from this period are either from media appearances such as the BBC and TV shows, or studio outtakes. Although the band toured constantly, there are few unauthorized concert recordings. This was the time of Beatlemania, and screaming girls and often riots at concerts. With the extremely primitive PA systems of the era, the Stones were frequently drowned out by the audience. Set lists: Second English tour, Feb./March 1964: Talking About You, Roadrunner, Roll Over Beethoven, You Better Move On, Beautiful Delilah, It's Alright, Not Fade Away, I Wanna Be Your Man. September/October 1964 UK tour: I Just Wanna Make Love to You, Walking the Dog, If You Need Me, It's Alright, Around and Around, It's All Over Now. March 1965 UK tour: Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, Pain in My Heart, Down the Road Apiece, Time is on My Side, I'm Moving On, It's Alright, Little Red Rooster, Route 66, The Last Time, Everybody Needs Somebody to Love. September/October 1965 UK tour: Mercy Mercy, Cry to Me, The Last Time, Oh Baby We Got a Good Thing Going, I'm Moving On, She Said Yeah, Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, That's How Strong My Love is, Talkin' 'bout You. Paris March 29, 1966 1st show: The Last Time, Mercy Mercy, She Said Yeah, Play with Fire, Not Fade Away, That's How Strong My Love is, I'm Moving On, The Spider and the Fly, Time is on My Side, 19th Nervous Breakdown, Around and Around, Get Off of My Cloud, It's Alright, Satisfaction. Paris April 11, 1967: Paint It Black, 19th Nervous Breakdown, Lady Jane, Get Off of My Cloud, Yesterday's Papers, Under My Thumb, Ruby Tuesday, Let's Spend the Night Together, Going Home, Satisfaction. No audience tapes earlier than 1967 are circulating although there are rumors of earlier tapes. BBC '63-'65; "Beat Beat Beat at the Beeb"/ others I quote from an Internet review: "This 2-CD set comprises all available studio recordings from the BBC sessions in chronological order. The quality is very good to superb mono/stereo. Unlike other titles most of these tracks are from tape/CD sources. Having this set makes all other titles (e.g. Get Satisfaction If You Want, Cracking Up, Beautiful Delilah, Rape of the Vaults, etc.) unnecessary... VGP's 'The Lost Treasure' is nothing new." However, a follow up review said: "I totally disagree. Seems to me that 'beat beat beat' trims beginnings and/or ends of songs in some cases that are complete in 'get satisfaction if you want.'" Note: I have not heard this yet. I assume that "Get Satisfaction if You Want" and "Crackin' Up" combined have most of these tracks but miss a few. Ed Sullivan TV '64-'67; 7.5 m; "Conquer America"/others Their famous TV appearances are available on several LPs and CDs, for over 20 years, and video as well. Many if not all performances are live vocals with the rest of the band miming to the studio version of the song, so not that interesting. The 1969 appearance is not on this disc because at the time of its release, the performance was not yet 20 years old; this legal barrier was surmounted for later releases. Of course some people don't worry about things like that. Outtakes '63-'65; 30 min; 9.0 s; "Bright Lights Big City" A combination of very early outtakes and Chess Studios outtakes. Old LPs are made from scratchy acetates but sound quite good otherwise; later CD releases have lost the scratches. (Old LPs also have an inferior Montreux '72, see below.) Moderately interesting; the early Stones sound none too confident in the studio. Misc. early live; "Bright Lights, Big City" I quote from an Internet review: "Very nice 2cd pack with early live material like NME poll winners 1964 and 1965, TAMI show, Saturday night at the London palladium, Ed Sullivan shows, Ready Steady go 1965 and 1966 etc. ALL these recording were released before but to get these recordings, you needed [a] minimum [of] 7 titles..." Another Internet review added: "Most of this has been available before but the NME Poll winners tracks are an upgrade to me. I almost bought the complete 2CD NME show from 1965 just to get the 3 Stones tracks but now for the money you get a great sounding but nothing new 2cd Stones only set. This has a great booklet also! Unfortunately, bootleggers have nothing new to put out so they keep rehashing old stuff with a new title or package. Don't fall for this." Even the title is copied. Misc. early live; "Record Mirror" Two separate box sets. I quote an Internet review: "Overall a waste of money unless you're new to the bootleg collecting world. If you have a decent collection already there's nothing new here except the great booklets. The sound is good but the quality is NOT upgraded at all. In fact there is much hiss from the sources and some tracks have crackle[s] from vinyl! This is a good set if you have nothing but it's nothing but a rehash of everything that's out there already except that it's in one convenient place. It's not worth the big price tag." Outtakes '64-'70; 210 min; 9.0 m&s; "The Black Box" Compilation of most of the decent sounding outtakes from the early period. Most have been available on other releases but a few are new here. Includes the Stones portion of the "Karaoke" (instrumental outtakes) CD. Having this set would be enough early outtakes for most people. Outtakes '64-'70; "From Mason's Yard to Primrose Hill" Nothing particularly rare here, but said to be "superior" quality. I haven't heard it. The title comes from Gered Mankowitz's limited edition photo book. Outtakes '64-'73; 70 min; 8.0 s; "Mad Shadows" A fine collection of material over the years including material never available before, even to tape traders. Mostly excellent sound. The Hague, 8/8/64; 4.0 m; "Back to the Hague" I quote from an Internet review: "To my knowledge the first ever audience tape of the Stones... The concert of the Stones in the Hague at the Kurhaus, the Hague (which was one of the most fancy hotels back then) was the Stones' first ever concert on the European continent. Opening acts were some dreadful Dutch entertainers, which made the crowd riotous. The show started with Walking The Dog and the crowd started to tear down the hall. Jagger lost his mike lead and played maracas on Hi-Heel Sneakers and Susie Q. The Stones ended with Mona (and not Not Fade Away as Karnbach and Bernson state) before the show was cancelled by the police. Never happened something like this before in Holland! Funny enough, the press didn't consider a Stones concert a big thing so didn't send a camera team. Luckily for us now, a young D.J. called Willem van Kooten decided it was important and went to the concert with a camera and a tape recorder. He recorded the complete concert from the side of the stage and even got to ask Jagger (during Susie Q!) if he had ever seen something like this. Jagger responded no, and said the police had to take it easy on the young girls. The tape is of very good quality, all instruments can be heard loud and clear. The tape is especially funny if you understand Dutch, since the reporter is clearly amazed at the sight of 1000 young kids fighting! The tape is on at least on LP (Back to The Hague), on video with the film footage, but not on CD as far as I know." Note: having heard the LP recently, I can say it really isn't that good. The instruments are fairly clear but vocals are totally inaudible. For completists only. TAMI show 10/29/64; 25 min; 9.5 m; tape (laser disc) This performance is available on at least one LP but may not be on CD. The video is available on a legal Japanese laser disc. Fantastic performance; being able to see it makes it even better. Great guitar work by Keith and Brian, and Mick does all his James Brown moves. Stereo mixes/outtakes 65-'67; 60 min; 7.5 s; "Dartford Renegades" This includes some of the stereo mixes that are on the non-US "Hot Rocks 1" CD, in noticeably worse quality but with slightly longer fade-outs, plus others that have never been officially released in stereo such as "The Last Time." Also includes outtakes dubbed from the rare German LP "As Time Goes By." Swedish TV 4/2/65; "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" I quote from an Undercover review: "...muddy but listenable... It appears all are live vocals with pre-recorded studio backing tracks. Nothing astounding here." (This CD also includes Paris '65-'67.) Paris 4/18/65; 40 min; "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss"/ others A French radio broadcast but the sound is primitive. Good concert though out of tune toward the end, and the crowd is riotous. The show has been available for years on many LPs and CDs, but the listed Japanese CD is supposedly the best ever. I haven't heard it, but heard its predecessor "All Those Years Ago," and it was the best I've ever heard. Other releases miss the first song, are tinny, run too slow, etc. (This CD also includes Paris '65-'67 + Swedish TV above.) Paris '65, '66 2nd, '67; "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Confusingly VGP has released these 1995? Paris rebroadcasts on two different titles with different filler. The listed title is the later and apparently superior release. "Still I'm Gonna Miss You" was the first; it was a single CD of these rebroadcast plus TV show filler. Sound quality is far superior to the original '60s broadcasts, and also superior to early '80s rebroadcasts that appeared on LPs. I quote from an Internet review of "Gathers:" "Disc 1 contains 4 tracks from Paris April 18, 1965, 3 tracks from Paris March 29, 1966 2nd show and 5 tracks from Paris April 11, 1967, taken from a recent French rebroadcast Musicorama in excellent mono quality. The quality of these tracks is truly amazing; this is probably the clearest sounding material from the Brian Jones era--and that includes the official 'Got Live.' Makes one really wonder what is left in the Musicorama vaults, since all shows were taped completely. Disc one rounds off with 4 tracks from a Swedish TV special on April 2, 1965 in full playback and bad quality, completely useless (see separate review above). Disc 2 contains the complete shows from Paris April 18, 1965 in exc. mono soundboard quality (see separate review above) and Paris April 11, 1967 in good-very good mono soundboard quality (see separate review below)." Note: I have only heard "Still..." and it's extremely good. Its filler is 5 songs from Shindig TV 5/26/65. I particularly like the '67 tracks which have some suitably freaky guitar work; also note the early-Pink Floyd- style keyboards on Satisfaction. Berlin 9/15/65 + Hamburg 9/13/65; "On Tour" I quote an Internet review: "This CD is a copy of the bootleg LP's 'Brian We Miss You' (MDR 5) and 'The Riot Show/Berlin 1965' (MDR 1). The Berlin show sounds quite good (I mean, we're talking 1965!), and especially Brian can be heard well. Hamburg is a typical sixties tape: muffled, only the audience can be heard." Note: quality on the Berlin LP is poor, 3.5 m; 30 min, plus it runs too fast! Hamburg is only one song. Haven't heard this CD, so I can only hope the pitch is at least corrected. "Brian We Miss You," not mentioned in this Internet review, is also poor; it's Vienna 4/2/67; 35 min; 4.0 m (see separate review below). Sydney 2/18/66; "He Is Not Dead"/ 1 other? I quote from an Internet review: "...Contrary to what most people think, this is a radio broadcast, not a audience show... In February 1966 the Stones did a... Winter Tour, starting with two shows at the Commemorative Pavilion, Sydney. At least four shows of this tour were aired by radio, and until now only one show turned up on CD. The sound quality of this CD is, considering the date when this tape was recorded off the air, quite good. It certainly is the best sounding, complete 1966 radio show (the better sounding Honolulu show is a true soundboard recording and not a radio show). There is a fair amount of hiss and static, but the show is (like all early sixty shows) incredible with a really nice set list." This CD also includes Citadel outtakes and two tracks supposedly with Brian and Jimi Hendrix. I have not heard it. Paris 3/29/66 1st show; 37 min; 4.5 m; "F***ing and Sucking"/ others First available on a rare LP; the listed title is a Japanese CD. Another French radio broadcast; the complete tape is not as good as the '65 broadcast. It's nowhere near the quality of the Paris '65-'67 sampler above, which does not include any of this show; it has never been rebroadcast. Interesting performance, the Stones play very fast in '66. Unfortunately there is an announcer between most songs, and three songs are incomplete. The listed CD also includes Paris 4/11/67. Most recent release of this show is "England's Rarest Hitmakers," which also includes rare official releases. Contrary to what you may have read elsewhere, it uses the exact same incomplete source tape with one very minor difference: "Play with fire" has a pronounced stereo effect. Still incomplete though. Sound quality for "ERH" is slightly worse, almost the same. It also includes rare official early studio tracks which are unavailable on CD. Paris 3/29/66 2nd show; 35 min; 5.0 m; "A L'Olympia 1966"/others Available both complete and incomplete on LP; now copied onto a CD called "On Stage" along with the 4/11/67 Paris broadcast. Quality is similar to the above and there is no announcer. (On the '65-'67 rebroadcast above in far better quality). Honolulu 7/28/66; 30 min; 7.5 m; "In Action"/others First available on LP in horrendous and then pretty bad quality, this concert is finally available in quite good quality on CD. This is the only known true soundboard recording from the Brian Jones era. Amusing performance; Charlie gets to introduce a song and announces one they already did, and Mick says it will be their last concert ever! Undoubtedly he was influenced by the Beatles, who would have their last concert on August 29. "Paris Match" omits the goofy introduction--another reason not to buy it. (The listed CD also includes "Trident Mixes" outtakes). VGP's "So Much Younger Than Today," which lifts its title from an old TSP LP, may be a slight upgrade but I haven't heard it. Outtakes and live '66-'69; 75 min; 10.0 s/6.0 m (varies); "Time Trip 4" This latest in the Time Trip series, this marks a return to form after the sub par Time Trip 3. Superb quality outtakes, either never before available or better than before, plus a few lesser quality live tracks. "Carol" at the end is the same version as "Ya Yas" but sounds better here IMHO. The mix is better but there is a very slight warble from varying speed I think. London Palladium 1/22/67; 15 min; 6.0 m; "All Those Years Ago"/others The performance where the Stones achieved even more notoriety by not waving to the TV audience at the end of the show. There is an interesting re-working of "It's All Over Now." (The listed CD also includes other early material). Vienna 4/2/67 + The Hague 4/15/67; "Groovin' Around"/others I quote from an Internet review: "...The first 7 songs from Vienna are listenable and not bad for the time. At least the sound is far better than on the old LP. I would rate it 5.0 m. The last 7 songs are from the Houtrusthal (corrected), the Hague (the Netherlands) and are of poor quality. What can be heard is the Dutch audience discussion the show, and lots of screaming?" Note: I haven't heard this CD but Vienna 4/2/67 on an LP is 4.0 m. Paris 4/11/67 complete; 30 min; "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" This is the best available complete recording of the 1967 tour of Europe, the last tour with Brian Jones. I have not heard the listed title, but it is said to be an improvement over "F*cking and Sucking." It also includes the '65/'66/'67 partial rebroadcast from 1995?, which is the best possible quality, plus Paris 4/18/65 complete (see separate reviews above.) TSMR sessions 5-9/67; ~430 min; 9.5 s; "The Satanic Sessions" 7 (!) CDs worth of rehearsals for TSMR, with Jigsaw Puzzle rehearsals on the 8th CD. Near-perfect quality; in some respects better than the official release. These are early run-throughs of songs, some barely recognizable compared to the finished album versions. There are also jams which were never released, and it's easy to see why. Some remind me of the Kinks, possibly because there's lots of piano by Nicky Hopkins (I assume). There are no vocals and lots of aborted takes. Interesting to hear once but probably not worth repeated listening. Note: This does not have as many takes of "Citadel" as "Request and Requires," but it's much better quality. Surrey 3/68 reh + int; 45 min; 5.5 m; "1968 Surrey Rehearsals" Interesting jams with the origins of Jumping Jack Flash, Stray Cat Blues, and many other classics. Brian is not present; Mick and Keith laugh about it. This was apparently recorded on a portable tape recorder by a visiting reporter, and the quality is not very good. The Japanese CD is better than the original LP. Part 1a: Brian is phased out The Stones did their last tour with Brian in the spring of 1967. They were unable to tour after that due to Brian's legal and health problems. The Rock and Roll Circus was to be a way around this, bringing the performance to the audience instead of the other way around. Beggars Banquet outtakes; 73 min; 9.5 s; "RSVP" An interesting yet frustrating CD of alternate takes and mixes from "Beggars," plus outtakes from that era. Some of the alt mixes sound arguably better than the official release, but others simply sound odd. A few run too fast. All the outtakes are available in better quality on old vinyl LPs; most are probably dubbed from "Trident Mixes" (see below). Worthwhile, but probably would have been better if it had not attempted to make an almost-complete alternate "Beggars." Re-released as "RSVP Revisited" with some new tracks lifted from the Beggars disc on "The Satanic Sessions" Vol. 2 and other previously available sources, and without the "Trident Mixes" dubs. Worth getting only if you don't have the original already. "Sympathy..." reh. 5-6/68; 20 min; 8.0 m; "Angie" This LP has part of the music in the "Sympathy for the Devil" movie. Good sound but not necessary now that the film is easily available. Outtakes '68-'72; 70 min; 8.0 s; "On the Rocks" Decent collection of outtakes including a few which first appeared here. Good sound quality but later releases such as "The Black Box" (above) make this mostly unnecessary. Outtakes '68-'72; 70 min; 9.5 s; "Trident Mixes" One of the classic LPs; has been copied onto CD. Fantastic sound quality, especially for the vinyl era, though it's a bit scratchy. Some if not all the music is from acetates, which are generally scratchy, so that could be the reason. Several interesting cuts but I find some of the instrumentals pretty dull. If you can find them, there are 2 CD-Rs of this material plus the Exile outs (see below), which are said to be very good quality without surface noise. Some of the same material is on "Hillside Blues," for which I quote an unpublished review: "Contains the well-known Trident material, and the Exile outtakes material in pretty nice quality. Better than previous CDs, but who knows how good the master/'best quality available' master tape may be..." Outtakes/diff. mixes '68-'73;100 min; 10.0 s; "Time Trip" 1 and 2 An interesting yet frustrating set of CDs. Some alternate takes of classic songs, plus slightly different alternate mixes, mostly Sticky Fingers era. Also includes a few Exile era outtakes ca. 10/70 which have surfaced elsewhere, one track from the 6/23/72 Dallas rehearsals, alternate Sway from the 45, a TV broadcast, etc. A fair number of tracks are repeats; Vol. 2 includes Montreux 5/21/72 complete, out of order, while Vol. has 3 of the 6 songs, and some of the supposedly different alternate mixes sound identical to my ears. The outtakes, alternate mixes, and Montreux have superb sound quality for the most part. Beware of early pressings of these CDs which have deteriorated by now to the point where they are usually unplayable; look for cracks in the playing surface. R & R Circus reh. 12/10?/68; 10 min; 7.5 m; "Gravestones" With the release of the R&R Circus video and CD, I'll mention that alternate versions of Parachute Woman and YCAGWYW are available on this old LP. Where's the video? (I'm also told that the boot LP versions of "Yer Blues" [not on this LP] are different from the official release. Haven't checked yet. Anyone?) (This rare old LP is a mixture of all sorts of tracks, which are all out on CD now in better quality, except for these two songs. It's usually packaged with "Rape of the Vaults," an LP of BBC tracks in low fidelity). Part 2: The middle period with Mick Taylor After the forced exit of Brian, the Stones hired Mick Taylor as new lead guitarist. His excellent playing made this lineup arguably the best for live performances. His first gig with them was a free concert in London's Hyde Park before several hundred thousand people. Brian Jones had died 2 days earlier and the concert became a tribute to him. Hyde Park 7/5/69; 85 min; 8.0 m; "Hyde Park 1969"/others First released on LP from an audience tape; later releases are from the movie soundtrack and a 1979 WLIR FM documentary, with only "Down Home Girl" from the audience tape. The performance is sloppy but energetic. This concert has an unusual set list, partly due to Taylor's unfamiliarity with the band. Note that some CDs are dubbed from LPs so they sound good but still have surface noise; the Swingin' Pig release is from tape. As of late '98 a new CD "In the Park" became available. It's a 63 min audience recording, different from the previous one, and not real good. There's considerable crowd noise, Jagger's voice overpowers the band, and no between song dialogue. Avoid. The first actual tour with Mick Taylor was the fall/winter 1969 US Tour. "Let It Bleed" was released at the end of the tour. Toward the end of the tour the band did some recordings at Muscle Shoals, Alabama (partly documented on "Time Trip" above). New York, Muscle Shoals, and Altamont are documented in the movie "Gimme Shelter." The official live album from this tour is the excellent "Get Yer Ya-Yas Out." This tour established a pattern which would continue until 1982: US tour every 3 years, with a European tour the following year. There was no 1979 European tour, but the New Barbarians toured that year. Typical set for 1969 US tour: Jumping Jack Flash, Carol, Sympathy for the Devil, Stray Cat Blues, Love in Vain, Prodigal Son (not at all shows), You Gotta Move (not at all shows), Under My Thumb, Midnight Rambler, Live with Me, Little Queenie, Satisfaction, Honky Tonk Woman, Street Fighting Man. Played infrequently: I'm Free, Gimme Shelter. Played only at Altamont: The Sun is Shining (by Jimmy Reed), Brown Sugar. Quite a few of these shows were recorded by fans in the audience. These tapes vary from atrocious to excellent. All of the good tapes have been made into LPs or CDs. Fort Collins, CO 11/7/69; 70 min; 5.5 m; "Catch Your Dreams Before They Slip Away" Distant, mediocre audience recording of the first show of the tour. For those who have to have everything. L.A. Forum 11/8/69 2nd show; 70 min; 7.0 m;"Born in a Crossfire Hurricane"/ others This is an unusual show in that there are two completely different, above average audience tapes. Neither tape came into wide circulation until the '90s. This CD is the only release of the slightly better tape. This is the best of the early shows in my opinion; Keith rocks. The other source tape is best heard as one of the CDs in "Cocaine on a Dentist Chair." Oakland 11/9/69 1st show; 70 min; 7.0 m; "Bring It Back Aliver" Another audience tape that did not circulate until the mid '90s. The PA blows out early on; the replacement system is quiet which makes for a good recording. The performance is average. The rare "Liver Than They'll Ever Be" LP and CD sound better than the more easily available title listed; this is probably available on a Japanese CD as well. Oakland 11/9/69 2nd show; 70 min; 8.0 m; "Liver Than You'll Ever Be"/ many others The first Stones bootleg. Many, many different releases on LP, now the entire concert is on CD. Good audience recording for the time but Mick's voice is too loud. Average performance. The LP, the first rock music bootleg with good sound, caused a sensation back in 1970 and was even reviewed in Rolling Stone magazine. Original Lurch label LPs sound quite good but many later pressings have excessive surface noise. The listed Swingin' Pig CD is not quite complete due to tape flaws in 2 songs but there is a VGP CD of the entire Oakland tape, with flaws. Either of these CDs is your best bet soundwise. The latest "30th Anniversary" release is remastered and nicely packaged to look like a Mobile Fidelity audiophile CD. Unfortunately, it suffers from a poor mastering job which attempts to boost the guitars but results in a shrill sound. At least it splices together the two incomplete songs. Overall, not recommended. Coincidentally, a primitive incomplete soundboard tape was recorded by Bill Graham's people, and broadcast on KSAN in 1972. That recording is available on a rare German LP "Oakland Sixty-Nine" and was later dubbed onto a CD with the exact same packaging as well as the inferior, overly processed "Hangout" CD. The soundboard tape sounds much different but the overall quality is comparable. San Diego 11/10/69; 40 min; 8.0 m; "Stoneaged"/others Best 1969 recording though it's an audience tape, good even by modern standards. Decent performance, marred by the amazingly out of tune show- closer Street Fighting Man. The original LP has been copied onto CD; the complete (70 min) performance is also available on CD. Original LPs sound better than any CDs. Of the current, complete CDs, the VGP release, "It's No Hangin' Matter," is preferred by some but others prefer TSP's release, which is carefully spliced to add in missing pieces of the show. Personally, I think VGP's is a tiny bit better. (The VGP CD also includes yet another re- release of MSG 11/27/69). Phoenix 11/11/69; 50 min; 6.5 m; "Gathering Madness"/ others This is a decent audience tape which suffers from low frequency distortion. The tape didn't circulate until the '90s. Supposedly it was recorded by the same people (TMOQ) who did the earlier West Coast shows. Worth getting if you have to have everything. Note "Sky Pilots" is said to be slightly better but I haven't heard it. It also includes the Amsterdam 10/9/70 concert in mediocre quality. Champaign, IL 11/15/69 1st show; 60 min; 4.0 m; "Cocaine on a Dentist Chair" This is a below average audience tape which first turned up in 1993. The tape recorder couldn't handle the volume and distorts on everything except the acoustic songs. Jagger's comments to the crowd are at least amusing. The title must have gotten lost in the translation; maybe it refers to Keith's bragging about how he used to buy drugs from a guy who stole them from dentists. Detroit 11/24/69; 70 min; 6.0 s; "Live in Detroit"/others Decent audience recording for 1969 but not good by modern standards. Originally released as the second ever Stones boot (also reviewed in Rolling Stone mag) "We Didn't Really Get It on Until Detroit;" supposedly Mick said this meaning it was the first really good show of the tour. Quickly copied onto several now very obscure double and single LPs, all collectible and scratchy! Only the first release is stereo. Now out on this CD, dubbed from the very rare stereo 2 LP set with minimal loss in quality (noise reduction) but some dialogue (scratchy quiet parts) chopped out. 3 songs (where are the rest?) from a mysterious semi-professional video (!) are available in 7.0 m quality on a rare German LP and the CD-R "American Tour, 1969 Soundboard Compilation." Baltimore 11/26/69; 60 min; 6.5 m; "Devil's Disciple" Decent audience tape of one of the best 1969 shows. First available on the "Devil's Disciple" LP, now the entire tape is on CD in better sound. The listed VGP CD, using the title of the old LP, is said to be slightly superior to "Baltimore 1969" though it's the same source tape. The listed CD also includes Little Queenie from a rare Gimme Shelter outtake video. A new source tape for the first 30 minutes of the concert started circulating in the summer of 1995 and was soon made into the misleadingly titled "Live in Washington 1969" CD; later pressings have the title corrected to Baltimore. Its quality is even better. Love in Vain on "Ya Yas" is from this show, not NYC as claimed. MSG, NYC 11/27/69; 65 min; 7.0 m; "It's No Hangin' Matter"/ others This show was another early boot LP; the entire concert is now on CD, roughly the same quality but without LP surface noise. Above average audience tape, good show. The listed CD is said to be the best ever release; it also includes San Diego 11/10/69. MSG, NYC 11/28/69 2nd show; 65 min; 5.0 m; "Live in NY 1969" This rarely circulated tape is not a good recording, but it's a useful document for those who want to hear a "Ya Ya's" show without overdubs. (This CD also includes the 11/27/69 show). "Ya Yas" acetate; 46 min; 9.5 s; "F*ck Yer Ya Yas Out"/1 other First available on the impossibly rare LP "Broadway" in mono, now in stereo on CD. This CD is dubbed from an acetate with somewhat different version of the tracks on "Get Yer Ya Ya's Out." Most interesting are probably the extra Keith (not Mick Taylor) guitar solos in Jumping Jack Flash and the missing verse in Sympathy. There is noticeable surface noise from the acetate but the sound is very listenable. The listed CD also includes bonus tracks from "Gimme Shelter" in the best quality I've heard. For very detailed analysis on the sources for "Get Yer Ya Yas Out" and various LPs/CDs, see http://members.aol.com/jmpjflash/yaya.htm Boston 11/29/69 2nd show; 65 min; 6.5 m; "That's No Way To Get Along" Above average audience tape. Not great though. This CD runs a little fast. West Palm Beach, FL 11/30/69; 70 min; 6.5 m; "Palm Beach 1969"/others A good up front audience tape, marred by speed variations which start halfway through. This was a damp, chilly concert where the Stones didn't go on until 4 AM, and the guitars are frequently out of tune. Still worth hearing. This Japanese CD is made from a very low generation tape, probably the best available. Note: VGP has released "Miami Pop Festival," which might be better. Altamont Speedway 12/6/69; 82 min; 5.5 m; "The Killer Festival" The infamous free concert. A tape recorder is visible in the "Gimme Shelter" movie; is this the tape? The recording is flawed, very muffled at times, and the drums are frequently inaudible. Great concert highlighted by improvised performances of Jimmy Reed's "The Sun is Shining" (or Lightnin' Slim's "Help Me Spend My Gold," if you prefer that title) and the just-written "Brown Sugar." Even the comments from the crowd are interesting. This 2CD set has the entire concert in best-ever audience quality, in mono instead of the usual reprocessed stereo. One song, "Gimme Shelter," is available from a near perfect board tape on "A Shot of Salvation" below. "Gimme Shelter" soundtrack; 40 min; 9.5 s; "There's No Angel Born in Hell"/ others There are several LPs and CDs made from the movie soundtrack. Unsurprisingly, those released after the movie became available on HiFi video sound quite good. Unlike "Ya Yas," these songs have minimal if any overdubs. Note that the video in the movie is spliced together from several shows and does not always match the music. The remastered video which was released in 1992? is virtually in mono but ca. 1989 CDs are stereo because they are made from the earlier HiFi videos. (Don't know if the "Gimme Shelter" unauthorized CD is mono or stereo.) Live & Studio '69-'74; 60 min; 8.5 s; "A Shot of Salvation" This was the first outtakes CD to break new ground compared to the vinyl era. It has outstanding to excellent sound and includes material never before available, even on tape. Rumor has it that this and some of the other "Scorpio" and related CD are made from tapes sold at Sotheby's auction house, which would certainly explain why some of the material is "new" to collectors. Brown Sugar/Wild Horses outtakes; 9 min; 9.5 s; "Mick Taylor We Miss You" The very first pressings of "Hot Rocks" had alternates versions of Brown Sugar and Wild Horses. ABKCo quickly released corrected LPs but a few of the mis- pressings made it to stores. They are extremely rare. Surprisingly these two songs are only on one LP and no CDs as far as I know. On the listed LP the quality is quite good but they run a little fast. Musically these takes are similar to but not the same as the versions heard in "Gimme Shelter." The next tour, Europe in the fall of 1970, was musically similar to the 1969 US tour except that a horn section was used for the first time. Typical set for 1970 European tour: Jumping Jack Flash, Roll Over Beethoven, Sympathy for the Devil, Stray Cat Blues, Love in Vain, Prodigal Son, Dead Flowers, Midnight Rambler, Live with Me, Little Queenie, Let it Rock, Brown Sugar, Honky Tonk Woman, Street Fighting Man. Played infrequently: Gimme Shelter. Most of these shows are available as audience tapes. As with 1969 tapes, quality varies from atrocious to pretty good. Almost all of the good tapes have been made into LPs or CDs. Malmo, Sweden 8/30/70; 71 min; 5.0 m; "Made in Sweden" This recording, like the other two in this 3 CD set, is a very typical 1970 audience tape, which is to say it's lousy by almost any standard. The sound is garbled in the middle of the concert. Definitely for fanatics only. At least it's roughly the equal of the tape being traded. This is the first show of the tour and the only known 1970 performance of Gimme Shelter. (This CD also includes other 1970 Swedish recordings). Also available as the single CD "Sweden 1970." Stockholm 9/4/70; 39 min; 5.5 m; "Made in Sweden" Probably the best recording of the set, which isn't saying that much, but unfortunately not complete. Gothenburg 9/6/70; 58 min; 4.5 m; "Made in Sweden"/1 other Almost complete, but this is the worst recording of the three. Also available on "Live in Frankfurt and Gothenburg." Hamburg 9/14/70; 67 min; 6.5 m; "Let it Rock"/others Decent, well balanced audience tape. The speed gets warbly toward the end. Good performance as are all 1970 shows. Also available on "Prodigal Sons Tour Mother Europe," coupled with a poor recording from Copenhagen 9/12/70. Also available on "Germany 1970," paired with Frankfurt 10/5. Berlin 9/16/70; 70 min; 7.0 m; "Shake Your Hips"/others Above average audience tape but not great by modern standards. Very good performance before a wildly enthusiastic crowd. Parts of the concert are also available on LPs in varying quality. This Japanese CD is the best release yet of this concert and surpasses all previous LPs and CDs. Cologne 9/18/70; 65 min; 7.0 m; "Cologne 1970"/others Above average audience tape which did not turn up until 1993. Worth hearing. There is a dedication to Jimi Hendrix, who died that morning. There is at least one other CD of this show which has tape flaws through the first 4-5, called "Eau de Cologne"--avoid it. Stuttgart 9/20/70; "European Tour Stuttgart 1970" There's probably a reason this concert was not released on LP or CD until 28 years after the fact. I quote from an unpublished review: "...overall I'd say a touch below average: 5.0 mono; the quality is fairly even throughout and gets slightly better during HTW and SFM. SFM is cut-off at the end. [There is] some noticeable audience noise during JJF's beginning." Paris 9/22/70; 70 min; 5.5 m; "Paris Affair" (FM w/commentary) This tape comes from a French radio broadcast, but the sound isn't very good. Apparently the source tape came from a microphone held to the radio speaker. How times change. The recording is certainly no better than an audience tape, and the between song commentary is annoying. This VGP CD is a little better than previous releases but might run a little fast. Paris 9/23/70; 60 min; 7.5 m; "Shake Your Hips"/others The only 1970 soundboard recording to date, and a primitive one at that which surfaced in 1993. It's another fine 1970 show with a long "Brown Sugar" and hot "Sympathy." This Japanese CD is the best release yet of this concert and surpasses all previous CDs. For some reason it's missing the last two (inferior quality) songs from a radio broadcast which were on an earlier CD, also from VGP. (Note: There is a great [9.0] snippet of "Sympathy" from this show on VGP's "From the Vaults;" see below). Various live '70-'73; 58 min; varies; "From the Vaults" This is a compilation of various live performances and the quality varies widely, from 5.5 to 9.0. Starts off with an amazing incomplete recording of "Sympathy" from Paris 9/23/70, which is by far the best soundboard recording of 1969 or 1970. Where's the rest??? It's all downhill after that, but worth getting anyway as it includes the two Dick Cavett show '72 tracks and the Montreal '72 newsreel audio in fine quality. There are also two songs from the Vienna '73 audience tape in best ever quality. Lesser tracks are various audience recordings, and '73 German TV tracks which can be heard on "MT We Thank You" (see below) in better quality. Milan 10/1/70; 60 min; 5.5 m; "Street Fighting Men in Milan" This LP was really criticized in "Hot Wacks," the so-called bootleg bible. In fact it's a very typical 1970 audience tape, unfortunately with many cuts and an incorrect song listing. Worth picking up for those interested in the 1970 tour; I don't think this is on CD. Frankfurt 10/5/70; 60 min; 5.5 m; "Live in Frankfurt 10/5/70"/1 other An average audience recording, a little warbly sounding. Missing one song. Worthwhile for Taylor fanatics. Also available on "Germany 1970," paired with Hamburg. Frankfurt 10/6/70; 45 min; 6.5 s; "Live in Frankfurt and..." This is an above average recording for the time but not great by modern standards. The CD is made from a rarely traded tape. The tapers are audible on the tape and sound American; you get one guess as to what they're doing while watching the show. (This CD also includes the poorly recorded Gothenburg 9/6/70 show). Essen 10/07/70; 50 min; 7.0 m; "European Tour 1970" Another early boot; until the mid '80s this was the only easy to get 1970 show. A very well recorded audience tape of a good concert. The LPs have been copied onto CD, but the best source is the old Rubber Dubber 2 LP set though all pressings have surface noise. Before their contract with Decca expired, The Stones were required to record one more song. Fed up with Decca, they recorded Cocksucker Blues, an obscene tale about a lonesome schoolboy. Its unauthorized releases are frequently paired with a studio outtake of Brown Sugar featuring Eric Clapton on third guitar. "CS Blues"/"Brown Sugar"; 10 min; 10.0 s; "CS Blues"/12"/7" "CS Blues" is a cool song if you're not offended by the subject matter and have a sense of humor about it. Even Mick cracks up a little while singing. This "Brown Sugar" is interesting and has more of a funky/party feel than the official version. Both songs are usually available in extremely good quality. The band did a farewell tour of England in March, 1971 before moving to France as tax exiles. "Sticky Fingers" was released after this tour. Let It Rock from Leeds 3/13 has been legally released in Europe on vinyl. Typical set for 1971 English tour: Jumping Jack Flash, Live with Me, Dead Flowers, Stray Cat Blues, Love in Vain, Midnight Rambler, Bitch, Honky Tonk Woman, Satisfaction, Little Queenie, Brown Sugar, Street Fighting Man. Played infrequently: I Got the Blues, Let It Rock (encore). Coventry 3/6/71 2nd show; 62 min; 5.0 m; "Farewell tour Coventry 1971" After this release, every known tape from this short tour is now out on CD. Too bad this is such a bad recording; if more '71 tapes were around this probably never would have come out on CD. This might be worthwhile for those who want to hear more from 1971. Leeds, UK 3/13/71; 60 min; 10.0 m; "Get Your Leeds Lungs Out"/ many others Great recording from the BBC though in mono. The first 2 songs are missing from every release. Relatively laid back performance. The rare LP on the Royal Sound label is the best sounding release IMHO, but Swingin' Pig releases are nearly as good. Their "...Revisited" CD features thunderous bass, and includes the stereo "Let It Rock" from the Spanish "Sticky Fingers" LP. (The Revisited CD is also electronically reprocessed to simulate stereo, and runs faster than TSP's original release). London 3/14/71; 52 min; 6.5 m; "London Roundhouse" Mediocre audience recording on LP. Good performance. "More Music and Better Sound" LPs have "Prodigal Son," others don't. The LP sounds a little slow. This has been copied onto different Japanese CDs. The CD of the same name sounds over-processed to my ears but I recommend the version that comes with the "Lost Marquee Tapes" set (see below), as it's a nice transfer, speed corrected and carefully equalized. Marquee Club 3/26/71; 40 min; 8.0 m; "Marquee 71 + Sticky Out" (sic) TV broadcast with bad sound for a professional recording. Fine performance but it was touched up in the studio. This is the only live version of "I Got the Blues." The touched up original broadcast is available on several LPs but the CD listed above is best. The unenhanced performance, which was going to be re-broadcast in 1992, is available on 2 different CDs; the better one is the Japanese "The Lost Marquee Tapes 1971." "Exile on Main Street" was recorded in the basement of Keith's house in France. Outtakes are available. "Exile" outtakes 10/70; "Wingless Angels"/others No, this isn't Keith's Rastafarian release. It's 10 Exile outtakes in arguably best ever quality, though with some hiss. Leadoff track is the early version of Shine A Light (Get A Line On You), from an official Leon Russell Mobile Fidelity CD. Also includes 7 songs from Fort Worth/Philadelphia '72 (see below), equal in quality to "Very Ancient, Thank You Kindly" (see below). Rehearsing for the upcoming 1972 US tour, the Stones were filmed by the BBC. Montreux rehearsals 5/21/72; 25 min; 9.0 m; "Gather No Moss" Also available on several LPs ("Bright Lights Big City" for one) and the Time Trip CDs; the listed CD is fine quality, and runs straight through without cuts. BUT it isn't quite as good as Time Trip 2 and misses the last song Loving Cup, which is not live but a mimed outtake. The 1972 US tour in support of "Exile on Main Street" was successful both musically and financially. Not one but two movies were made, the unreleased behind-the-scenes "Cocksucker Blues" and the concert documentary "Ladies and Gentlemen the Rolling Stones." Several concerts were recorded for a double LP live album but it remains unreleased due to Decca withholding the rights to songs. Typical set for 1972 US tour: Brown Sugar, Bitch, Rocks Off, Gimme Shelter, Happy, Tumbling Dice, Love in Vain, Sweet Virginia, You Can't Always Get What You Want, All Down the Line, Midnight Rambler, Bye Bye Johnny, Rip This Joint, Jumping Jack Flash, Street Fighting Man. Played infrequently: Loving Cup, Honky Tonk Woman (encore), Uptight/ Satisfaction (encore). Played once: Torn and Frayed, Ventilator Blues, Don't Lie to Me, Dead Flowers, Sweet Black Angel. Many of these shows are available as audience tapes, with the quality ranging from atrocious to very good. All of the good tapes have been made into LPs or CDs except for snippets here and there. Vancouver 6/3/72; 85 min; 6.5 m; "Vancouver 1972" Decent audience recording. First show of the tour and sloppy, but this is the only live performance of several songs. This Japanese CD is said to be the better of at least 2 from this show. Seattle 6/4/72 1st show; 80 min; 5.0 m; "A Fair to Remember Revisited" Seattle 6/4/72 2nd show; 80 min; 6.0 m; "A Fair to Remember Revisited" I read a favorable review of this on Undercover but am not so impressed. The first show has never been available in very good quality; this CD is about as good as it gets which is to say average '72 audience at best. The recording sounds a bit slow too. The second show is an above average recording for the era but this CD is not made from the best available tape; there is hiss which shouldn't be there. This definitely runs slow as well. At least both shows include "Loving Cup." The CD title is lifted from a European LP of the mid '80s. San Francisco 6/8/72 2nd show; "Midnight Magic" A previously uncirculated tape turns up on CD after a mere 26 years. I quote from an Undercover review: "...it's your usual-sounding '72 audience quality... not terrible, but very average: sound is pretty distant..., people talk, the usual drill. Besides being a 'new' recording, there are 2 obvious reasons to need this: Loving Cup, and an encore (HTW - only other encore in '72 being Boston 1st night)... At a conservative guess, [this] is probably about a 6.5 in terms of sound quality. Finally VGP used Annie Leibovitz's classic shot of Keith flaked out backstage for the cover (lovely shiny VGP card - worth the price alone). They even managed to find a not-incredibly- boring Mick Taylor shot for the back, which must be something of a record. Certainly worth having if '72 is your bag." Hollywood Palladium 6/9/72; 55 min; 6.5 m; "Burning at the..." Decent audience recording. Very good show. For some reason none of the 1972 TMOQ recordings turned out as good as their 1969 recordings. LP has been copied onto a rare Japanese CD. LA Forum 6/11/72 2nd show; 80 min; 6.0 m; "Get Your Rocks Off" Decent audience tape but not great. Not sure if this has been copied onto CD (yet). Chicago 6/19/72; A new tape turned up in 1997 and is now out on CD. I quote from an Internet review: "...[H]orrible and almost unlistenable. Don't waste your money on this CD. Speed problems and [an] all around bad recording." Dallas 6/23/72 reh.; 135 min; 7.5 s; "Stones Touring Party"/ others Apparent studio rehearsals, perhaps to get ready for the upcoming filming. Hard to say, because the material is fairly uninteresting jams with little in common with the '72 set. Mediocre mixing board recording with excessive vocals. Fort Worth 6/24/72 1st show; 83 min; 6.5 m; "Sweet Black Angel" The first and second show are out complete from 1st generation previously uncirculated audience tapes, recorded near the stage. Keith's guitar is very loud but not objectionable; otherwise these are very nice recordings though perhaps a bit trebly. Most interesting to collectors, these shows feature rare songs, as the band was filming the "Ladies and Gentlemen" tour movie. The 1st show includes the previously unknown Sweet Black Angel and Dead Flowers. (Also available on a competing CD "Ain't No Angel on Main Street," also a 4CD set, said to sound better, and with bonus tracks from Philly). Fort Worth 6/24/72 2nd show; 76 min; 8.0 s; "Ahmet Ertegun Thank You Kindly"/others A soundboard tape turned up for this show in 1998, minus two songs. This is well worth hearing, and it's not the usual spliced sources like Philadelphia Special. This recording is now out on at least 5 different CDs. I quote from an Undercover review: "...I have every FtW 6/24/72 2nd board CD ever issued, and this one is *quite clearly the best*. The VGP 'Fort Worth Express' was the incremental leader, IMO, but AETYK is leaps better still, and doesn't have the phony Happy that VGP inserted. The hiss reduction is finally complete, yet the sonic details are still there through the headphones. Compare LIV and the astounding, clean excellence of this remastering is immediately evident. Congratulations to the chef for this major upgrade, this quantum leap. All previous FtW releases are hissy messes compared to AETYK." Another Undercover review added: "Everything else released from this show is now pretty useless... Whoever [did] the remastering on this title [did] a spectacular job... I really can't think of anything I'd like different with this release, bar the obvious one of being a complete show (so the audience tape is still worth hanging on to). The single CD is bursting with exciting listening; the pace of the performance, combined with shit-hot '72 playing, and the pristine sound quality of this particular title are ingredients which simply can't be beat. Very nice job indeed." Note: Includes Don't Lie to Me. (This show is also available on the "Mick Taylor We Miss You" CD, from a totally different audience tape, which is not as good. This is not to be confused with the old LP of the same name, which is the Philadelphia/ Fort Worth soundboard recordings). "Ladies & Gentlemen" sndtrk; 80 min; 8.5 s; "Dragon Slayers" This is the 1972 tour movie recorded in Fort Worth and Houston 6/24-25. This Japanese CD is quite good quality but not as good as what can be heard in "25x5." Earlier LPs, including "Dragon Slayers," are not as good as this CD. Mobile, AL 6/27/72; 70 min; 6.0 m; "Mobile 1972" Decent audience recording; available slightly better on tape than on this CD. There are some similarities to the Fort Worth shows but no rare songs. Washington, DC 7/4/72; 75 min; 6.5 s; "Jack Daniels on Tour"/ others This is an above average audience recording, and this CD is better than all previous releases of this show, so this might be worth tracking down. Note that this title was previously used for an old LP of the Fort Worth/Philly soundboard material. Norfolk, VA 7/5/72; 75 min; 6.0 m; "Drive Me Crackers"/others Decent audience recording. Frustratingly, the old, incomplete LP "Going Back to the Roots" is better sounding (7.0 m). I am told there is an improved CD with the same title as the old LP, but haven't heard it yet. (The GBttR CD also includes Indianapolis 7/12/72). Charlotte, NC 7/6/72; 62 min; 7.0 s; "Back to the Roots"/ others Best audience recording of the '72 tour. Missing the first 2 songs. A rare Japanese CD includes the incomplete second song. Available on LPs since not long after the concert, but the CDs are better and more complete. However, even the CDs are not as good as some tapes. Akron, OH 7/11/72; 72 min; 5.5 s; "Akron Rubber Bowl" Not great, but this audience recording prominently features Nicky Hopkins. For hardcore fans only, or Nicky fans. Indianapolis 7/12/72; __ min; ___ _; "Goin' Back to the Roots" Said to be okay quality, recorded far from the stage. Haven't heard the CD, but that sounds like my tape. (This CD also includes Norfolk 7/5/72). Toronto 7/15/72 2nd? show; "Street Fighting Men in Toronto" Said to be a "very good" audience recording. Also available on a nicely packaged 2LP set, "Standing at the Kitchen Door," which is only 6.0 m quality Boston 7/18/72; 75 min; 6.5 m; "They're Really Rockin' in Boston" This concert started very late after Mick and Keith were arrested earlier in the day. Decent recording. This CD omits the mostly unintelligible speeches explaining the delay. Philadelphia + Fort Worth; 170 min; 8.5 s; "Philadelphia Special"/others Some of the unreleased '72 Lost Live Album has come out on boots. Legend has it these versions of the recordings were first broadcast on either Radio Luxembourg or WMMS Cleveland, but a more believable story is that 2 cassettes were sold backstage during the 1975 tour by a Stones associate. (Apparently the cassettes were then played over the radio in Cleveland.) These are fine raw recordings that have not been properly mixed in the studio, and do not have any overdubs AFAIK. Best sources are the "Philadelphia Special" LPs and CDs. For part 1 best sources are: the pre-Swingin' Pig "Philadelphia Special" 2 LP set (b&w cover, 'RSGL 72' written in dead wax)(runs fast) or the "pitch corrected" single CD dub (no company name, matrix # 94101). TSP's 2LP/2CD "Philadelphia Special 1" is overly NoNoised, but does have a few more tracks than the original release. For part 2, get TSP's "Philadelphia Special 2" which also runs fast. All other LPs and CDs, and there are plenty, are inferior. Incidentally "PS2" includes two songs from the "Ladies and Gentlemen" soundtrack to make up for a shortage of Lost Live Album tracks. Various live '72-'73; 75 min; 8.5 s; "Very Ancient, Thank You Kindly, American Tour 1972" This is an interesting release. Half of it is close-to-finished mixes of the Lost Live Album, the other half is rarely performed '72-73 songs, all available on other unauthorized releases. Sound on the Lost Live Album tracks is noticeably better than on "Philadelphia Special" 1 or 2 though the sound is a little thin or tinny. There are noticeable vocal overdubs in places. Main problem is these tracks run substantially fast, about 6%. Some of these tracks were previously released on the "Keep Your Motor Runnin'" LP, but there are more here, and in stereo instead of mono. That LP is still the only way to get "You Can't..." from the LLA, missing for some reason here. All tracks recorded in Fort Worth/Philly/Houston except: Rocks Off--Charlotte (audience recording); Dead Flowers--Ladies and Gents soundtrack; Ventilator Blues, Torn and Frayed, and Loving Cup--Vancouver; band intros--Pittsburgh; Don't Lie to Me--Fort Worth (unmixed soundboard recording ala "Philadelphia Special"); It's All Over Now--Hawaii '73. (Note that similar good quality '72 tracks are on "Wingless Angels;" see Exile outtakes above.) Pittsburgh 7/22/72; 70 min; "The Royal Dragon"/others The second 1972 soundboard recording to surface; this one didn't turn up until the summer of 1996, though it was long rumored in tape trading circles. The listed CD, which I haven't heard, is said to be "slightly better" than two previous, similar CDs, which I rate 7.0 s. They were made from a high generation tape. On all releases Sweet Virginia is from Fort Worth 6/24/72 2nd show, not Pittsburgh. MSG, NYC 7/24/72; 80 min; 4.5 m; "MSG '72" This is listed so you can all avoid it. This show is available in average, listenable quality on tape. However, this CD runs much too fast and is made from a poor generation, hissy tape. Both tape and CD are garbled at the end. MSG, NYC 7/26/72; 45 min; 8.5 s; "Welcome to New York" Mick Jagger's 29th birthday was also the last concert of the '72 tour. Legend has it this stereo soundboard recording was stolen from the mixing desk by 2 fans. Some LPs ("Tour '72," some versions of "Madison") are in mono and only have the "Mick Taylor" channel so Keith can barely be heard. Swingin' Pig releases are dubbed from old vinyl and drastically over NoNoised. Best source is old vinyl with 'RS 546 REI' written in the dead wax. Good luck finding a copy! Next best is probably the later pressing with the '2815' matrix; these are considerably easier to find. For more detailed information on the many releases of this show see http://members.aol.com/shareco/wtny.html. MSG, NYC 7/26/72 (audience); 30 min; 6.0 m; "The Loveliest Night of Seattle 72" This recording was completely unknown in trading circles until it was discovered through the Internet, of all places, in 1993. The Japanese of course put it out on CD. It's a decent recording, and captures the first part of the concert which is missing from "Welcome to New York." (Most of this CD is Seattle 6/4/72, 2nd show). The next tour was to Australia with a few stops along the way. The first stop was Los Angeles, where the Stones played a benefit concert for victims of the Nicaraguan earthquake. Musically, this tour was similar to the '72 US tour, except the LA and Hawaii shows feature attempts at older songs such as Route 66 which don't work that well and are dropped for the Australian tour. Typical set for winter 1973 tour: Brown Sugar, Bitch, Rocks Off, Gimme Shelter, Happy, Tumbling Dice, Love in Vain, Sweet Virginia, You Can't Always Get What You Want, Honky Tonk Woman, All Down the Line, Midnight Rambler, Little Queenie, Rip This Joint, Jumping Jack Flash, Street Fighting Man. Played infrequently: Route 66, It's All Over Now, No Expectations, Live with Me. There are several audience recordings from this tour not made into LPs or CDs. None are that exciting quality wise. LA Forum 1/18/73; 80 min; 6.5 m; "Winter Tour 1973" Mediocre audience recording with a couple rare songs. The LPs have been copied onto a Japanese CD which has the treble considerably boosted. The scratches sure are loud (!) but the music does sound better this way. Honolulu 1/21/73; 77 min; 7.5 s; "In Exotic Honolulu"/others Another above average recording which first surfaced in 1992. There are several CDs in roughly the same quality though the listed title is said to be the best; some CDs miss "Street Fighting Man" due to the length of the show. Note: Dates have been corrected as a result of new research. There were three Hawaii shows and all are now available. Honolulu 1/22/73 1st show; 71 min; 7.5 s; "In Exotic Honolulu"/others Above average audience recording which has been available since the mid '70s. Good performance. Available incomplete on LP, CD is complete, similar quality. This listed CD title is the same as the original LP, and it includes the first two Hawaii shows on two CDs in what has to be about the best possible quality. Honolulu 1/22/73 2nd show; 68 min; 7.0 s; "Mick Taylor's Last US Performance" A new recording turned up in early 1998 and now it's out on CD. I quote from an Undercover review: "...It is a previously unreleased complete audience [recording] of the third and final Honolulu '73 show, the Monday, January 22, second (10 PM) gig. Sound quality is comparable to (just a shade below) the other two very good Hawaii shows long in circulation..." Auckland, NZ 2/11/73; 75 min; 7.0 m; "Winter Tour-Auckland 1973"/ others The first show of the Australia/New Zealand tour, this recording did not circulate until the CD was released in 1994. It's a good, clear recording of a subpar performance. The Stones are pretty sloppy here. For those who have to have everything. Melbourne 2/17/73; 73 min; 7.0 m; "Melbourne All You Can Eat"/ others Good up front audience recording with some speed fluctuations, which did not circulate before the "Temperature Rising" CD was released. Good performance. The listed CD runs at the correct speed throughout, unlike "TR," and its copy "125 Degrees in the Shade," which are too fast for the most part. (Listed CD also includes Melbourne 2/18/73). Melbourne 2/18/73; 77 min; 6.0 m; "Advantage Melbourne" Average audience recording of a typical good performance, presented on a rare and expensive CD. You make the call. Note: Also on the VGP CD "Melbourne All You Can Eat," which is from a different, muffled recording. Perth, Australia 2/24/73; 50 min; 9.0 s; "Rocks Off" A classic. This stereo soundboard recording first turned up in 1987 on a German LP and is now on several CDs. Great recording and performance. I think this Swingin' Pig release is the best; it's a combination of the 2/24 show with parts of the 2/26 show; there is no 2/24 2nd show as some boots claim. It sounds a little better than disc 1 of "Happy Birthday Nicky" below. (Note: Total time of Rocks Off is longer; 50 min is the length of the 2/24 portion). Sydney 2/26/73; 65 min; 8.5 s; "Happy Birthday Nicky"/others The CD may claim disc 2 is 2/24 2nd show, but there was no 2nd show that day; it's actually Sydney 2/26. This is another stereo soundboard recording though not quite as good as 2/24; the tape has been copied a few more times. Avoid the Japanese "Winter Tour 1973" 2CD set if you ever see it; it's the audience recording of the show. At least it has the last 2 songs missing from the soundboard recording. VGP's "Rock 'n Roll Stew" is the soundboard recording with the last two songs tacked on from the audience recording, and the missing beginning of Brown Sugar added in from Perth; said to be similar quality. Sydney 2/27/73; 65 min; 8.0 s; "Welcome to Australia"/ others This recording did not surface until 1993. It's another stereo soundboard but not as good as the 2 above. The last show of the tour; Mick babbles at times, but it's another good performance as usual. This release is the first and only one so far with the entire concert, plus it's the best quality yet, so it's worth tracking down. (This is the first complete Taylor era soundboard recording to turn up, and it's taken 23 years). To promote "Goats Head Soup" the Stones recorded 4 songs for Don Kirshner's TV show. Don Kirshner TV 7/17/73; 20 min; 8.5 m; "Beast of Eden"/others I haven't heard this CD; they are also on the old "Angie" LP and of course video too. Unexciting to hear but kinda neat to watch. For the fall of 1973 there was a European tour in support of "Goats Head Soup." Billy Preston replaced Nicky Hopkins as the keyboard player. This would be the last tour with Mick Taylor. Typical set for 1973 European tour: Brown Sugar, Gimme Shelter, Happy, Tumbling Dice, Star Star (deleted from KBFH broadcast), Angie, You Can't Always Get What You Want, Dancing with Mr. D, Heartbreaker (first half of tour only), Midnight Rambler, Honky Tonk Woman, All Down the Line, Rip This Joint, Jumping Jack Flash, Street Fighting Man. Played infrequently: Bitch, 100 Years Ago, Silver Train, Sweet Virginia. Most of these shows are available as audience recordings. Quality varies but most are mediocre. Rotterdam reh. 8/73; 75 min; 7.0 m; "Can You Hear the Music?" First available on an LP and now on a CD with the same title, in slightly better quality and with more music. This is the best sounding part of about 180 min of tour rehearsals. It's mostly uninspired workouts, but there are songs never performed live, such as the title track. Now available in more complete for on "Can You Hear the Mobile?," for which I quote from an unpublished review: "I've listened to once all the way through. Two CDs--a little over 70 minutes each... There are several songs that sound good most all the way through, some partial, and some aborted rehearsal takes--these are monaurally recorded rehearsal playbacks, and monaurally recorded live rehearsals. Approximately a third of the recordings are muffled, (or have talk/auto noise) because of the outdoor location in Rotterdam, creating disturbances/interfering with the taper. These CDs seem to be made from close to master cassette tapes, in my opinion." Vienna 9/1/73; 90 min; 8.0 m; "Goodnight Vienna"/ others Very good audience recording for the time. First show of the tour and there are some mistakes but also some rare songs. Taylor burns on the rarely performed "100 Years Ago." Available on several LPs and CDs; this recent CD is the best release ever. VGP has done a nice job of splicing together several different tapes to get the complete show. Mannheim 9/3/73; 95 min; 5.0 m; "Mannheim on Ice" Very ordinary audience recording. This rare Japanese CD is its first release. Probably the only reason for its release is that several infrequently performed songs are performed for the last time. London 9/9/73 & 9/8/73 2nd show; 70 min; 6.0 m; "Come Back London '73" This CD is a combination of 2 London shows though only 1 is listed. It's a fairly hissy audience recording of great performances, among my favorites from '73. Manchester 9/12/73; 75 min; 6.5 m; "Manchester 1973" Decent audience recording. Might not be worth paying the high Japanese price. Newcastle 9/13/73 1st show; 75 min; 5.5 m; "Newcastle 1973" Not the well-known soundboard excerpt, this is the complete audience recording. It's average at best. Good performance as usual but this is for completists only. Various, Radio Luxembourg; 30 min; 10.0 m; "A Shot of Salvation"/ others This is a combination of Newcastle 9/13 and London 9/9. Great mono recording and performance. The rare Japanese CD "CS Blues" has the songs in the correct order and with longer edits than "A Shot..." but sounds the same. Two versions of this broadcast exist. The alternate version is "only" 8.5 m quality but includes a great Midnight Rambler. That song can be heard on OBR's rare "Down in the Graveyard" LP or "Back to the Graveyard" CD, a rare Japanese CD, and the "Gather No Moss" CD (mislabeled as "Brussels"). Birmingham 9/19/73 1st? show; 70 min; 8.0 s; "Birmingham Odeon 1973"/ others Very well done audience recording and good performance. The Oh Boy CD is the best of at least 2. This is probably the best audience recording of the tour and the listed CD is made from a low generation recording. Bern 9/26/73 1st show; 70 min; 6.0 m; "Swiss Made" Nowhere near as good a recording as the second show, this is a very ordinary audience recording. Bern 9/26/73 2nd show; 70 min; 7.5 s; "Swiss Made" Very clear audience recording reveals some sloppiness by the band. This CD is made from a better generation source tape than "Bern-1973." This CD lists the date as 9/25/73 which is probably wrong. Munich 9/28/73 2nd show; 75 min; 6.0 m; "Olympia Hall 1973" Average audience recording. Note that this is the true Munich recording; this date is sometimes given for the King Biscuit broadcast (see below). Frankfurt 9/30/73 1st show; 75 min; 6.5 m; "Frankfurt Tapes 1973" Frankfurt 9/30/73 2nd show; 75 min; 6.5 m; "Frankfurt Tapes 1973" Both shows are available in a 2CD box. Each is a pretty good audience recording. Mick Taylor is quite loud here, especially in the 2nd show. Hamburg 10/2 1st, Essen 10/10/73, misc; "The Stars in the Sky..."/ others Very good up front audience recording of both shows. This first appeared as "The Jean Clarke Mammorial Sonic Barbecue" LP (7.0 s quality), which was copied onto "The Stars in the Sky..." LP, and single and double CDs of the same name. The 2CD has both complete shows but is not as good as the original LP, as the low generation tapes are long gone. The single Midnight Beat CD includes the original LP, probably dubbed and said to be well done, plus filler tracks, mostly 10/17/73 2nd, to simulate a complete concert. Copenhagen 10/7/73 1st show; 70 min; 5.5 m; "Greatest Dane"/others Unspectacular audience recording. For fanatics only. Copenhagen 10/7/73 2nd show; 70 min; 6.5 m; "Wonderful Wonderful Copenhagen" Decent audience recording. Uses cover art from a rare German LP but this is the entire concert, plus it runs at the right speed, unlike the LP. It is believed this is actually the 2nd show, not the 1st as claimed. Essen 10/9/73; 55 min; 6.0 m; "Brown Sugar & White Snow" Decent audience recording, somewhat tinny. The LP repeats part of the tape by accident. Not available on CD as far as I know. Essen 10/11/73; 72 min; 6.5 m; "Essen 1973" Another pretty ordinary recording put out on CD. The last two songs are from 10/10/73. Rotterdam 10/13/73; 75 min; 5.0 m; "The Rotterdam Tapes 1973" Rotterdam 10/14/73 1st show; 75 min; 5.0 m; "The Rotterdam Tapes 1973" This is a very nicely packaged 2CD set in a box. Quite expensive, and the recordings are below average. For those with yen burning a hole in their pocket. Antwerp 10/15/73; 77 min; 4.5 m; "How Come You Taste So Good" Some Japanese labels apparently will release any old tape they can get. This is not a good recording; it's distant and very hissy. Brussels 10/17 1st + London 9/9/73; 75 min; 9.5 s; "Europe '73"/many others This is a very common show on many bootlegs from the time of its first broadcast on the King Biscuit Flower Hour in Sep. 1974 until now. All songs are from Brussels except Happy, Gimme Shelter, Heartbreaker, and Street Fighting Man are from London. Old 2LP sets such as "Nasty Music" combined this broadcast with 4 songs from the NYC 7/26/72 concert. For detailed information on the many releases of this show, beyond the scope of this FAQL, see http://members.aol.com/Bdsprngsym/brussels.htm. Bottom line is, the best sounding release is the rare German LP "Europe '73," also used as the source for most early CDs. Second best, and more easily available these days, is VGP's 5th(!) edition gold CD "Europe '73," which uses some of the LP's artwork in the VGP tradition. As a bonus the CD includes the first note of All Down the Line, missing from many releases including the LP. (Note: The CD may be dubbed, at least in part, from another CD, "Headin' for an Overload," which is 2 CDs of the earliest, less complete broadcasts.) All LPs and CDs other than "Europe '73" are inferior and/or have unnecessary duplicate or missing songs. Another web site which favors the CD over the LP, contrary to my ears, is http://www.gironet.nl/home/mulderha/Mathijs.html FM '73 1987/88 remixes/alt. vers.; 70 min; 10.0 s&m; "Nasty Remixes" This material was first available on rare German LPs but it sounds much better and is more easily available on this CD. It's both 1987-88 remixes and edits of the familiar Brussels and London songs, plus two new ones which were not broadcast until 1987-88: Brown Sugar from Rotterdam 10/14/73 2nd? show and Street Fighting Man from London 9/9/73, and Star Star from Radio Luxembourg Newcastle 9/13/73. Note the first 3 songs here are identical to "Brussels Affair." Personally I prefer the original mixes but think this Japanese CD is worth tracking down. Note: This CD is also available in a 20 bit remastered version which is said to have a slight improvement in sound quality. Brussels 10/17/73 2nd show; 25 min; 6.5 s; "Back to the Graveyard" For a long time this tape was traded as Antwerp 10/15/73 2nd show. It's apparently the 2nd Brussels show. This is a soundboard recording, but incomplete and hissy. This is a rare Japanese CD; this show is also available slightly incomplete on "Reflections of a Stone Alone." Note: The "Gather No Moss" CD claims to be partly from this show; it's not. See 9/13/73. (The listed CD/LP also includes other 1973 material. The LP is missing one song from Brussels due to space considerations.) (The listed title also includes other 1973 material from radio and TV broadcasts). Berlin 10/19/73; 75 min; "Tour Over Europe 1973" I quote from an Undercover review: "...A very good audience recording, but a bit bass heavy. A quick adjustment of the tone controls easily solves this problem. A tight sounding set as one might expect after touring for the past two years." This tape was in trading circles for a few months before VGP put it out. Alternate mixes and outtakes from "Goat's Head Soup" and "It's Only Rock and Roll" surfaced in 1996: '73-'74 alt mixes/outtakes; 64 min; 9.5 s; "Acetates" Once again interesting material which was never circulating has turned up on CD. Really good quality with only slight distortion on a few songs, no typical acetate crackles. I prefer most of the alternate mixes to the released versions, and the outtakes are pleasant enough. The last few songs are unimportant "mono mixes" which don't sound any different to my ears. To promote "It's Only Rock and Roll," the band again appeared on Don Kirshner's TV show. Don Kirshner TV 7/74; 13 min; 8.0 m; "Beast of Eden" I believe this CD is the first unauthorized release of these songs; they are fairly easily available on video. The widely seen "It's Only R&R" video is from this show, as are the less well known ultra camp "Till the Next Goodbye" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg." Part 3: The Ron Wood era: Just before the Stones were to go into the studio to record "Black and Blue," in December 1974, Mick Taylor quit. Three different guest guitarists ended up on the album, and the band also jammed with Jeff Beck. Outtakes '73-'79; 45 min; 9.5 s; "Lonely at the Top" A classic LP of great quality, interesting studio outtakes. Most songs have Ron Wood but a few are with Mick Taylor. The LP was copied onto CD long ago. Now on CD by TSP, re-released by Dandelion, and VGP, both with extra tracks. Haven't heard the CDs so can't say how their quality compares to the LP, but they are probably quite good. Studio reh. 1-4/75; 70 min; 7.5 s; "Black and Blue Sessions" Not so great quality CD of outtakes. The source tape is fairly hissy. Moderately interesting with some extended songs; some songs are without final overdubs. This is a fairly rare Japanese CD; similar material is on the more easily available "Outtakes '74-'75" CD and the "Reggae and Roll" LPs. For the summer of 1975 US tour, Ronnie Wood was the "guest" lead guitarist. Although Black and Blue was mostly recorded before the tour, it was not released until after the tour was over. The 1975 and 1976 tours featured much longer sets than had been played in the past. Billy Preston also performed two songs at each show. Typical set for 1975 US tour: Honky Tonk Woman, All Down the Line, If You Can't Rock Me/ Get Off of My Cloud, Star Star, Gimme Shelter, Ain't Too Proud to Beg, You Gotta Move, You Can't Always Get What You Want, Happy, Tumbling Dice, It's Only Rock and Roll, Heartbreaker, Fingerprint File, Angie, Wild Horses, That's Life, Outta Space (both sung by Billy Preston), Brown Sugar, Midnight Rambler, Rip This Joint, Street Fighting Man, Jumping Jack Flash. Played infrequently: Rocks Off, Sure the One You Need, Star Star, Gimme Shelter, Luxury, Dance Little Sister, Cherry Oh Baby, Lady Jane (a capella by Mick), Sympathy for the Devil (encore at about half the shows). Most 1975 shows are available as audience recordings. In general these are superior to earlier tour recordings; the drums sound better in particular. Baton Rouge, LA 6/1/75 1st show; 135 min; 7.0 s; "Cajun Queen's Afternoon..." Baton Rouge, LA 6/1/75 2nd show; 135 min; 7.0 s; "Whores in the Night" The first 2 shows of the 1975 Tour of the Americas. First available on LP incomplete and in mediocre quality, these are both 3LP sets of the entire concerts, made from good clear audience recordings. The first show is available on the Japanese CD "Baton Rouge '75." The second show is available on the "Whores and Heroin" CD-R, for which I quote from an Undercover review: "...It is without a doubt on the upper tier of audience recordings I've heard. The show is fantastic and sound is [clear]. The performance is better than the one earlier in the day. The band is loose and Woody is grooving..." To me, both shows seem a little tentative but not bad. Kansas City 6/6/75; 135 min; 5.5 m; "Sure the One You Need" Not a good recording, especially compared to some of the well-known ones from this tour. The attraction here is the rarely performed title track. I quote from an Undercover review: "...It's a complete audience recording with quite a bit of hiss (worse in some places than others). The last few songs are very distorted and muffled; not listenable. I'll keep it, if for no other reason than the rarities played here: Sure the One You Need, Luxury and Dance Little Sister (fortunately these appear during the better portion of audio--less hiss and better clarity)." Various '75-'76 soundboards; "We Hope Ya Like Dis One" From Toronto 6/17/75 (2 songs, various mixes), DC 7/2/72 (2 songs), Earl's Court 5/26/76 (6 songs), and Paris 6/7/76 (2 songs). These are apparently not great quality soundboards. I have heard the 2 DC songs on tape and can confirm that MJ is wasted; very sloppy performance. This may be more for completists; maybe VGP is running out of material. Title is lifted from an old TMOQ LP sleeve. Buffalo 6/15/75; "Heartbreakers in Buffalo 1975"/ others I quote from the following unpublished review: "An incomplete soundboard recording... It contains 13 tracks in good quality, but with quite some hiss. The last 2 tracks are in average audience quality. Main attraction is the incomplete soundboard version of Luxury (where is the complete soundboard Luxury from Toronto??) Good, fast paced show, but the recording has a lack of atmosphere. This recording is also available on a Shaved Disc Release 'Hottest in Hell,' with Luxury faded out and missing Heartbreaker and Fingerprint File." Toronto 6/17/75; "Toronto" I quote from an Internet review: "The sound quality is good to very good audience mono. Good guitar mix and vocals; drums and bass (bottom-end frequency response) are a missing dynamic in the sound." This is available on both extremely limited edition vinyl and limited edition CD. Note that at least one song from this show is on "Love You Live." NYC 6/22/75; "MSG 75" I quote from an Undercover review: "A not so great audience recording. The 2nd half of the concert only with special guest Eric (is God) Clapton on SFTD. The sound is quite cluttered throughout and not very clear. If Clapton is playing, it is quite hard to distinguish it. Even Phil Spector would have a hard time liking this wall of sound. Too bad really..." NYC 6/27/75; 7.5 s; "Preserve for Future/Discover New York/100% Odd Lots"/others Nice audience recording. First available on LP back in the '70s ("Stereo Baby"), this has been on several LPs and CDs, but these Japanese CDs are the best so far. LA Forum 7/11/75; 160 min; 7.5 m; "LA Connection"/ others Taken from the slightly famous "Hot As Hell" video except this is the complete show. Soundboard recording with excellent drum sound but the guitars are too low. This CD is said to be the best release yet of this show. Mediocre performance IMHO. Apparently this show, on a Friday, was reviewed positively in Rolling Stone magazine, leading to the misleading "LA Friday" title given to some 7/13 releases. LA Forum 7/13/75; 152 min; 9.0 s; "LA Friday"/ others An extremely good audience recording, even by modern standards. This was recorded by the people who released it on vinyl as the classic "1975 Tour of the Americas" 3LP set. Now out on CD in even better quality than the old LPs. This title is the definitive release, as it includes both Billy Preston songs! Plus, it sounds a little better than the other CDs too. However, it was not recorded on a Friday; it was a Sunday, but the title is taken from one of the old LPs. It was later re-released as "Who Went to Church This Sunday," also an old LP title. Maybe it's just the recording, but IMHO these are mostly better performances than sides 1, 2, and 4 of "Love You Live." Cow Palace, SF 7/15/75; 123 min; 8.5 s; "It's Only Rock & Roll" Very nice audience recording, almost as good as the above recording but not quite. This Japanese CD uses the cover artwork from a rare German 3 LP box set but sounds noticeably better. The 7/16 Cow Palace show is available on CD and LP in similar quality. Fort Collins, CO 7/19/75; 130 min; "I'm Working So Hard" I quote from the following unpublished review: "'We should have kicked him off the stage, but we didn't. It's because we're both English,' said Mick about Elton John, who wanted to join on Honky Tonk Women [but]... stayed during the whole show. Mick later introduced him as 'Reg from Watford.' [This CD] features the complete show in excellent audience quality. Really too bad most of Mick's in between comments are edited out. Excellent show, one of the best Wood era Midnight Ramblers IMHO. Also nice are the bonus tracks from Milwaukee 6/8/75 (Sure the one you need, Heartbreaker, Luxury), in rather bad quality. This is a must for all fans of the '75 tour." Chicago 7/23/75; VG ; "American Compendium" Audience recording. Incomplete; only the 2nd half of the show. The CD title is taken from an old LP. Detroit 7/28/75; 90 min; 7.5 m; "Rock and Roll Goes on the Road Again"/others Soundboard recording though not the greatest. There is now another release called "Don't Forget the Motor City," possibly a CD-R. I quote from an Internet review of it: "Not the complete show... Great sound, though it seems to my ears the master was running a bit fast..." 83 min. long. Also available as "Detroit Rock City," which is probably similar quality. Jacksonville 8/2/75; 104 min; 7.0 m; "A Tour De Force" A very ordinary audience recording, with some hiss. There are some song cuts and the Billy Preston songs are missing. Overall ok, but you can do better. Note that this title was first used for a repackaged LP of the '73 King Biscuit broadcast. Buffalo 8/8/75; "Sad Songs Is All I Know" I quote from an Undercover review: "A very good audience recording with little crowd interference. Only drawback is a thin layer of hiss throughout the show from the tape source used. If not for that, this one could rank with the best from this tour. Still very listenable..." Note that this title is lifted from an LP of a different '75 show. The 1976 European tour was musically similar to the 1975 US tour, except that songs from "Black and Blue" were played. Typical set for 1976 European tour: Honky Tonk Woman, If You Can't Rock Me/ Get Off of My Cloud, Hand of Fate, Hey Negrita, Ain't Too Proud to Beg, Fool to Cry, Hot Stuff, Star Star, Angie, You Gotta Move, You Can't Always Get What You Want, Happy, Tumbling Dice, Nothing from Nothing, Outta Space (both sung by Billy Preston), Midnight Rambler, It's Only Rock and Roll, Brown Sugar, Midnight Rambler, Street Fighting Man, Jumping Jack Flash. Played infrequently: All Down the Line (twice), Rip This Joint, Angie, Cherry Oh Baby (once), Sympathy for the Devil. Played at Knebworth only: Satisfaction, Around and Around, Little Red Rooster, Stray Cat Blues, Let's Spend the Night Together, Dead Flowers, Route 66, Wild Horses, Honky Tonk Woman, Country Honk theme. Most shows are available as audience recordings. For some reason there are also a fair number of soundboard recordings available. Frankfurt 4/29/76; 45 min; 7.5 s; "Frankfurt 1976" The listed CD is a soundboard recording. Now it plus more of the concert from a "very good" audience recording is out on "More than Welcome to Frankfurt," which was originally the title of LPs from the '82 tour. Kiel 5/2/76; "European Tour Kiel 1976" Said to be good audience quality. Berlin 5/3/76; VG ; "Low Tide and Fair Hits" I quote from an Undercover review: "...above average audience recording. For fans of the 75/76 Tours (like me) it is a good buy, but not essential." Title is lifted from an old, lousy Knebworth LP. London, UK 5/22/76; 7.5 s; "Order in the Court"/ several others This soundboard recording first turned up on the limited "Liver Than You'll Ever Be II," one of the last vinyl boots. The listed CD is EQ'ed to boost the bass and remove hiss and sounds pretty good. It is not complete as claimed, and not even the complete board tape, which includes YCAGWYW. All board tapes miss the beginning and end of the concert AFAIK. An Internet review said: "...This show can be found in best quality and most complete on 'Out Of The Court...' 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' exists on tape, but not on CD in this soundboard quality..." London, UK 5/25/76; 60 min; "Another Earl's Court" I quote from the following unpublished review: "A near perfect stage monitor recording, although Jagger is in the background. The guitar sound is excellent, especially Ronnie's solos are great, IMHO. Great performance. This title is completed with an audience recording of Sympathy for the Devil, probably from the 5/23/76 show..." The Hague 5/29/76; "Any Port in a Storm" I quote from an Internet review: "...Taken from a very scratchy LP, the show is available complete and in better quality on vinyl and (without crackles) on tape. VGP did a bad job releasing this. CD title is lifted from an '80s European LP. Very nice and original photo of Keith on the cover! Truly amazing is the sheer excitement of the Dutch crowd, which makes it a nice show to listen to. Too bad the quality is below par." Dortmund, Germany 6/1/76; "Happy Birthday Ronnie" I quote from an Undercover review: "Another of many above average audience recordings from 1976. Again the quality is good enough to please completists of this tour, but not for more discriminating tastes." Paris 6/4/76; "Allright Charlie Watts" I quote from an Internet review: "...A new, high quality label has shown up!... Dirty Work Productions just released a tape of the never released Paris June 4, 1976 show (as we know the date on 'Paris Aux Printemps' and other titles is wrong, the video is from June 6)... in truly excellent quality... All instruments are there, all dynamics are there, [with] hardly any hiss; especially nice since a big part of 'Love You Live' is from this show..." Another Internet review added: "...It is a stunningly lovely recording. It is perfect!... It is the best concert on an album from the '75-'76 period. Sounds like a soundboard but it is not." Paris 6/6/76; 100 min; 8.5 es; "Paris Aux Printemps"/others Soundboard recording, made from a pro-shot video. Parts of this show are on "Love You Live." Good performance, arguably better than the next night; worth getting. (The Swingin' Pig release is better than the Speeder Ball release; TSP release has the wrong date). Paris 6/7/76; 125 min; EX- ; "Paris Par Exc."/others I quote from an Internet review: "...'Paris Par Excellence' [CD] is a bit disappointing to me. VGP had already released [this] some time ago on 'Europe 76' [which] was the entire show but unfortunately only an audience recording. [This is a] soundboard recording, but it's incomplete! 3 tracks are missing: 'Angie' and the two Billy Preston tracks (and also the band introduction). The missing of the Preston tracks [is inexcusable]: They are available in the same soundboard quality on the old bootleg LP 'Paris Par Excellence'... The first part of the show (disc 1) appears for the first time ever as soundboard recording and is of slightly worse quality (hiss) [than] the second part which was available before on some bootleg LPs." Whew. Not much to add but I'll note that the old LP is 8.5 s; haven't heard the CD. The audience recordings are 7.0 m. Good performance; parts of this show are on "Love You Live." Lyon 6/9/76; "Backstage Unlimited"/ others This is an improved release of the rare "Backstage Limited," which was 71 min, 8.0 s. I quote an Undercover review: "Complete show... The beginning of Honky Tonk Women, the end of Jumping Jack Flash, and the complete Street Fighting Man are in very good audience quality, the rest in very good soundboard quality. Very good upgrade... finally the complete show available on one title. [This] sounds noticeably better then the Lyon portion of Terrapin's 'French Made' (should be 'Backstage Unlimited' I think) and it runs at the correct speed. This release also sounds a lot better than 'Les Inrockuptibles' which has the guitars squeezed into one channel. [VGP] did a good job on mastering the tape. Very good show." Barcelona 6/11/76 "Barcelona Y'Ole" I quote from an Undercover review: "...A solid audience recording, but with many available from this tour, probably for completists only or those that attended. Very acceptable quality though..." Knebworth 8/21/76; 148 min; 8.0/6.5 s; "Hot August Night"/many others One of the Stones longest concerts, definitely the longest of the '60s and '70s, before a large crowd. The Stones worked up a special expanded set list for this show only. Interesting performance, if only to hear the unusual songs. Many audience tape recorders were running, so was one at the soundboard, plus there's a pro-shot video! There are many boots from various sources. The listed VGP CD is the definitive edition, using the soundboard source for the first 90 min except for Stray Cat Blues, then splicing together a top notch video source and a so-so audience recording to include every song on two lengthy CDs. The "Best of Knebworth Fair" CD is worthwhile for those on a budget and a nice package: 64 min; 7.5 m; it's made from the videos though not as good a source as VGP's. VGP's title and graphics are lifted from a beautiful German LP from the mid '80s made from the soundboard recording, which runs very fast. Thankfully the CD is correct. The Stones came to Toronto in early 1977 to record live at the El Mocambo Club. Keith was arrested there for heroin possession, but recording took place and became side 3 of "Love You Live." Toronto 3/4 & 3/5/77; 40 min; 8.5 s; "Small Club Gig" I don't have this CD, but have a rare German LP. That is a combination of a soundboard recording and 3 songs from an acetate, which were released on a fan club disc. Good performance. The next studio album was "Some Girls." Outtakes are available. Outtakes late '77; 100 min; 9.0 s; "Paris Outtakes" I & II This material is available on several LPs and possibly several CDs, but the Vigatone set of 2 CDs is superior to anything else I've heard. Very good recording and some interesting alternate and outtakes. Outtakes late '77; 65 min; ___ s; "Some Girls Sessions" I haven't heard this exact release but am told quality is an 8. I quote from an Internet review: "...My copy is damn good quality with no clicking or obvious problems which detract from listening. The ripping versions of Hang Fire and Black Limo are worth the price alone IMHO... This is the same as Place Pigalle Vol. 3, with a slight difference in track listing, but the same running order..." S.G./E.R. outs + SNL '78; 74 min; EX ; "Twilight Zone" I quote from an Undercover review: "Quality is very good, but there is some background hiss... [It] doesn't detract from the music much (more noticeable between tracks, rather than during the songs) and it's well worth getting. For the 1978 US tour, the band played most of "Some Girls" and dropped many older songs. The sets were considerably shorter than the '75-'76 sets. Billy Preston was sacked; keyboardists Ian Stewart and Ian McLagan were featured prominently. After the tour, the Stones appeared on Saturday Night Live; they are the only band to appear and play a three song set without interruption. Typical set for 1978 US tour: Let It Rock, All Down the Line, Honky Tonk Woman, Star Star, When the Whip Comes Down, Lies, Miss You, Beast of Burden, Just My Imagination, Shattered, Respectable, Far Away Eyes, Love in Vain, Tumbling Dice, Happy, Sweet Little Sixteen, Brown Sugar, Jumping Jack Flash. Played infrequently: Hound Dog, Satisfaction, Street Fighting Man. Most if not all shows are available as audience recordings. This tour was heavily bootlegged; about 75% of the tour dates are available on vinyl. Most have decent but not great quality. The listing below is rather short since the LPs are all long out of print and I don't collect them all. Woodstock 5/78 reh.; 290 min; 8.5 s; "The Complete Woodstock Tapes"/ others Very nice soundboard quality. I quote from an Undercover review: "Overall, the set has noticeably less hiss than the other Woodstock CD releases I have [lists 3]. I have yet to hear any LP crackles either." Another Undercover review: "4 CDs of very different/cool versions of songs old and new. Some tracks are tedious, others abruptly end in the middle of a song, but the sound throughout is excellent. The definitive set." This recent release may be more than you want to hear (45 tracks), but there are lots of old classics, including CS Blues (!) and other songs never played live. Previous releases only have half of this material, or less. Passaic, NJ 6/14/78; 90 min; 9.0 s; "Garden State 78"/others Excellent stereo soundboard recording; probably the most well known boot of the tour. Legend has it the tape was stolen from the soundboard before the show ended which explains why the end is missing. Good performance except the incomplete encore "Street Fighting Man" sounds completely unrehearsed; it's terrible. Original LPs sound better than any CD release; in fact The Swingin' Pig "Out on Bail" and Scorpio's "Capital Connection" both appear to be dubbed from vinyl. Washington, DC 6/15/78; "Far Away Washington" The last of the small gigs which opened this tour; the Warner Theater only holds a few thousand people. I quote from an Undercover review: "...Another keeper. Above average sounding with a typically short set-list..." Chicago 7/8/78; "Tight Dresses and Tampax"/ 1 other I quote from an Undercover review: "A very good audience recording which [is one of]... the two best audience recordings I've heard from this high octane tour. Very pleased with this one." CD title is taken from an '80s European LP which wasn't that great; sounds like this CD is better. Also available on "Speed Freaks" which I also haven't heard. Tucson, AZ 7/21/78 "Let the Juice Pumping" I quote from an Undercover review: "A good but not great audience recording. Very listenable but at lower volume levels. A bit too much distortion interferes with what would have been a very good sounding show. Especially compelling because Linda Ronstadt guests on Tumbling Dice, but the damn recording volume was too high thus making the distortion. A keeper, but sort of disappointing with what might have been." Fort Worth 7/18/78; 90 min; 10.0 s; "Handsome Girls" Part of this show was already available on the (rare) CD "Somewhere in Dallas," but this is the entire show in best possible quality. I am told this CD was made from tapes liberated from the King Biscuit archives, which explains its outstanding quality. (This CD also includes '78 radio broadcasts). US radio '78 (various); 140 min; 10.0 s; "Handsome Girls"/many others These songs have been widely available since they were first broadcast in 1979, but this is their best quality ever. CDs 3 and 4 of this set compile almost every song ever broadcast (TSP's 1st edition misses 4 songs, Dandelion's 2nd edition has them), plus a few that never were (Star Star). Since the source tapes were liberated from the King Biscuit archives, they are not bleeped or censored as they were for broadcast. Dandelion's release also adds a few more rarities from lesser quality audience recordings. It is said to sound even "brighter," not a bad thing. However, Dandelion did not use the best source for the previously missing 4 songs; for that you need the obscure and very mis-titled LP "Live from England 1974," which is all '78 radio broadcasts! LA 8/78 outtakes; 93 min; EX- s; "One Night with Tallahassee Lassie" This is a copy of a rare Japanese CD "The Harder They Come," with extra material added. The LA material was never before available. Keith's sentence for heroin possession in Toronto was light: Perform a benefit concert for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. At the start of the New Barbarians tour in Toronto, the Stones made a surprise appearance. Toronto 4/22/79 2nd show w/New Barbs; 100 min; 9.0 s; "Blind Date Revisited" This used to be only available as an audience recording but a soundboard recording turned up in 1995 and was put out by The Swingin' Pig. John Belushi introduces the band. The performance can charitably (pun intended) be described as "ragged;" the singing is mostly atrocious. In some respects the audience recording is better; it has a better guitar sound for example. "Emotional Rescue" outtakes are available. "Emotional Rescue" outtakes; 67 min; EX- s; "Emotional Rescue Demos" I don't have this CD, but these songs can be heard in quite good quality on LP; the CD should be similar. Outtakes 12/74, 1-3/78, 1-2/79; 73 min; 9.5 s; "Static in the Attic" Great quality outtakes, mostly from "Emotional Rescue" though some are earlier. Some are previously unheard and the others are probably in best ever quality. Leadoff track is an undated interview with Mick, which I happen to know is from Europe 1970. Asked about bootlegs, Mick says he likes bootleg records! Of course, back in those days, being bootlegged was almost an honor; it meant the band had serious fans. As mentioned previously, the Stones broke from previous trends by not touring Europe in 1979. The New Barbarians, with Keith and Ronnie, toured instead. The next Stones tour was in the US, 1981, for "Tattoo You." There was an official live album, "Still Life," and movie, "Let's Spend the Night Together." Typical set for 1981 US tour: Under My Thumb, When the Whip Comes Down, Let's Spend the Night Together, Shattered, Neighbors, Black Limousine, Just My Imagination, 20 Flight Rock, Going to a Go Go, Let Me Go, Time is on My Side, Beast of Burden, Waiting on a Friend, Let It Bleed, You Can't Always Get What You Want, Little T&A, Tumbling Dice, She's So Cold, All Down the Line, Hang Fire, Star Star, Miss You, Start Me Up, Honky Tonk Woman, Brown Sugar, Jumping Jack Flash, Street Fighting Man (a few shows), and/or Satisfaction (most shows). Played infrequently: Tops, Down the Road Apiece, Mona, Star Star. Most if not all shows are available as audience recordings. About two thirds of the tour dates are available on vinyl. The listing below is rather short since the LPs are all long out of print and I don't collect them all. USA '81 (various, FM); 90 min; 9.5 s; "Time is on Our Side"/many others The various FM broadcasts are on many different LPs and CDs. As with the '78 broadcasts, different versions of some songs are available. The official live album "Still Life" overlaps with these broadcasts. Excellent quality on almost all releases; some CDs are copied from old LPs. Philadelphia 9/25/81; "Ain't It Good to be Alive"/ others Tour opener. I quote from an Undercover review: "Clearest of all recordings [of this show]. Complete show. Slight hiss throughout which reveals intermittent tape flaws (static sounding). Strong bass, vocals, piano and drums, but weak guitar. Charlie's cymbals are very crisp." Goes on to say it's better than "Philadelphia '81," for which I quote from an Undercover review: "...'Tops' was performed here... As [usual with early shows], the band is a bit less polished than later in the tour, but they played this show with an edge that was clearly lacking as the tour progressed..." Philadelphia 9/26/81; "Waiting on 50 Million Friends" Originally available on LP; also available on CD, for which I quote an Internet review: "...as is the case with most new Stones tours, [this performance] contains rarely played songs like Mona and Down the Road Apiece... [The CD] also has bonus songs from the New Jersey Meadowlands... Though it is an audience recording, IMO it ranks right up there with the better known soundboards from this tour in terms of performance and indeed sound quality... After the very first song though the recording remains perfect throughout... The guitars are very strong throughout, but the major reason I love this title so much is the piano playing which you hardly hear on any other titles..." As is frequently the case, an upgraded CD has now appeared, for which I quote an Undercover review: "Richer, fuller sound but nothing groundbreaking here. Unfortunately, VGP decided to lop off the two bonus tracks that appeared at the end of the first edition. Too bad, but I do like the sound better here." Buffalo 9/27/81; ___ min; "Buffalo '81" I quote an Undercover review: "This is a GREAT audience recording... There is little crowd noise and it's nice and clear. Also this neat gem contains the rare '81 tour track TOPS." Also includes Down the Road Apiece. Los Angeles 10/11/81; "Never Too Old to Rock and Roll" Said to be "an above average audience recording." This CD title is lifted from an LP title of the same show, but I don't know if the recording is the same. Seattle 10/14/81; 125 min; "What's Wrong with My Guitar"/ 1 other I quote from the following unpublished review: "The first ever audio release of [this] show, and not a good one. [It's] basically the same (good) video soundboard as the 10/15/81 Seattle show but right from the start the sound is distorted. It makes the show very hard to listen to. The real attraction in the setlist on the back cover is Starf*cker, but beware: Starf*cker is not played here. The show is also available together with the 10/15 Seattle show as a box set 'Stoned Screwed & Tattooed in Seattle,' [which] includes the two videos from the shows." Seattle 10/15/81; 125 min; 8.5 m; "Now We Need You More Than Ever"/ 3 others Raw recording from a pro-shot video, but I like it. Good sound mix with lots of guitar. First available on the hard-to-get Terappin (sic) label, a similarly titled CD is now out from VGP. I haven't heard it, but Internet reviews says it is the definitive release. "Bloody Night in Seattle" isn't quite as good, and runs a bit slow. "Stoned Screwed & Tattooed" is said to be either not quite as good or better than the VGP release, depending on which review you believe; I haven't heard either for comparison. San Francisco 10/18/81; "Candlestick Park '81" I quote an Undercover review: "...You've got to hear how crisp it sounds to believe it. It's an audience [recording] that sounds BETTER than a lot of soundboards! Has the rarely played Star Star too..." Houston 10/28/81; "Houston Can You Sing" I quote an Internet review: "...It's a video soundboard in much the same quality as Seattle 81 minus the ever present 'hum'... The sound improves nicely after the first couple of tracks leaving this 'raw' soundboard intact... The mix is steady once the sound levels out with the vocals quite clear and the guitars right up front..." Chicago 11/22/81 w/M. Waters; 35 min; EX _; "Sweet Home Chicago" The Stones pay tribute to one of their heroes by playing with him and other Chicago blues stars in a small club. Semi-professionally recorded and filmed (the film has the wrong date). Worth seeing, or settle for the audio. Tempe, AZ 12/13/81; EX _; "Satisfaction Guaranteed" This show was professionally recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio show, and filmed for the "Let's Spend the Night Together" movie. Now an almost complete soundboard recording has turned up. I quote an Undercover review: "Excellent soundboard, which many have heard in the movie... However, here the music isn't edited to death like the movie was. You get the full blown concert without the requisite studio overdubs. A definite keeper!" Another Internet review said, "...superb soundboard quality, better than Hampton!" Kansas City 12/14/81; 140 min; 8.0 s; "Didn't We Meet Somewhere Before"/ others Previously available on other CDs from an inferior source, this show features special guest Mick Taylor. Rumor has it he was to play at the upcoming pay per view in Hampton, but he was too loud on stage, pissed Keith off, and there weren't any guests in Hampton. Regardless of his volume on stage, it's hard to pick out his guitar from the other two on this fine audience recording. This recording is very clear with moderate audience noise but nothing objectionable; the cheering adds to the atmosphere. Hampton, VA 12/18/81; 140 min; 10.0 s; "20 Flight Rock"/many others Pay-per-view cable special available on many different LPs and CDs. Of course videos also circulate. Excellent recording, unsurprisingly. I think a few songs are on the official live album "Still Life." The listed CD is said to be better than the well known Swingin' Pig title, which is said to be overly NoNoised. The latest release is on Dandelion, a re-release of TSP's version, but I haven't heard it. The next tour was the 1982 European tour, which was musically similar to the 1981 tour. Typical set for 1982 European tour: Under My Thumb, When the Whip Comes Down, Let's Spend the Night Together, Shattered, Neighbors, Black Limousine, Just My Imagination, 20 Flight Rock, Going to a Go Go, Chantilly Lace (first part of tour), Let Me Go, Time is on My Side, Beast of Burden, Let It Bleed (first part of tour), You Can't Always Get What You Want, Little T&A, Tumbling Dice, She's So Cold, Hang Fire, Miss You, Honky Tonk Woman, Brown Sugar, Start Me Up, Jumping Jack Flash, Satisfaction. Played infrequently: Angie. About two thirds of the tour dates are available on vinyl. Rotterdam 6/2/82; "Hot Hot Hotterdam" This is a CD-R from a new "label." I quote from an Undercover review: "Overall the sound is somewhat bassy especially Charlie's bass drum but the bass level improves during the course of the recording only to pick back up during the last 1/3 of the show. Keith is way upfront at the start of the show and mixes in at a more level range as Ron at the end... However, Woody's solos' are turned up just at the right time. Mick remains at a constant level and is quite clear. Some 'waviness' as I call it occurs throughout the recording as if someone is moving with the recorder or there is wind... but [it] is subtle enough to not be too distracting. The nearby audience... remains polite during the show [but] their clapping and singing become more evident at MY onward. One obvious distraction to the recording is some guy who calls out the next number that he thinks will be played. He obviously followed the '81 tour as he is right on except when Mick throws out Chantilly Lace...! Sound quality rates well overall and makes this [mono] recording... very comparable to other '81/'82 audience recordings. This basically opening night of the '82 tour recording is rare and can be appreciated by most hard core collectors... The performance is very loose and upbeat and would be hard pressed to be considered a typical opening night show. Woody flat out WAILS. Keith is tight and Charlie is managing the pace of the songs like a master. The few minutes of rare interviews with Mick by Dutch radio only adds to the completeness of these discs..." Rotterdam 6/4/82; VG+ ; "Rotter' Beast of Bourbon" First available on LP; now out on CD using the same title. I quote from an Internet review: "Although it's a nice show, this is really for the people who were there as the sound is not very good. It's a decent audience recording for the time, but it could have been better. All the audience participation (me included!) doesn't make it better although the atmosphere is great. Complete show with intro 'Take The A Train' and 3 minutes of fireworks at the end." "Chantilly Lace" is said to be only G+ quality. Berlin 6/8/82; "Beast of Bourbon" I quote an Undercover review: "No question the best audience recording from the '82 tour... All instruments are here, especially the guitar (the acoustic on Waiting on A Friend is the best I've heard). It's the complete show... A must have for 81/82 tour enthusiasts." Previously available on a European LP with the same title, which I have, and it's nowhere near as good as this CD must be. Munich 6/10/82; "Willkommen in Munchen" I quote from an Undercover review: "A very good audience recording with radio broadcast reports interspersed throughout... Sound is upfront, only a shade less in quality than 'Beast of Bourbon' and 'Demain le Soleil.'" Paris 6/13/82; VG ; "Demain le Soleil" I quote from an Undercover review: "A very good audience recording, but the sound is a bit condensed. Doesn't sound as good as 'Beast of Bourbon,' but a keeper nonetheless." Entire show. Gothenburg, Sweden 6/19/82; 130 min; 8.0 m; "One More Time" Quite good audience recording. Rare LP, copied as "Never Stop" which is now out on CD. I quote from an Undercover review of the CD: "...IMO it's an excellent audience recording and a keeper. Sure the audience is present, but to me it enhances the show. This one and 'Beast of Bourbon' are two of my favorite '82 tour releases." Wembley, London 6/26/82; 45 min; 9.0 m; "One Day in June" Rare German LP made from a BBC video (never broadcast?). Also on a Japanese CD with the same title. This is apparently the show where Keith punches Ronnie for spacing out on stage. That's not on the video, but the start of "She's So Cold" is incredibly bad and the entire concert is pretty lame. Naturally this is a really good recording. Turin 7/11/82; "Mundialito 1982" Available on a nicely packaged LP and a CD. The LP does not sound too good. For the CD, I quote an Undercover review: "Average at best audience recording with quite a bit of hiss throughout. Not an essential title, except for completists. Angie was played here..." Naples 7/17/82 + hotel/backstage; 102 min; 9.0 m/EX s; "Shattered in Europe" The concert portion of this is 76 min. It's a very nice soundboard, well balanced with a little too much MJ. Sounds like a pretty good performance; this is a must for any '82 tour fan. Minor speed variation at the end though. Keith's (and Ronnie's?) backing vocals are very ragged; kind of amusing. Not all pressings have the second CD, which I have not heard. I quote from an Undercover review: "...It is a loose [26] minute jam with Keith and Ron. There are some very ragged ( fun) versions of 'Hit the Road Jack' and a Hank Williams song complete with the raspiest, most off-key vocals you can imagine K and R coming up with. I find it to be enjoyable, but many don't. It's certainly not essential." Due to tensions within the band, there was no touring again until 1989. Outtakes are available for "Dirty Work." "Dirty Work" outs. 7-11/85; "Crushed Pearl"/others I quote an Undercover review: "...a truly excellent boot. The sound quality is very good, although faint hiss can be detected on some tracks. The guitar playing and interchange on tracks like One Hit and Dirty Work are real razor- blade stuff. Dynamic. If only these takes had been on the album... The real goodies on this CD are the Keef tracks, and there are plenty of them. Crushed Pearl is truly awesome; a 10 min Too Rude that's *sooo* laid back; the CMTV (but good) treat Me Like a Fool and the Sleep Tonight-esque You're Too Much are all worth getting the CD for IMHO. There's also an out from the (very) rough hotel demos, Broken Hearts for Me and You. Definitely one to look out for." After much speculation if there would ever be another tour, the Stones finally toured the US in 1989 in support of "Steel Wheels." For the first time, most of the live material was not from the new album. Each concert was a look back on their long career, and they performed songs that had never been attempted live. The band also used a much larger cast of supporting musicians than in the past. The Stones "toured" Japan in February 1990 by playing in Tokyo for about 10 days. Typical set for 1989 Steel Wheels US tour: Start Me Up, Bitch, Sad Sad Sad, Undercover of the Night, Harlem Shuffle, Tumbling Dice, Miss You, Ruby Tuesday, Play with Fire, Rock and a Hard Place, Mixed Emotions, Honky Tonk Woman, Midnight Rambler, You Can't Always Get What You Want, Little Red Rooster (not at all shows), Before They Make Me Run or Can't Be Seen, Happy, Paint It Black, 2000 Light Years from Home, Sympathy for the Devil, Gimme Shelter, It's Only Rock and Roll, Brown Sugar, Satisfaction, Jumping Jack Flash. Played infrequently: Shattered, Salt of the Earth, Dead Flowers, One Hit to the Body, Angie, Almost Hear You Sigh, Terrifying. Most shows are available as audience recordings. The sophisticated sound system plus improvements in tape recorders and microphones means some audience recordings are very good indeed. Toad's Place, CT 8/21/89; "One Down 55 to Go!" I quote from an Internet review: "It's a club gig [before the start of the tour]... Another damn good AUD recording..." Toronto 9/3/89; "Sweet Toronto"/1 other I quote from an Internet review: "The Toronto soundboard (which comes from a pro shot video) is already well known from the Swingin' Pig release 'Live In Toronto.' The soundboard is incomplete; it's the show from the beginning to Mixed Emotions (and a piece of Honky Tonk Women) and from Gimme Shelter to the end. The middle part (Honky Tonk Women to Sympathy is not available as soundboard). VGP added the Continental Drift intro and the missing tracks from a not too good audience tape; the quality decreases drastically within the track Honky Tonk Women... So if you must have the complete show, this is the release for you, otherwise stick with the TSP release which contains the soundboard part only in the same quality." Toronto 9/4/89; "Wheeler Dealers" I quote from an Undercover review: "...audience tape of complete show... An excellent recording... ...very little crowd heard here. The music is strong w/ some lesser played gems like one hit to the body. A definite keeper." This was previously available on an LP with the same title. East Troy, WI 9/9/89; "Wheels Are Rolling"/2 others I quote from an Internet review: "There were 2 releases of this show available before: 'Wisconsin Flat' and 'East Troy 1989.' Both were incomplete (missing Rock And A Hard Place, One Hit To The Body, 2000 Light Years and--at least partly--Jumping Jack Flash). The quality of the new VGP release is only slightly better and they added the missing tracks from a very good audience tape, so it's the complete show now; also the Continental Drift intro is there now. But: they took Jumping Jack Flash completely from the audience tape though on Wisconsin Flat we have the first 4:40 as a soundboard!!!..." LA 10/19/89; "Live at the LA Memorial Coliseum"/2 others Hmmm. I haven't heard this one, but have seen two drastically different reviews. One said: "...The guitars are right up from where they belong, Keith's will make your ears bleed (unfortunately, the stage hands dropped the guitar volume on a couple of songs)... The best release from the 89 tour bar none and that includes Atlantic City, Wembley, and Tokyo..." The other review noted that there is another CD of the same recording but with one extra song, and said neither is that great: "...'Get Back To Los Angeles 1989' is a mediocre stage soundboard, with Mick Jagger's voice a littler louder than I like it in the mix. The sound quality is identical [to "Live at...]." Until I hear this, I'll trust the review that this isn't so hot. "Get Back..." was later re-released as "At The Max To The End" in similar quality. Dallas 11/11/89; 145 min; 8.5 m; "Texas Rangers"/1 other Again, made from a pro-shot video. Later released as "The Boys Are Back In Dallas" in similar quality. Atlanta 11/21/89; 120 min; EX ; "Back in Business" Atlantic City 12/19/89; 150 min; 10.0 s; many CDs + videos Widely available, since this was on both pay per view and FM. Includes special guest John Lee Hooker. Relatively recent releases are by Dandelion, possibly with bonus tracks, and VGP, for which I quote from an Internet review: "...It's made from a different source tape than TSP's box and sounds slightly different but I wouldn't say better. The Continental Drift intro starts a bit earlier and the outro ('Carmen') is also included. It seems to be taken from the TV while the TSP is probably from the radio (because of the pre and after show radio documentation on disc 4). [VGP] added 7 live tracks from Flashpoint singles (but forgot 'Gimme Shelter' from the Food benefit!),[but] we fans have these singles [already]. So I still really don't know what this release is good for. And the Swingin' Pig box is so much nicer!" Tokyo 2/24/90; "Steel Wheels Alive and Rollin' 1990" Said to be a soundboard recording with 3 audience tracks from other Tokyo shows. I quote from an Internet review: "It is a mono soundboard, and good but not great... almost no crowd noise, a little flat sounding; this sounds like it came from the video mix..." Tokyo 2/26/90; 140 min; 10.0 s;"Steel Wheels Tokyo 1990"/ others Available on several LPs and CDs but this is said to be the only release which is complete. Japanese CD. The 1990 Urban Jungle Tour was musically similar to the Steel Wheels tour. Typical set for Urban Jungle Tour: Start Me Up, Sad Sad Sad, Harlem Shuffle, Tumbling Dice, Miss You, Almost Hear You Sigh, Ruby Tuesday, Rock and a Hard Place, Mixed Emotions, Honky Tonk Woman, Midnight Rambler, You Can't Always Get What You Want, Can't Be Seen (3/4 of shows), or Before They Make Me Run (1/4 of shows), Happy, Paint It Black, 2000 Light Years from Home, Sympathy for the Devil, Street Fighting Man, Gimme Shelter, It's Only Rock and Roll, Brown Sugar, Jumping Jack Flash, Satisfaction. Played infrequently: Bitch, Angie, Dead Flowers, Factory Girl, Blinded by Love, Terrifying, Little Red Rooster, I Just Wanna Make Love to You. Most shows are available as audience recordings. Frankfurt 5/27/90; "Frankfurt Shuffle" I quote from an Internet review: "The mix is slightly off... all instruments except Charlie's drums are a little too low... I would give this a VG+ rating, and it seems to be the complete show." Cologne 5/30/90; "Remember These Days" I quote from an Undercover review: "An above average audience recording at best. A bit distant, which seems to be prevalent with the Urban Jungle tour recordings so far... Unless you are a big fan of this tour, I would not recommend this one." Title is taken from a 1991 LP of the same show, but this CD is complete unlike the LP. Madrid 6/16/90; "Blinded by Love for the Gypsy Kings" I quote from an unpublished review: "...to my ears the best Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle soundboard I've heard. Full stereo 'actively mixed' drum rolls go from channel to channel, even. Guitars are mixed up for solos, and so on. This set tops even the VGP Japan Steel Wheels stereo set (they had one mono sndbrd from the same series of shows). This is what the official Flashpoint CD should have been, IMHO... I'm not a big latter-era fan, but this is certainly a welcome addition, especially at the current exchange rate." First released on a CD-R, "Blinded by Love," apparently not as good. Paris 6/25/90; VG+ ; "The Singer and the Fly" Audience recording. Basel, Switz. 6/27/90; 145 min; 7.5 s; "Basel '90" Fairly good audience recording. London 7/7/90; 135 min;10.0 s; "Seventh of July" From a BBC broadcast. I find Chuck Leavell to be very annoying during "Midnight Rambler." Rome 7/26/90; "Rome 1990" I quote an Internet review: "It's NO soundboard, the cover information is wrong! It's an audience recording, no bad one but no particular good one either. The show is also nothing special. So forget this release unless you need everything." Berlin 8/13/90; "August Children" Said to be a very good to excellent audience recording. Outtakes from the Stones' next studio album "Voodoo Lounge" first turned up on a 4 CD set. Voodoo Lounge outtakes 7&9/93?; ___ min; 10.0 s; "Voodoo Brew" It's almost scary how good this recording is. Whoever lifted these tapes was definitely an insider. Some people have said they prefer these versions to the official release. Nice box set packaging but some people don't like the cover art. Some pressings of these CDs are now deteriorating though apparently cleaning the CDs can fix the problem. Voodoo Lounge outtakes 7&9/93?; ___ min; 10.0 s; "Voodoo Stew" The follow up to Voodoo Brew. Quality is once again outstanding. Some people prefer this to Voodoo Brew. The only question is, are 8 CDs of outtakes really necessary? Voodoo Lounge outtakes 7&9/93?; ___ min; 10.0 s; "Voodoo Residue" Another 2 CDs worth of outtakes. I quote from an Internet review: "...more studio quality (JUMP OUT AT YA quality, as I would say!) rejects and first cuts from 'Voodoo Lounge' sessions in Barbados. I have only listened to the first disk ('Jamming with Richard') and most seems to be Keith solo numbers. Liner notes indicate that only Mick, Keith, and Charlie are in the studio on both disks, and bass is covered by Keith or Mick when present. Some tracks are pretty great and some are a snorefest, at least to my mind. Overall, I'd say if you like 'Voodoo Brew' and/or 'Stew,' this is another must have!" Originally released on CD-Rs; re-released on normal CDs. In 1994 the Stones went on tour again, in support of "Voodoo Lounge." This was their first tour after the departure of bass player Bill Wyman; his replacement Darryl Jones is not a permanent band member. Typical set list for Voodoo Lounge Tour: Not Fade Away, *, Tumbling Dice, **, You Got Me Rockin', Shattered, Rocks Off, Sparks Will Fly, Satisfaction, Beast of Burden, ***, ^, Memory Motel or Wild Horses, ****, #, Miss You (not at first show), ##, ###, ####, @, @@, @@@, I Go Wild, Honky Tonk Woman, Before They Make Me Run or Happy, The Worst, @@@@, Love Is Strong, Monkey Man, Street Fightin' Man (preceded "Brown Sugar" until beginning of September), It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, Start Me Up (followed "Monkey Man" until beginning of September), Brown Sugar, Jumpin' Jack Flash (encore). Sometimes played: *Undercover of the Night (first two DC shows only), **Live With Me, ***Out of Tears, ****No Expectations (Club gig and Cleveland 8/28 w/Lenny Kravitz), #All Down the Line, ##Hot Stuff (first DC show only), ###Can't Get Next to You, ####Brand New Car, @Sad Sad Sad (Toronto 8/19 only), @@It's All Over Now, @@@Heartbreaker (added Philadelphia 9/23), @@@@Sympathy for the Devil (added Las Vegas 10/14), ^Far Away Eyes (added San Antonio 11/5) Played only in Miami November 25: Live with Me (with Sheryl Crow), Stop Breaking Down (with Robert Cray), Who Do You Love (with Bo Diddley), acoustic set of Angie, Dead Flowers, and Sweet Virginia. Several songs dropped for this show to make room for the special ones. Most if not all shows are available as audience recordings. Toronto 7/19/94 club gig; 75 min; 7.5 m; "Secret Gig" Audience recording. Not great by modern standards but listenable. Missing the first song, a rare Japanese double CD has it. Washington, DC 8/1/94; 135 min; 8.5 s; "First Night Stand"/others State of the art audience recording. Other CDs are not as good unless they are copied from this one. As this was the first night of the tour, there are many CDs to choose from. Washington, DC 8/3/94; 135 min; 7.0 s; "Welcome to Washington" This is the only release of the second show of the Voodoo Lounge tour. This is not a great recording, but it's listenable. Birmingham, AL 8/6/94; "Out For Blood" Best audience recording from the '94 Tour according to the Fingerprint File. Giants Stadium 8/14/94; "Bite the Big Apple"/ others Soundboard recording. The source tape is said to be a bit bass-heavy, with too little high end, but not too bad. The official video is apparently taken from parts of this show; it's on the "Sparks Will Fly" CD. Giants Stadium 8/15/94; EX s; "The Circus is Back in Town" /others Toronto 8/19/94; VG s; "Out for Blood" Philadelphia 9/23/94; VG m; "Honky Tonk Motel" New Orleans 10/10/94; EX s; "Imperial Heartbreakers"/ others Very muddy sounding radio broadcast. This is on many, many CDs. The listed title is said to be the best of them. This show was remixed for an edited re- broadcast the week of June 26, 1995, which I happened to hear part of. It sounded much better; this is now available on disc 1 of the Japanese "But Naked" CD. (Disc 2 is the Stripped TV show). The radio show CD is Westwood One Superstar Concert Series show #95-27. Las Vegas 10/14&15/94; VG+ s; "Voodoo Lounge Lizards" San Diego 10/17/94; "Kiss Your Baby" I quote from an Internet review: "...[I]t sucks. Pick it up in a trade if you can, but don't shell out the money for the originals, simply NOT worth it. There are plenty of good 'Voodoo' s/b recordings available, I have NO idea why this was even released. No, wait a minute, I know exactly why, becuase people like me will snap up s/b recordings figuring that they HAVE to be good. Lesson learned." Oakland 10/31/94; 129 min; 9.5 s; "All Hallow's Eve"/ others Made from a pro-shot video. This is the first non-broadcast pro-shot video of this tour to become available. Some people prefer the sound of "Voodoo at Halloween." I quote from an Internet review of the latter: "...What makes this show so superior to the Miami pay-per-view and the New Orleans show is that the guitars are way up (for the Voodoo Lounge Tour) in the mix. Plus, it's a great Halloween night performance! The only down side is that there is very little audience presence in between songs, since this was the actual PA mix..." Miami 11/25/94; EX s; "Miami Dice"/many others Pay-per-view cable special and also a radio broadcast. Much better sound than the original New Orleans broadcast. CDs made from the radio broadcast lack "Beast of Burden." The listed CD is said to be direct from the satellite feed, which had cleaner sound than local cable or radio stations. Another opinion says the best is "Live At Joe Robbie Stadium" from TSP. After playing Vancouver, BC, December 18 (Keith's birthday), the North American Tour ended. The tour continues in 1995 with dates in Mexico, South America, South Africa, Japan, Australia, and Europe. Several 1995 set lists have been posted to Undercover, here they are: Rio, Feb. 4: Not Fade Away, Tumbling Dice, You Got Me Rocking, It's All Over Now, Live With Me, Sparks Will Fly, Satisfaction, Out Of Tears, Angie, Midnight Rambler, Rock And A Hard Place, I Go Wild, Miss You, Introductions, Honky Tonk Women, Happy, The Worst, Sympathy For The D., Monkey Man, Street Fighting Man, Start Me Up, It's Only Rock'n Roll, Brown Sugar, Jumping Jack Flash Santiago, Chile Feb. 19: Not Fade Away, Tumbling Dice, You Got Me Rocking, Rocks Off, Rock And A Hard Place, Sparks Will Fly, Satisfaction, Angie, Out Of Tears, Love Is Strong, It's All Over Now, I Go Wild, Miss You, Honky Tonk Woman, Before They Make Me Run, Slipping Away, Sympathy For The Devil, Monkey Man, Street Fighting Man, Start Me Up, It's Only Rock and Roll, Brown Sugar, Jumping Jack Flash (encore) Johannesburg, South Africa, Feb. 25: Not Fade Away, Tumbling Dice, You Got Me Rocking, It's All Over Now, Live With Me, Sparks Will Fly, Satisfaction, Out Of Tears, Angie, Rock And A Hard Place, Midnight Rambler, I Go Wild, Miss You, Intros, Honky Tonk Women, Happy, Slipping Away (first performance), Sympathy For The Devil, Monkey Man, Street Fighting Man, Start Me Up, It's Only Rock'n Roll, Brown Sugar, Jumping Jack Flash Tokyo Dome, March 6, 8, 9, and 12: Not Fade Away, Tumbling Dice, You Got Me Rocking, Live With Me (March 6, 12) OR Shattered (March 8) OR All Down The Line (March 9), It's All Over Now (March 6) OR Rocks Off (March 8, 9, 12), Sparks Will Fly, Satisfaction, Angie (March 6, 12) OR Love In Vain (March 8) OR No Expectations (March 9), Sweet Virginia (March 6, 12) OR Dead Flowers (March 8) OR Let It Bleed (March 9), Doo Doo Doo (March 6) OR It's All Over Now (March 8) OR Rock and Hard Place (March 9, 12), Love Is Strong, I Go Wild, Miss You, Honky Tonk Women, Before They Make Me Run (March 6, 9, 12) OR Happy (March 8), Slipping Away (March 6, 8, 12) OR The Worst (March 9), Band Introduction in Japanese, Sympathy For The Devil, Monkey Man, Street Fighting Man, Start Me Up, It's Only R'n'R, Brown Sugar, Jumping Jack Flash (encore) Western Springs, Auckland, NZ April 15: Not Fade Away, Tumbling Dice, You Got Me Rocking, Shattered, All Down The Line, Sparks Will Fly, Satisfaction, Beast of Burden, Angie (acoustic), Sweet Virginia (Acoustic), I Go Wild, Miss You, Honky Tonk Women, Before They Make Me Run, Slipping Away, Sympathy For The Devil, Gimme Shelter, Street Fighting Man, Start Me Up, It's Only R n R, Brown Sugar, Jumping Jack Flash Amsterdam, Holland, May 27 (club gig): Not Fade Away, It's All Over Now, Live with Me, Let It Bleed, Beast of Burden, Angie, Wild Horses, Sweet Virginia, Dead Flowers, Still a Fool, Down in the Bottom, Shine a Light, Like a Rolling Stone, Jump on Top of Me, Connection, introductions, Before They Make Me Run, Slipping Away, Monkey Man, Can't Get Next to You, All Down the Line, Rip This Joint, Respectable Nijmegen, Holland, June 13: Not Fade Away, Tumbling Dice, You Got Me Rocking, It's All Over Now, Live With Me, Sparks Will Fly, Satisfaction, Beast Of Burden, Wild Horses, Like A Rolling Stone, Gimme Shelter, Rock And A Hard Place, I Go Wild, Miss You, Introductions, Honky Tonk Women, Before They Make Me Run, The Worst, Sympathy For The Devil, Street Fighting Man, Start Me Up, It's Only Rock 'n Roll, Brown Sugar, Jumping Jack Flash Naturally most of these shows are available as audience recordings. Rio de Janeiro 2/4/95; ___ min; EX s; "Bucketful of Water"/others From a TV broadcast. Some releases are apparently mono. Buenos Aires 2/16/95; 140 min; 10.0 s; "Sympathy for the Voodoo Cult"/ others This is said to be a soundboard recording, as opposed to the more common broadcast or audience recording. Based on my brief listen, I'd say it could be a broadcast. The sound is extremely good and so is the mix: The guitars are very loud and the keyboard is way down. I quote from an Internet review for another title, "Inside the Voodoo Lounge:" "...it's a killer! Not only are they playing well but I don't think I've EVER heard quite the defined sound as on this CD! The bass just booms out and the guitars cut through like I've never heard before! One strange thing... is that during the intros it sounds like a funky audience recording...you hear people near the taper talking etc., yet once they start up the music, the aud disappears and the incredible fidelity returns!..." Santiago, Chile 2/19/95; ___ min; EX s; "Southern Quotations from Chile 1995" This has received some very good reviews but I haven't heard it. It is said to be a raw, in your face recording; definitely the kind I prefer. It's apparently from an FM broadcast. The CD title is reminiscent of a '78 vinyl LP; Vinyl Gang pays tribute to their predecessors once again. Johannesburg, S.A. 2/25/95; ___ min; 9.5 s; "Everything But The Cobra"/ others From a TV broadcast, except "Rock and a Hard Place" is an audience recording from 2/24, due to a commercial during the broadcast. Slightly tinny sound or this would be a 10. "Johannesburg '95" is said to be slightly better, with RAAHP substituted from Buenos Aires. Tokyo 3/12/95; ___ min; 10.0 s; "F*ckin' Tired"/ many others This was a pay per view TV broadcast so sound should be excellent on any release. I am told that some have a glitch at one point; sorry don't know which ones. This is also out as a legit 2 laser disc set and probably VHS video as well. The recording is perfect on the listed CD, which also includes a third CD of songs done at other shows, from audience recordings. "Honky Tonk Tokyo" is also said to be top notch, from the laser disc. Tokyo 3/16/95; "Hope You Guess My Name" Said to be an audience DAT Recording, with a slight echo. Melbourne, Austr. 3/27/95; VG ; "Keef Sings Slippin' Away"/ others Melbourne, Austr. 3/28/95; "Voodoo Rain Dance"/others Said to be one of the best audience recordings from the '95 Tour. "Keef Sings Happy" is inferior. Amsterdam 5/26/95 1st; "Through The Secret Nights, Paradiso 1995" I quote from an Internet review: "Cutting to the chase: the sound quality on this is, for the most part, significantly inferior to any of the other 1995 club gigs. Disc 1 is especially difficult, especially the first half dozen songs, because Mick's vocals have a hollow, distant quality, and the band is not particularly prominent...but the crowd singing, talking and clapping along is well-documented... The guitars become more prominent, however, through the rest of disc 1 and through disc 2 and the sound quality for the most part improves significantly the rest of the way..." The last couple songs are missing. An Undercover review: "This audience recording is very good until toward the end of CD 2 where the sound gets pretty muffled (taper hiding his mic?), then the finale is a perfect soundboard version of SFM which may have even come from Stripped(?). ...The crowd is a bit intrusive at times (VERY PUMPED), but doesn't really detract from the quality." Paradiso 5/27/95; "Foottapers And Wheel Shunters Club Gig"/others I quote from an Undercover review: "This is the show that 80,000 (!) people watched at a video screen (while 1100 were inside Paradiso) and it's an excellent (acoustic) show with a very interesting setlist (arguably better than Olympia or Brixton)... Not superb sound, probably because the sound system wasn't prepared for a show on such a big square, but it's miles better than 'Marvelous Mickey' or other releases." Available on 2 different Japanese CDs in similar quality. Some people claim the Vinyl Gang release sounds better; others claim the Real Live release sounds the same and like the fact that it omits the long pauses between songs. Stockholm 6/3/95; 8.5 s; "Voodoo, I Like It" Very nice audience recording, based on a brief listen. Also includes 1 song from Helsinki June 6 and 3 songs from a TV broadcast of this show; broadcast songs are perfect. Nijmegen 6/13-14 + Landgraaf 6/18/95; "Voodoo Lounge Holland" A 3CD Box of all songs played at these shows plus a 4th CD with the songs from Rotterdam 8/29-30 not played in Nijmegen/Landgraaf, plus JJF. I quote from an Internet review: "[Don't buy] unless you 'really' like to hear LOUD cross- talk, out of tune sing-a-longs and shitty stadium recordings in crystal clear sound!" Also available without the 4th CD. Cologne 6/20/95; VG++; "Eau de Cologne" Complete show. This is also the title of an old LP. Hannover 6/22/95; EX-; "Die Cobra im Black" Complete show. Werchter, Belgium 6/24-5/95; "Beast of Belgium" I quote from an Undercover review: "...a fantastic recording... all instruments well balanced, guitars up front and Mick not at all echoey; the audience really give it much more atmosphere. The performance is also shit hot--they guys sound like they're having more fun not playing the same old US track list... probably the most fun or entertaining big VL gig title around." Paris Olympia 7/3/95; 135 min; 8.5 s; "French Made 95"/others Great audience recording of one of the small venue shows. Interesting song selection and good performance. The listed Japanese CD is said to be considerably better than other, cheaper CDs, which I have not heard. This CD apparently uses a better source tape. London 7/15/95; VG+ ; "London Lounge" Audience recording. Brixton Academy 7/19/95; 128 min; 8.0 s; "Welcome to Brixton Academy"/ others Another club gig with a different set list from Paris/Amsterdam. This is a very nicely done audience recording with a moderate amount of crowd noise. This release is said to be the best for this show. The "Acoustic" CD is said to be poor. Lisbon, Portugal 7/24/95; "Da'Lapa Incident" I quote an Undercover review: "This is a strong and impressive stereo DAT audience recording... They are playing well late in the tour, seemingly well greased, and enjoying themselves... This is one of the better live Rolling Stones documents ever, in spite of a noisy Portuguese crowd." Another Undercover review said: "...[T]he show... is excellent--but the initial assessment of the recording quality still stands: Boomy, and too much audience noise. Still, the performance makes it worth trudging through. Got mine for $15, so I'm not complaining." Montpelier, France 7/27/95 w/Dylan; "Voodoo Minstrels" I quote an Undercover review: "The original issue of this featured a quite mediocre, somewhat muddy audience recording, and a full color photo of Mick and Bob singing together from the same microphone at the show on the front. The new version features a different audience recording, better sound, much clearer vocals, though still not a state of the art aud recording... Also, a different front cover, showing the Stones with a big white dog in front of a house (an outtake of the shot used with the original issue)...and the photo of Mick and Bob together has been flipped to the rear of the CD package, with the track listings to the right." Munich 8/3/95; "Voodoo You Love" Said to be an excellent audience recording. Wolfsburg, Germany 8/25/95; "The Last Incarnation" Said to be a VG++ audience recording. "Stripped" outtakes as well as songs from the TV special not on the album have naturally turned up. "Stripped" sessions; "Stripped Away"/others Made from the 4 known "Stripped" outtakes, the "Hope Floats" track, Stripped TV special tracks, various CD singles, and one track from the Japanese pressing of B2B. Said to sound "as good as any official album," which it should considering the sources. Also said to be better than "Censored" or "Stripped Companion." The Stones' 1997-98 tour was in support of "Bridges to Babylon." Supporting musicians include the usual cast of Darryl Jones, Chuck Leavell, Lisa Fischer, and Bernard Fowler. Audience recordings are common; sound is generally quite good and frequently extremely good, due to the great sound system and modern tape recorders/microphones. An outtakes album has also been rumored, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it, especially because of Keith's comments about having better versions of several songs "in the can" than the ones that ended up on the album. Typical set list for "Bridges to Babylon" tour (USA '97): Satisfaction, It's Only Rock and Roll, Flip the Switch, Let's Spend the Night Together, Gimme Shelter, Sister Morphine, Anybody Seen My Baby, 19th Nervous Breakdown, Out of Control, Star Star, Miss You, All About You (Keith), Wanna Hold You (Keith), Little Queenie*, Crazy Mama*, You Got Me Rockin'*, Sympathy for the Devil, Tumbling Dice, Honky Tonk Women, Start Me Up, Jumping Jack Flash, Brown Sugar (encore). *played on small stage Sets vary from night to night, with some songs in rotation, and one song per night chosen by Internet vote. Chicago club gig 9/18/97; "Behind the Double Door" I quote from an Undercover review: "I haven't heard this start to finish yet, but I've skipped through bits of every track. Everything appears intact here, no major tape glitches that I've discovered yet... The first couple songs Mick's vocals and the guitars are not quite as upfront ...[but].with every track, the guitars, drums and mikes all get better... Just a decent quality aud from a club gig, with a wonderfully rare song, the bluesy Shame Shame Shame. Considering how tight the security had to have been for this gig, I am shocked how good this recording is. BTW, reports that the band sounds ragged in performance here aren't really true A few songs [have] some weaker moments, but that's been true of every show they've done on this tour. For the most part, the band sounds terrific." Note: This is a shorter set than the following stadium shows. Various dates '97-'98; "...You Get The Best Of Me" I quote from an Internet review: "A very nice new European double CD has been released... It contains 30 rare tracks from the BTB American & Japan Tour 1997/98. Many web choice songs are included as well as other tracks they played only once or a few times. With this release you don't need all the average audience recording CDs of the last months to get these rare tracks... All tracks are good-very good audience recordings." However, an Undercover review adds: "I've [compared]... various tracks ... on a line by line basis with the original VGP/CCat CDs and it seems some rather pointless no-noise- type, bass-heavy mastering has gone on (particularly on CD2). This does not seem to have been done on all the tracks, with, for instance, 19th Nervous from Charlotte sounding the same. On some tracks, this is marginal (this whole thing may be marginal to most as I have clinically hyper-sensitive ears)..." Chicago 9/23/97; 7.5 s; "Chicago We Wanna Hold You"/ others This is a decent audience recording but not great. Certainly not as good as you would expect for 1997; the wind seriously affects the sound. Another CD, "Piece of Gold," is 13 songs from a video (international TV?) feed, in incredible 10.0 quality. It could easily pass for an official release in terms of sound. Note that 8 soundboard songs, 3 incomplete, are on "Came to Rock the 10 Spot," below. The best release, over a year after the concert, seems to be "Soldier of Stone," the video and audience sources combined to make the complete show. Chicago 9/25/97; "Sweet Home Chicago"/1 other I quote from an Undercover review: "...[This] is by far the best audience recording I have EVER heard. There's little audience interference and the mix is superb... Puts many a soundboard to shame. In fact, I prefer this one to 'Piece of Gold,' as good as it is." Another Undercover review: "There are some problems with the system mix (e.g. Keith on Satisfaction)... Little Queenie and the small stage stuff sound fantastic, as do the Keith tracks, OoC and the greatest hits section. Rainbow and Morphine are strong, but low on Ron on Morphine... Overall, not much audience talking near the mic, and a clear, sharp recording..." This is said to be better than the more expensive "Another Evening with the Rolling Stones," which uses a different source tape, recorded near annoyingly talkative people. Edmonton 10/2/97; "Canada Dry" I quote from an Internet review: "Soundboard recording. ...very good sound quality. [By mistake] Keith [is] very much in the back[ground] and Ron [is up] front, giving a splendid opportunity to study him, and he does play and does it well! Only on a few [songs] he takes a more or less complete break. ...many of the songs come out rather... differently this way and not at all bad. In fact very good. For example stunning Queenie, 19th Nervous, Mama and SM." Charlotte 10/10/97; "Anybody Seen My Stone in Charlotte" I quote from an Undercover review: "Simply an outstanding audience recording!! Barely any audience noise!" An Internet review said: "Great audience [recording]! So far, best audience [recording] of the Bridges Tour to surface on CD..." Philadelphia 10/12/97; "Philadelphia Special 1997" I quote from an Undercover review: "It's a very good recording, with the only technological complaints being the house's fault: Mick's vocal seems mixed low, there's a (very) brief echo problem, and then there is the sound of the confetti machines during the encore of 'Brown Sugar.' There _is_ significantly annoying audience (and security guard) chatter, but the folks closest to the mikes didn't have too much to say once the show got rolling, which is good, considering how their voices carry (Word of caution: douse the volume during those first three songs. Whoo!). Overall, a top notch audience job." This incomplete CD-R is said to be much better than VGP's similarly titled 2CD set. Giants Stadium, NJ 10/16/97; "Bite the Big Apple Again" I quote from an Undercover review: "10/16 and 10/17 complete. Both are excellent audience recordings, but [as] with 'Scrap of Flesh' (10/17), Mick's vocals sometimes get lost in the mix..." Giants Stadium, NJ 10/17/97; "Scrap of Flesh" I quote from an Undercover review: "A superb audience recording, equal to (at least) Charlotte... first-rate. And the performance strikes me as quite hot, even with Mick apparently forgetting the lyrics to start IORR..." Another Undercover review: "A very good audience recording, but not on a par with 'Sweet Home Chicago...' Sound is very good, but [there are]... some spots where the sound engineer apparently fell asleep on the job..." Also includes two tracks from the 10/16/97 Giants Stadium concert. Boston 10/20/97; "Boston You're Big Enough" Said to be a quite good audience recording, though not as good as the best of the tour. Another report said VG, so it's obviously not one of the best. Port Chester, NY 10/25/97 + misc.; "Came to Rock the 10 Spot"/ others 16 broadcast quality tracks from 3 sources: 5 from "10 Spot," 8 from Chicago opening night, 2 from VH1 Fashion Awards, plus "Angie" apparently from the Japanese B2B. I quote from an Internet review: "...The mixes between the 10 Spot and VH1 versions are much different. In the 10 Spot's 'Baby,' Keith and Ron can easily be heard weaving their guitar work around each other, whereas the VH1 version is blended together better for a smooth full sound and much less of individual sounds..." Also, The "10 Spot," VH1, and 2 songs from Chicago opening night are on "Rock and Roll Babylon," which is said to be inferior to the listed title ("ghastly"). There is also "Out There in Babylon," for which I quote from an Internet review: "All the tracks (and more) have been available on the CD-R 'Came To Rock the 10 Spot', however, this CD benefits from re-mastering, particularly in the bottom end..." Albuquerque, NM 10/30/97; "Mexican Flowers" I quote from an Undercover review: "[This CD] is based on the very good, indeed excellent, mid-field [recording]... long in circulation. As expected, the CD has the audio problem with Brown Sugar, but is otherwise quite alive and clear. IMO, one of the top 5 stadium tapes made on the USA leg of B2B. The Sheryl Crow guest duet on 'Dead Flowers' was marred that night by an audio problem (or prank): Her mike wasn't piped through the stadium PA and is thus *very* faint on the CD. I was in the 2nd row center that night and heard her contribution fairly well, perhaps through the stage monitors. It wasn't until after the show I learned that most of the stadium couldn't hear a word from her..." Another Undercover review said: "[A] very good, nice crisp audience recording, but by no means perfect. There are also some speed problems (though not drastic) in places. It's a pretty sloppy show which gives it a very different feel to many B2B shows..." Oakland 11/14/97; "Liver Than You'll Ever Be 1997" Said to be a very good audience recording. Oakland 11/19/97; "He Didn't Rat Me Out" I quote from an Undercover review of the remastered version: "Far better than I'd anticipated in terms of performance... Sound on this is better than the old 'Rat Out'--more balanced throughout the range, and a little clearer. However, this is not a jaw-dropping 'Sweet Home New York City' 'soundboard' audience recording--the occasional comment still comes through to the mic, but these are not spectacularly intrusive. In some ways, I found the sound reminiscent of 'Live'R' in terms of mix: trebly without being harsh, with the guitars well defined throughout most of the show. Excellent Keith liner shots, dynamic Mick/Keith on the back. Excellent choice of B stage song: LQ, YGMR, Crazy Mama; the latter being especially welcome due to the scarcity of really decent recordings. An exquisite All About You..." Las Vegas 11/22/97; 8.0 s; "Women, Wine and Song" Very nice audience recording. I quote from an Internet review: "...Blows the hinges off the recent Contraband CD 'High Rollers' and destroys Vinyl Gang's 'Viva Las Vegas.' This one is my favorite audience recording from the entire tour! A big clean sound with loud guitars and a spectacular performance." Saint Louis, MO 12/12/97; "Take Me Up St. Louis"/many others Pay per view w/special guests Dave Matthews, Taj Mahal, and Joshua Redman. Due to the many releases, here are summaries of Undercover and Internet reviews: "Take Me Up St. Louis" (VGP)--excellent. "TWA Dome, St. Louis"--has static running throughout most of the recording; avoid. "St. Louis To Babylon" (Eternal Records), 3 CD of PPV plus 3 from Philadelphia 10/12/97 aud., 3 from DC 10/23/97 aud., '10 Spot,' and 'VHI Fashion Awards'--mixed reviews, remastered version probably excellent, aud. tracks "average." Unknown title on Dandelion--mono; avoid. "St. Louis Blues"--probably ok but not confirmed. "From London To St. Louis" (Boss Hawg)--"a great recording," but doesn't include the band intros. "Don't Fuck With Me, Or I will Breathe On You and You Will Die" 3 CD of PPV plus '10 Spot,' Chicago first 2 songs and the VH1 songs,--"more low-end and less highs [and] slight sound fluctuation[s]" MSG, NYC 1/14/98; "Back to the Garden" I quote from an Undercover review: "A very good audience recording, but not quite as up front, clear and consistent as 'Welcome to MSG VIP Lounge' (2nd show). Rarely played songs are: Low Down, Memory Motel, How Can I stop, IORR and Little Red Rooster (Stones at their lovable best natch)." I have also seen this title described as "mediocre" for 1997. MSG, NYC 1/16/98; "Welcome to the Madison Square Garden VIP Lounge" I quote from an Undercover review: "A very good audience recording, which I rate higher than VGP's 1st show 'Back to the Garden.' A better performance IMO with riskier setlist (Respectable, Already Over Me, YDHTMI)..." I have also seen this title described as "mediocre" for this tour. Same recording is also available on the CD-R knockoff "MSG '98 Second Night--Rolling Stones Classic Shows." MSG 1/17/98 + 1/14/98; 9.5 s; "Sweet Home New York City"/ 1 other I quote from an Undercover review: "[This] is one of the best audience recordings ever made. At least CD1. CD2 tends to sound too digital and harsh in comparison... The mix couldn't be much better--everything is pretty much exactly where you would want it--guitars way up front and every instrument balanced with Mick's vocals. It's crisp but gutsy... and has very, *very* little audience interference... For the most part the performance is quite stunning, including the opening numbers (even LSTNT has an energy that seems to have been lacking elsewhere)... The sound on [CD2] is more reminiscent of the Chicago 2nd show on Crystal Cat (no bad thing) than the 1st CD--a bit more trebly perhaps, but still without the lack of crowd noise. CD2 also has 3 bonus tracks from MSG1--Lowdown, MM, Rooster. The sound on these is bassier and more muffled..., and there's more audience presence (but nothing really awful)... If for some peculiar reason you don't delve into audience recordings much, get [this]. For the most part, you'll never remember that it is an audience recording, being a better and more exciting listen than many 'soundboards.' Plenty of rare songs, and a gutsy title. One of the must- haves." Now remastered by Sister Morphine, and said to be even better. VGP's competing release is said to have distorted vocals and is evidently not as good. Honolulu 1/23/98; "Inside the Rainbow" Said to be a "very nice audience recording." Honolulu 1/24/98; "Hawaiian Holiday 1997" Said to be a very good audience recording but not one of the best of this tour. No unusual songs performed here. Portland 1/30/98; "Already Over Me" I quote from an Internet review: "...has the rare title track as a teaser and 5 bonus tracks... Sound of Portland is very, very good audience quality; the bonus tracks differ a bit..." Portland 1/31/98; "Bridges to Oregon" Said to be very good to very good plus audience quality. San Diego 2/3/98; "Radio San Diego 98.3 FM"/ others This was an FM broadcast, so there are at least four releases. The listed title is said to be "a whole step up in sound quality" from the others, except for VGP's remastered (w/o bonus tracks) "Stoned in San Diego," said to be "brilliant." These two CDs are taken directly from the Westwood One broadcast CDs. Other CDs are recorded off the air and somewhat lacking in quality. Houston 2/12/98; "Texan Troubadors" I quote from an Internet review: "...Includes the only tour appearance of Street Fighting Man. Quality is quite nice for an audience [recording]... I'm told this was recorded from the 2nd level at Compaq Center." Hard Rock, Las Vegas 2/15/98 "Where's the Joint?" I quote from two Undercover reviews: "[This] certainly has a boisterous 'taper and neighbors' ambience..." and "...this really is the pits. LQ is [high energy], but it's buried in the mud and the screams of the a**holes taping this. Your ears tell you it was taped in the worst nosebleed seats ever, by a bunch of drunk frat-house guys. One to avoid on CD, but worth listening to at least once for the power of the show. But as far as the recording goes, I cannot _believe_ VGP are putting this crud out." Tokyo 3/98; "Far East 98" I quote from an Internet review: "[It's] a 12 (!) CD set with all 6 Japan 1998 shows from March 12, 14, 16, 17 (all 4 in Tokyo), 20 and 21 (both in Osaka)... I skipped through the Tokyo shows and noticed that the typical Tokyo Big Egg sound is present again: Hollow sound although the instruments are quite sharp; Mick's voice is clearly not as up front as the music, still these are state of the art audience recordings. The Osaka shows sound better; Mick's voice and the instruments are better balanced, sound comes close to excellent. Not sure if I would recommend this set in general; price is high, presentation is minimal, but strong points are the Osaka shows, rare tracks like Angie, Shine A Light and Time Is On My Side to name a few, and the fact that you get Japan 1998 complete." Buenos Aires 3/30/98; "Bridges to Argentina"/others Broadcast on both radio and TV (incomplete). I quote from an Undercover review: "...It is a very flat monaural recording... Audience noise levels are minimal... Whoever did the mixing for this broadcast [was] having some troubles, because the guitars especially, and sometimes the drums, are not properly revealed in the mix. For instance, on the mini-stage, Keith's lead guitar on Little Queenie is almost inaudible, while Ronnie's backup is showcased. In fact, much of the second half of the show finds Keef's guitar quite secondary in the mix. Ronnie's playing is there to hear... There are several songs that are plagued by what appear to be timing errors in which Ronnie and Keef aren't playing in synch with Daryl and Charlie (and not solely on the mini-stage songs)... It is hard for me to tell if this show was poorly played, poorly mixed, or both..." This is apparently the only complete release. "Argentina 1998" is said to be from TV, with a different mix, mono and with lots of Keith. 5 songs are cut entirely and 2 more are incomplete. Also includes 8 bonus tracks from Osaka '98. Rio de Janeiro 4/11/98; 9.0 s; "Rocking in Rio"/ others This was also a TV broadcast, with Dylan on Like a Rolling Stone. The crowd is wild. The listed CD is stereo but has slight distortion. A competing release "Stoned in Rio" is mono, quite noticeable, and slightly thin sounding so overall not quite as good. VGP's remastered "Rio '98" (not "Old Friends From Rio") is said to be "FAR better than SM's 'Stoned In Rio de Janeiro'... excellent full stereo..." so it's probably the definitive release, but I haven't heard it for comparison. Internet reviews have generally complimented the performance but knocked You Don't Have To Mean It and Miss You. Nuremberg 6/13/98; "Welcome Back Keef"/1 other I quote from an Undercover review: "After a lot of more or less bad releases VGP brings out a great quality CD. It's one of the best audience recordings I've ever heard, clear and loud sound, better than the Charlotte [10/10/97] release." An Internet review disagreed somewhat: "...As a band the Stones sound hungry to be back onstage after Keef's accident. However, Mick was becoming ill and his voice is not at its best this night. On disc 2 after the Richards numbers the sound takes a nosedive and remains muffled for the rest of the show..." A competing release on Dandelion is "Ribs to Wrinkles," said to be an "excellent DAT recording" plus the 2 TV broadcast tracks Satisfaction & Out Of Control. Werchter, Belgium 6/21/98; "Gold 'n Glory" I quote from an Undercover review: "It's a good audience job. There's some crowd noise at the predictable spots, but it's not overwhelming. A little bit of oscillation here and there, too. And, unfortunately, the taper was apparently on the field and turned his back to the main stage to watch the small set (!) as these tracks are pretty muffled. The bonus tracks, from show 1 [the previous night] sound good, but are a little more afflicted than the main show with distinct audience conversations (and the tragic timing of a "Charlie!" chant right in the middle of 'Love in Vain'). The performance is _tight_ and extraordinarily competent. Nothing sounds forced, and Jagger especially seems in fine form and mood..." Amsterdam Arena 7/6/98; "It's Only Live" Said to be the complete show, 22 songs without YCAGWYW, good-very good audience, with singing people around the recorder and some echoes. Vigo, Spain 7/18/98; "Vigo" I quote from an Undercover review: "[This] *is* very good. Excellent performance and--highly unexpectedly--really fun to listen to... [T]he audience really makes this title; you can really feel the energy feeding back and forth between them and the band... You're not going to forget you're listening to an audience [recording] and listen to it like a soundboard, but that certainly doesn't make it a terrible CD... Great, dynamic shot of Mick on the cover, and a nice inner liner of the local newspaper coverage. A nice surprise." Includes a bonus track of YCAGWYW from Barcelona, 7/20. Paris 7/25/98; 9.5 s; "Paris '98"/1 other State of the art true soundboard recording. No doubt this is what the Stones have in their archives. I quote from an Internet review: "No doubt; the best sounding CD from the B2B tour. Every detail is crisp and clear and the recording is very detailed; in fact almost too good because the audience is hardly audible so you are missing the atmosphere..." However, an Undercover review said: "...very disappointing. Maybe the sound is crisp but that's not enough for a soundboard. The problem is... that the mix from the sound system is missing (i.e. no audience etc.). That makes a poor and dead sound (no echo etc. for instance on Gimme Shelter). The most disappointing fact is the poor mix itself: Keyboards very, very low, Keith's guitar up front (good!?), and Ronnie is only there in some parts and even then you have to listen very [closely]..." Yet another review said the competing VGP title "Mick's Birthday Party" (not) was slightly better than the listed title. Gelsenkirchen, Germany 7/27/98; "Out of Control" I quote from an Internet review: "Excellent packaging... [S]ound quality is generally excellent--easily in the VG++ range (even to Ex- standards for some), with very little audience noise... Mick's vocals are at the forefront, and both guitars get a decent share of the mix throughout the show; you can actually hear Ronnie through the PA for a change--especially on JJF. While a little more guitar is always welcome, and the B stage stuff is slightly less clear and warm than the main stage tracks, overall, there are few complaints with this ROIO... The performance (this show followed Paris) is far better than I'd anticipated (i.e. 'just another gig'), with Mick seeming to sing more and shout less than in other shows... Well worth seeking out." Also includes two lesser quality bonus tracks from Dusseldorf 6/24/98. Oslo, Norway 8/2/98; "Dead Flowers" Said to have excessive audience noise though a good performance. Also has 3 songs spelled incorrectly! Chorzow/Katowice, Poland 8/14/98; "Chorzow '98"/ 1 other I quote an Internet review: "[This] is the TV broadcast in mono soundboard quality. The [broadcast] signal of the POLSAT TV station is only in mono, so there is most probably no stereo version of this recording existing. The broadcast lacks 3 songs: ASMB, Wanna Hold You, and Little Queenie [plus] the band introduction. VGP included these at the and of disc 2 in good-very good audience quality, so you have the complete show here." Also available on "Bridges To Katowice" in similar quality with Chicago 9/23/97 filler. Berlin 8/26/98; "Still Younger Than The Queen" Leipzig 8/28/98; "Willkommen in Leipzig" Hamburg 8/30/98; "Welcome To The Rolling Stones" I quote an Internet review: "All are very good-excellent audience recordings. I think [VGP] brought out so many shows in the same audience quality in the last months that these releases are not a must to have. They all sound more or less the same and contain more or less the same songs, so it's getting a bit boring hearing them all." Bremen, Germany 9/2/98; 10.0 s; "Rockin' The House Down"/ others From a TV broadcast. I quote from an Internet review: "VGP's 'Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten' is definitely the best Bremen release so far. It's the complete show (without a second missing!), complete in great stereo quality. All previous releases have more or less minor defects... [Sister Morphine] cut out some announcements of Mick... And SM's [release] is NOT a complete stereo recording, but VGP's is. 'Wanna Hold You' and the bridge walk are only in mono on [Rockin' the House Down], but in full stereo on VGP. And the quality of VGP's [release] IS as good as SM's, SM's is NOT by far better." An Undercover review added: "...IMHO [Paint It Black] was more effective in Bremen than in other venues precisely because it was played slower rather than the usual over-rushing that often afflicts the Hot Rocks songs... For a TV performance, most of Bremen is played more intensely than the more typically 'glitzy'/showbiz, laid-back style that we often get. It's a welcome change, with CD1 and much of CD2 being a damn fine listen..." "You Got Me Rocking" is said to be excellent though not quite as good as the listed title, and complete except for the walk to the small stage; also includes the "Hope Floats" soundtrack song "Honest I Do." "Bridges to Bremen" is said to be inferior. Stockholm 9/8/98; "Sweet Home Stockholm" I quote from an Undercover review: "[This] is **the best** audience recording of the entire tour, bar none. This is the best Stones audience recording ever... The vocals, guitars, and drums are superbly captured, and frequently sound close to soundboard quality, without losing the concert ambience and excitement that are often lost in soundboards. This is a remarkable document of the tour. The set list doesn't match MSG3, and the performance isn't quite up to that superlative standard, though it is an excellent performance. Added are three bonus tracks from Gothenburg: IORR, Star Star, and Thief In The Night which are also excellently recorded... I think we will rank this in the Top 10 of all-time Stones boots. Stunning sound, great performance. Hard to beat." A contrasting Undercover review said: "While [this] is indeed an excellent audience recording, with just about no audience interference, IMHO it is nowhere near as good, or as important as 'Sweet Home New York City.' The guitars in Stockholm are not as prominent as on the NYC title, with Mick dominating the mix. However, the main drawback IMHO with Stockholm is that it's a pretty lazy Europe-by-the-book performance. You've heard it all before. Pretty passionless. Mick sounds bored for much of it, delivering an almost unlistenable Flip the Switch, among others. It's a great recording, but as a performance, it's really no great shakes IMHO." Berlin 9/10/98; "Babylonian Knights" I quote from an Internet review: "...The quality is slightly better than the VGP release 'Circus at Waldbuhne.' This Dandelion release has three bonus tracks: Out of Control (Don Was live remix), I Just Wanna Make Love to You (Japanese No Security) and Just My Imagination. This is a sound check from Amsterdam 7/6/98 just 30 minutes before the opening of the gate! 'Circus at Waldbuhne' is still necessary because of Sister Morphine from Werchter 6/20/98." Hamburg 9/30/98; "Bridges To Bahrenfeld" Said to be the complete show and a "nice audience recording of very good quality, only a bit too much hand clapping in my opinion." The Stones' 1999 tour was in support of "No Security." Strangely, this is a tour supporting a live album. Supporting musicians include the usual cast of recent tours though the shows are less glitzy. Audience recordings are very common. With the current popularity of CD recorders, expect lots of semi-professional CD-Rs. I expect there will eventually be one for most shows so keep your eyes open. Typical set list (from Tampa, FL 3/3/99): Jumping Jack Flash, Live With Me, Respectable, You Got Me Rocking, Honky Tonk Women, Moonlight Mile, Saint of Me, Some Girls, Paint It Black, Introductions, Thief in the Night (Keith), Before They Make Me Run (Keith), Out Of Control, Route 66*, When The Whip Comes Down*, Midnight Rambler*, Tumbling Dice, It's Only Rock'n Roll, Start Me Up, Brown Sugar, Sympathy for the Devil (encore) *played on B stage Oakland 1/25/99; "Gimme All Your Money"/ others I quote from an Internet review: [This] is the best ever recording from the first show of any Rolling Stones tour. Brilliant sound quality. It's so crisp, distinct, full, and well balanced. Of course they were not fully perfect at the first show... The most stunning part from Undercover till Silver. Then on Route 66 they are a bit bewildered and it's as if the steam is lost a bit. The quality of course [is] still brilliant. The bonus ones from Sacramento 27th of January are not as good as on 'Kiss of Life' which also is a brilliant one..." Also available on "Stones Age: Opening Night" and "On the Moonlight Mile," said to be similar quality but not as good. Sacramento 1/27/99; "Kiss Of Life"/1 other I quote from an Undercover review: "...unfortunately remastered; yes the sound is better, clearer, but not the raw mean sound as ["Opening Night"]... If you're fond of a clear recording , this is also a must have, very nice artwork, lovely pics of the guys, the CDs are nicely done with the NS tongue and a variant in red and black on the second CD, very lovely. Very great guitar sounds on it and the audience is also really in place (always like that)." Also includes sound check material from earlier in the day, quality is said to be not as good. This show is also available on "Security Is The Worst Enemy" Toronto 2/25/99; "While The Wind Blows Over Toronto" Said to be "excellent," and a better performance than opening night. With four bonus tracks from a rehearsal at the Fillmore on 1/22/99. Philadelphia 3/15/99; "Walking in the Moonlight"/ others I quote from an Internet review: "...It's MONO, there's... some hiss, static crackles pop up once in a while, and there's a little too much echo. But, the sound isn't too bad, if it wasn't for Keith completely missing! On some intro's he is audible, but once the rest of the band comes in, Keith iscompletely gone. Ronnie is really loud, and really irritating... It sounds like he's just making some noise, mostly out of tune, and mostly off beat. I like Ronnie's stuff on songs like You Got Me Rocking, Some Girls and Before They Make Me Run, but on songs like Bitch, Respectable, and Saint of Me of me it sounds horrible on this release. Well, here's the good news: On the small stage Keith and Ronnie apparently switch channels, and now Keith is really loud and Ronnie barely audible! Also, the ever present echo from the main stage is missing here. So, we have excellent versions of Route 66, When the Whip Comes Down and Midnight Rambler!... The artwork looks nice, but could have been better..." MGM Grand Casino, Las Vegas 4/16/99; "Casino Boogie" Said to be "terrific." San Jose 4/20/99; "Last Show In America" I quote an Internet review: "AUD recording, incredible sound, on par with Sister Morphine's quality. Great show! (I went to this one). Seven bonus tracks in quality equal to the main show: Under Cover, Just My Imagination, Shine a Light, I Got The Blues, You Got the Silver, Live with Me, Respectable. Great artwork, but no indication on where the bonus tracks came from." Holland 6/2 and 18/99; "North to South" I quote from an Internet review: "The only *drawback* on this superb album is that they don't tell you where the songs are from... It does not matter as it sounds [like] ONE concert with a most brilliant sound quality: crisp, well balanced, and with a stunning performance all through (must have been on top on both locations) with the whole band very much inspired and musically fantastic. Almost every song has something extraordinary that makes me wanna shout *Best version so far!* Only exceptions [are] Saint of me, Out of control, and Paint it black which... are rather standard and Mick [is] out of tune at the start of SOM on a night (well two...) when he is brilliant in every [other] respect as are all the other players on the field(s). This is a rock 'n' roll ride from start to finish that leaves you exhausted..." Sheffield, UK 6/6/99; "Singing in the Rain" I quote an Internet review: "[This] 2-CDR album done by some unknown... is really a treat and I find it excellent and even more so as it seems to be [their] first try. Very nicely printed CDRs and cool cover in dark green on the front, the poster for the planned show in 98 with a grim Keith to the right of this. In all a brilliant one. And place it without a doubt in the same division as the more established bigger companies' recordings of concerts." Shepherds Bush Empire 6/8/99; "Cow Skins and Pig Shoes"/ others I quote from an Internet review: "[This] CD was released in the same month [as] the concert! Beautiful picture discs labels; they used the tickets of the concert: level1 ticket for disc 1, floor ticket for disc 2. Superb audience recording; doubt [if it] could be any better." Another Internet review added: "...[T]his... has an extremely full sound with the guitars not dominating but heard very well as [they] should be. You find that [the Stones] really [were] very tight having great fun this night. It is rock 'n' roll of the highest quality from the start with the part with odd songs done extremely well and then full force gale again until the very end." Wembley 6/11/99 + Shepard's Bush 6/8/99; "Sweet Home London" I quote from an Internet review: "...[The]... Wembley recording... is very, very good. Definitely worth getting and up to par with the quality Crystal Cat has been offering us. The Shepherd's Bush part is good but there's noticeable tape(?) noise and missing parts of songs (check out the missing intro to 'Melody' for one instance). Obviously they knew it couldn't stand on its own." Wembley 6/11-12/99; "The Complete Wembley 1999 Performances" I quote from an Internet review: "After having listened to the first [night's recording] I was stunned. This is suddenly the best live concert I have. A very full sound, so crisp, so perfectly balanced and very easy to study the individual members. For example it is a joy to listen to the contributions from both guitar players and noone can here doubt the competence of Mr. Wood. [The second night has]... excellent sound quality, with a bit less crispness and a somewhat metallic sound at times, [but] it is obvious that the musicians or some of them are not at their best... One huge exception is a most fantastic Midnight Rambler. Had they gone on in the middle part there the walls of Wembley would have started tumbling down..." Cologne, Germany 6/20/99; "Grande Finale" I quote an Internet review: "So the final gig during this almost two year long tour came. And a set list that does not look very exciting, but with a band that shows not the slightest sign of being tired of it. Instead a brilliant performance all through with some of the best versions... of Out of control, Route 66, Thief in the night, and Like a rolling stone. Excellent sound quality." Will this be the Last Time? The author acknowledges that every living member and ex member of the band has done some sort of solo project. Keith's solo tours of 1988 and 1992-93 have been heavily bootlegged, and Mick's tour of 1988 is also fairly well represented. However, cataloging those releases is beyond the scope of this guide. Plus, I don't collect that material. Notes on collecting CDs: In the United States, every unauthorized release (not made by Virgin, London/Abkco, RSR, etc.) is considered a bootleg. Until 1997, the situation was different in certain countries, which allowed companies like The Swingin' Pig (TSP) to operate legally, to the displeasure of record company accountants. These copyright loopholes have now closed, and companies such as TSP are now out of business. Of course there are still "underground" companies which don't worry about legality. The era of the recordable CD (CD-R) has begun. Anyone with the right computer equipment can burn their own CDs in the convenience of their own home. CD-R "labels" may be the coming thing. General comments on CD companies/labels: The Vinyl Gang Productions and its related label Idol Mind, both Japanese, have released more Stones product than any other label. Dealers rarely import them into the US, but they can be ordered directly from Japan. In 1993-4 they somehow located and released old tapes which were not even circulating among tape traders. For old shows, I consider them the definitive label. For the "Bridges to Babylon" tour, their audience recordings are not always the best for a given show. Shop around! I quote from the Internet: "...in their drive to get 'Bridges' titles into the market they've released more crap than every other label combined." VGP is still the definitive Stones label as of this writing. Crystal Cat has only released a few Stones titles, all audience recordings from the "Bridges to Babylon" tour. All are highly regarded. Sister Morphine is a new (1998) label which only releases high quality Stones material. AFAIK their releases are always the best or close to it for a given show. Dandelion has been releasing old Swingin' Pig titles as well as a few of their own. Generally well regarded but there has been some criticism for using mono broadcast sources and other relatively minor points. Possibly out of business as of fall 1999; back in early 2000? They are apparently successors to Midnight Beat, which also put out a few good titles. The Swingin' Pig is generally good. Most of their CDs are mastered from tapes, unlike some companies which use old records, and they generally use the best available source for a particular show. On the downside, they sometimes overdo the noise reduction, which makes the music sound bassy and compressed. Now out of business. Other Japanese labels will put out anything they think they can sell, it seems. Shaved Disc, now out of business, was almost always bad. Scorpio and related labels such as Gold Standard are also good. Unlike most labels, they have actually put out "new" material. They still aren't above dubbing some tracks off old records here and there. Still in business. Yellow Dog, famed for their Beatles and other releases, has released a 3 CD set of early outtakes in good quality. No recent Stones activity. The Vigatone label has produced only a few Stones CDs but they are all excellent, from tapes. The Chameleon or "Chamelion" label is also excellent. Invasion Unlimited has produced a series of 8 studio outtakes CD. I quote from an Internet review: "[these CDs are] an ok place to start building a collection, if you can find them, but are nowhere near the definitive set. The biggest drawback being that the makers did a hatchet job on many of the outtakes from the '70s, especially Some Girls era songs. Loads of heavy editing analogous to the difference between LP and 45 edits, unless you're into that. They cleaned up some of the songs, but you're still getting crap IMO. More complete versions of many of the outtakes can be found on various other titles." Bottom lin is only get these if you missed the original releases or are just starting collecting. "Terappin" or Terrapin label CDs are very hard to come by but are mostly rare material in decent to good quality. WPOCM, Bulldog, and Oil Well are labels to avoid. All have been out of business for several years. All specialized in dubbing other releases. The first two frequently used scratchy vinyl, then used excessive noise reduction. _Bibliography_ Basement News fanzines. Rodgau, Germany: Dieter Hoffmann Heylin, Clinton. The Great White Wonders: London, England: Penguin, 1994. Hoffmann, Dieter. Das Rolling Stones Schwarzbuch (Black Book). Vaihingen, Germany: New Media Verlag, 1987. Hoffmann, Dieter. Rolling Stones--Das Weissbuch (White Book). Winsen, Germany: New Media Records, 1991. Live! Music Review, December 1993. Musician magazine, September 1994. No Expectations fanzine. No. 9, January, 1992. Lerdala, Sweden: Mats Jarl Stember, Wilfried. The Rolling Stones Collector's File 2. Dortmund, Germany: Stember, 1984. Zentgraf, Nico. Collector's Delight or Collector's Disease? Berlin, Germany: Zentgraf, 1992.