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There are three bootleg titles that can easily lay claim to have influenced the development and expansion of the bootleg industry as we now know it. The first of course is Bob Dylan's double LP "Great White Wonder" that was released in the late 60's and is widely acknowledged as having started off the embryonic bootleg industry as now know it. We then of course have Zeppelin's famously iconic double LP "Live On Blueberry Hill", which continues to this day to be rereleased on many varied CD labels and on all continents of the world. The third album in this select company commanded the attention of the official music industry and even their respect as the audio quality and performance amazed everyone at the time considering it was an audience recording. The artist and album in question is of course The Rolling Stones and the now legendary title "Live'R Than You'lI Ever Be". Without question a sensational recording of the 2nd show from Oakland California on November 09 1969. This recording took everybody by surprise including the perpetrators who taped the show. The musical atmosphere and intensity of a live 1969 Stones concert and the ability to capture the live concert using semi-professional recording equipment from the audience stunned everyone. It convinced the bootlegger that with the right equipment and a bit of luck they could record most concerts and walk away with material that could be appreciated by the connoisseur collector as wel as the die-hard fan. The musical industry was at the same time denouncing the audio quality of these audience recordings but privately they expressed major concems and agreed that the Stones "Live'R" album did in fact capture the essence of the band live on stage. The shock of anyone being able to record a band from the audience and have the material released so quickly in bootleg form prompted the DECCA label to put out their own Stones Live recording on the "Get Yer Ya Ya's Out!" title. This did nothing to stem the fans insatiable demand for more live recordings. The originator or some may say conspirator of the modern rock bootleg, as we now know was of course a man who wishes to be referred as 'Dub'. ln the late 60's Dub 'fell' into the industry of recording, producing and selling bootlegs. The quick and easy money he made from the Dylan 'GWW' album made him think that there was something to pursue here. Dub and his soon to be partner in crime 'Ken' were the originators behind the impossibly famous and original TMoQ "Trade Mark of Quality" label. When the Stones 1969 USA tour was announced, Dub ventured out and invested in professional recording equipment to enable him to record concerts in their best form. He was astute enough to realize that by using some of his profits in purchasing pro recording equipment he could almost guarantee to end up with an excellent recording that would have mass appeal. If he continued to put out crap audio then his customer base would surely dry up so it was only logical to see if he could do his own concert recordings and hopefully end up with above average sound. History was to prove that he could be credited to having taped and released some of the most important albums in the history of rock music. I make no distinction here regarding official or unofficial releases. Dub acquired a Sennheiser 805 shotgun microphone and a Uher 4000 7=DB ips=5" Reel - to - Reel Recorder. During the 60's and 70's this was state of the art recording equipment and enabled him to capture the Stones at arguably the highlight of their career. The recording itself was, and still is to this day, held in the highest esteem in both recording quality and concert performance. lt captured the essence and vibrancy of a Stones '69 concert and not only surprised Dub, but also at the time, caught the attention of the official recording industry as the album was given prominence via an album review in the influential Rolling Stone magazine. Dub's Live'R album was rush released in late 1969 and in the marketplace just before Christmas. Considering the concert was performed on November 09, this was an incredible feat of production on behalf of Dub. lt sold out quickly and soon the re-issue pressings were being fired up. For the past 30 odd years this recording has been pressed on countless re-issue album and CDs. Mostly these re-issues cloned the audio from the original TMOQ album. In recent times and with the advent of the Compact Discin the early 80's, the Producers used various high gen.tape sources for their releases. Up until recent times the best recording for this show could only be found on the 1990 1 CD release "Live'R Than You'll Ever Be" on the German Swingin' Pig label. To this date Swingin' Pig's title was in my opinion the best version in the market place. The Pig used a 1st gen.excellent reel - to - reel clone off the master for their title and when compared to numerous others labels product l'd stick with the Pig's title any day. It is worth noting that the tracks Jumpin' Jack Flash and Under My Thumb on this title were sourced from two different Stones concerts other than the Oakland show. This was due to the fact that Dub's original master reel had some audio flaws that made these two tracks not suitable for release. The bulk of subsequent re-issue in LP/CD form also featured these two tracks that were not originally from the famous Oakland show. 30 years later the Sister Morphine label on thelr 'LiveR' Gold CDR release did manage to release the complete Oakland show but their EQ. treatment left the sound too harsh and brittle to the ear. From my understanding they had access to 1st gen. source for their release. A simple A/B comparison between the Swingin' Pig's title and the Sister Morphine's title should convince any skeptic which has more presence and depth to the sound. The Pig's early CD release was to my mind still the best audio document of this famous show. That was until now. It is with much pleasure to announce that Cool MixMan has managed to acquire the Original Master 5" Reels for both the 1st & 2nd shows and has ensured that these two complete and historical concerts are presented for the very first time in the ultimate 32-bit re-mastered format. Both concerts have been digitally enhanced so that collectors can experience these sets in their complete form as they were performed over 30 years ago to a select and appreciative audience. The proof is in your listening pleasure of this stunning 2CD set. Though these recordings were in generally excellent condition, many hours were still spent fine tuning various audio fragments that required minor repairs and some digital tweaking to lift the overall sharpness and depth and mix of the sound that was captured all those years ago by Dub. Take note that the two previous tracks missing for so long from the 2nd show are now also finely digitally restored and match nicely with the complete recording. This 2CD set for the very first time brings to you the complete recordings of these two historical performances. Finally, Cool MixMan wants to personally thank Mr.Pure Blues for his continuing enthusiasm and encouragement, Yuko for limitless artistic talent, W. Stout for the visuals, TMoQ for filling the musical void, Mr.HJ for his 'footing the door', and last but not least Mr. Dub & Ken for starting the musical joumey and enjoyment that we all seem to be walking these past 30 odd years. On this 2CD set "Live'R Than You'll Ever Be" is both the title and musical experience. Cool MixMan  For more... email singbigo@singnet.com.sg with the message, "Put me on your mailing list."
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