THE ROLLING STONES LIVER THAN YOU'LL EVER BE PIC DISC

	€		40
	$		46

THE ROLLING STONES LIVER THAN  YOU'LL EVER BE PICTURE DISK.

B SIDE (MATRIX: 4054-B)

The recording and distribution of "LIVEr Than You'll Ever Be" is a landmark historical achievement for many reasons. The recording itself is a high quality audience source. The equipment and method used to produce this piece of Rock 'n Roll history is well documented in the book "Bootleg" by Clinton Heylin, 1994:

"What I used was a Senheiser 805 'shotgun' microphone and a Uher 4000 reel-to-reel tape recorder, which was real small, 7 1/2 inch per second 5" reels"

The LP was released in December 1969 just over a month after its November 9th, 1969 (2nd show) recording. Although original issues were put out on the Lurch label the recording was actually produced and manufactured by a label that would become known as Trade Mark of Quality (TMoQ). TMoQ was the pioneer record label in the rock 'n roll bootleg business. They put out many LP's from artists ranging from Joni Mitchell to Jethro Tull. They were also responsible for the first unauthorized rock bootleg "Great White Wonder" which consisted of the Dylan "basement tapes" among other things.

"LIVEr Than You'll Ever Be" is not only significant because of its place in the bootleg history, but also because of the mood and feel that it captured as the Rolling Stones returned to live performances for the first time in over three years with new guitarist Mick Taylor. Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, and The Cream had all happened since the last tour through the States. Guitar heroes and songs with great solos were the talk of the day. There was a stark difference between the screaming crowds that marked the close of their last US tour in Hawaii July 28, 1966, and the audiences they were now facing who were sitting down during the shows and listening to the music. The Oakland performances were early in the tour and the band was still getting acquainted with itself in a live setting with sound systems that could be heard in the far reaches of the stadiums they were playing in. The recording is primal in it's musical depth compared to the well known "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!" commercial release from the 1969 tour. There are no vocal or instrumental overdubs on LIVEr which enables the listener to compare the band early in the tour to the slicker overdubbed recording that would represent a band that had musically evolved very quickly during the course of the tour. It has been written that "Get Your Ya-Ya's Out!" was released to counter sales of this record. There is a tremendous amount of folklore around LIVEr, most of which was promoted by the press that reviewed and wrote about the recording at the time of its release. The following excerpt from a "Rolling Stone" magazine review by Greil Marcus dated February 7, 1970:

"How it was recorded is more interesting, because the sound quality is superb, full of presence, picking up drums, bass, both guitars and the vocals beautifully. The LP is in stereo; while it doesn't seem to be mixed, the balance is excellent. One of the bootleggers says the recording was done on an eight-track machine... So these may in fact be tapes that were made on the stage by someone involved in setting up the Stones' own sound system"

Reviews like this were amusing for the guys at TMoQ, but not for record companies or the recording industry. ABKCO followed-up with a press release stating that Baltimore and New York shows were taped by the band for future release, but that no West Coast shows were taped. This isn't completely true as footage from LIVEr show in Oakland was used in the "Gimme Shelter" movie. It's the part where Jagger says: "You really dressed-up tonight...". Trade Mark of Quality takes full credit for the searches for tape recorders before shows as a result of their work in recording West Coast shows of the Rolling Stones in 1969. This would only be the tip of an iceberg with ensuing iterations of copyright law and royalty claims that artists and record companies would mount against the emerging underground recording industry.

VERY RARE AND HARD TO FIND