Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963

There have been rumblings in the press and online for several weeks but more recently the reports appear to have become confirmed. The Beatles were to release via iTunes, 59 recordings from 1963 which up to now had never been officially released in any format.

Of course we all know that this bit of subterfuge is simply to prevent these very same 50 year old recordings from falling into the public domain and thus being available for release by all and sundry. We weren't under any illusions, yet as Beatles fans, we were still excited at the prospect of being able to purchase these recordings legally and if rumours are to be believed, in improved sound quality.

And so yesterday (17th December) the day dawned when this 'official' bootleg album would be available for sale. I eagerly logged into iTunes and...... NOTHING!

It turns out that similar scenarios were being played out all around the world and consequently it was almost possible to follow the progress of the release through online message boards and news bulletins. There were rumours that it had briefly appeared earlier in the UK but had been taken down. Stories emanated that it was only available in New Zealand. And so it went on for several hours.

Then, at about 14.00 hours GMT, the recordings became available in the UK at the rather extortionate price of £34.99. This for recordings which have all been available for many years on various bootleg albums. Corporate greed strikes again!

Of course I realise now, that I should not have been surprised. After all it is this kind of callous marketing and total disregard of the requirements of the record buying public that have caused the bootleg industry to flourish. In recent years we have even witnessed the record industry catch on to this and begin to issue what they term, official bootlegs. A prime example obviously being the Bootleg Series of Bob Dylan recordings.

As we were tired of being messed about yesterday, some friends and I decided to strike back. Rather than all of us fork out our cash to feed the coffers of those who are already wealthy, we agreed that one of us would purchase the album download and the rest of us would pay a proportionate amount for our own copy.

The little man strikes back!