Pink Floyd bootleg recordings are the collections of audio and video recordings of musical performances by the English rock band Pink Floyd, which were never officially released by the band. The recordings consist of both live performances and outtakes from studio sessions unavailable in official releases. In some cases, certain bootleg recordings may be highly prized among collectors, as at least 40 songs composed by Pink Floyd have never been officially released.
During the 1970s, bands such as Pink Floyd created a lucrative market for the mass production of unofficial recordings with large followings of fans willing to purchase them. In addition, the huge crowds that turned up to these concerts made the effective policing of the audience for the presence of recording equipment virtually impossible. Vast numbers of recordings were issued for profit by bootleg labels.
Some Pink Floyd bootlegs exist in several variations with differing sound quality and length because sometimes listeners have recorded different versions of the same performance at the same time. Pink Floyd was a group that protected its sonic performance, making recording with amateur recording devices difficult. In their career, Pink Floyd played over 1,300 concerts, of which more than 350 were released as bootlegged recordings (sometimes in various versions). Few concerts have ever been broadcast (or repeated once they were broadcast on television), especially during 'the golden age' of the group from 1966 to 1981.
Pink Floyd was one of the mainstays of the bootleg industry in the 1970s. In 1999, the group was mentioned on BPI's list of most bootlegged British artists of all time.
One of the best known ROIO's by Pink Floyd is Best of Tour '72: Live at the Rainbow Theatre with a concert performed on 20 February 1972. This bootleg includes one of the first performances of The Dark Side of the Moon. One year and one month before the official release of that same album, the bootleg had already sold over 120,000 copies.
In 2008, the Pink Floyd bootleg Madison Square Garden, New York, NY – 2 July 1977 was mentioned on the Yahoo's Top 10 of Best Bootlegs of All Time.
Earliest bootlegs Most of Pink Floyd's early bootlegs concern performances from the European A Saucerful of Secrets Tour and the A Saucerful of Secrets US Tour. Most of these bootlegs were released by the label "Ace Bootlegs Production".
Bootleg title Recording details Notes BBC Archives 1967–1969 BBC Television Centre, London, UK, 14 May 1967 Television performance. The Pink Floyd appeared on BBC One's "Look of the Week", hosted by Hans Keller. The performance consisted of a truncated version of "Pow R. Toc H." as well as "Astronomy Domine". Syd Barrett and Roger Waters were then interviewed by show host Hans Keller, who memorably asked the band why their music had to be so loud, finding it unbearable. The performance and interview have been repeated on BBC since, and consequently circulate on both audio and video bootlegs. It is one of the few pieces of professionally filmed footage from the Barrett-led era that has survived. Golden Circle Gyllene Cirkeln, Stockholm, Sweden, 10 September 1967 This bootleg is considered as the only complete recording of a 1967 concert by Pink Floyd. It includes the show's soundcheck and the 50-minute concert (played at a Swedish restaurant and jazz club called Gyllene Cirkeln a.k.a. Golden Circle). The recording was done by the Swedish sound engineer Anders Lind on his Revox machine. The setlist included "Introduction", "Reaction in G", "Matilda Mother", "Pow R. Toc H.", "Scream Thy Last Scream", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", "See Emily Play" and "Interstellar Overdrive". Despite the overall quality being very good for the time, the vocals are almost impossible to hear (An indication as to the poor quality of P.A equipment then). This concert was officially released in 2016 on The Early Years 1965–1972. Feed Your Head Star Club, Copenhagen, Denmark, 13 September 1967 Audience recording. Also released as "Wonderful, Wonderful Kopenhagen" and "Starclub Psycho". Setlist consists of "Reaction in G", "Arnold Layne", "One in a Million", "Matilda Mother", and "Scream Thy Last Scream". Playhouse Theatre The Playhouse Theatre, London, UK, 25 September 1967 Also released as "Hippy Happy Fair". This is a recording made for the BBC Radio series "Top Gear". The circulating track list consists of "The Scarecrow", "The Gnome", "Matilda Mother", "Flaming", "Set the Controls For The Heart Of The Sun", and an incomplete recording of "Reaction in G". Officially released on The Early Years 1965–1972. The Live Pink Floyd – Oude Ahoy Hallen Rotterdam, Netherlands, 13 November 1967 Audience recording. Setlist consists of "Reaction in G", "Pow R. Toc H.", "Scream Thy Last Scream", and "Interstellar Overdrive". BBC Archives 1967–1969 Maida Vale Studios, London, United Kingdom, 20 December 1967 Pink Floyd's second appearance on the BBC Radio show "Top Gear". This was Barrett's last recorded performance with the band. The track list consists of "Vegetable Man", "Scream Thy Last Scream", "Jugband Blues", and "Pow R. Toc H.". Officially released on The Early Years 1965–1972. Rome Vpro (Broadcast) First European International Pop Festival, Piper Club, Rome, Italy, 6 May 1968 Paradiso Amsterdam Club Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 23 May 1968 Audience recording, also released as "Syncopated Pandemonium" Live in Amsterdam – Fantasio Club Fantasio Club, Amsterdam, Netherlands, second concert on 23 May 1968 Shrine Exposition Hall Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles, 27 July 1968 Audience recording, includes 15:57 version of "A Saucerful of Secrets" Utrecht '68 Margriethal Jaarbeurs, Utrecht, Netherlands, 28 December 1968 Also released as "Owed to Syd Barrett" The track list consists of "Tunings", "Astronomy Domine", "Careful with that Axe, Eugene", "Interstellar Overdrive", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" and "A Saucerful of Secrets"
In January 1996, the label See For Miles Records released the bootleg album "Psychedelic Games for May" which includes a collection of Syd Barrett era Floyd, featuring a pre-Floyd acetate, rough mixes of the early singles plus BBC TV and the unreleased single "Scream Thy Last Scream".
As late as 2004, a bootleg album entitled "Outtakes From Outer Space" emerged from Israel on the dubious-sounding "Hippie Shit Label", featuring a compilation of studio session recordings and outtakes, some mentioned above. The track listing was:
Lucy Leave (First Pink Floyd-Studio-Session) I'm a King Bee (First Pink Floyd-Studio-Session) Interstellar Overdrive (Studio-Session, 31 October 1966) Astronomy Domine (Live in London, 12 May 1967) Experiment (Studio outtakes 1967) Flaming (BBC-Session, 30 September 1967) The Gnome (BBC-Session, 30 September 1967) Matilda Mother (BBC-Session, 30 September 1967) The Scarecrow (BBC-Session, 30 September 1967) Vegetable Man (BBC-Session, 19 December 1967) Pow R. Toc H. (BBC-Session, 19 December 1967) Scream Thy Last Scream (BBC-Session, 19 December 1967) Jugband Blues (BBC-Session, 19 December 1967) Silas Lane (Studio outtakes 1967) Flaming (Single version, available only on USA Tower label) Reaction in G (Live in Rotterdam 12 October 1967) Milky Way (Studio outtake)
1969 Bootleg title Recording details Notes Sound Resounds Around St. James Hall, Chesterfield, United Kingdom, 27 March 1969 soundboard recording including a 16 minutes version of "Interstellar Overdrive" and a 19:13 version of "A Saucerful of Secrets" The Massed Gadget of Auximenes Royal Festival Hall, London, 14 April 1969 audience recording with a performance of "The Man and The Journey" Beset by the Creatures of the Deep University of Southampton, England, 9 May 1969 From the Master Tape Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England, 22 June 1969 released by the label Ayanami, also released as "The Labyrinths of Auximenes" A Man and His Lunacy Royal Albert Hall, London, 26 June 1969 audience recording Plumpton Race Track Plumpton Race Track, East Sussex, London, 8 August 1969 audience recording also released as "The Journey Through the Past", live at 9th National Jazz Pop Ballads & Blues Festival, includes a 20:26 version of "A Saucerful of Secrets" Complete Concertgebouw Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 17 September 1969 soundboard recording also released as "A Man and the Journey", "Amsterdam 69 (Swingin' Pig Version)" and "Amsterdam 1969 (Harvest)", plans for an official live album release of "The Man and The Journey" were considered, but abandoned due to overlap of material with Ummagumma. Officially released in 2016 on The Early Years 1965–1972. Essener Pop Festival Internationales Essener Pop & Blues Festival, Essen, West Germany, 11 October 1969 released by the label 'Man of Leisure Music', also released as "Essen" and "Song Days '69" Amougies Pop Festival Amougies Pop & Jazz Festival, Mont-de-l'Enclus, Belgium, 25 October 1969 first part of a unique concert in Belgium with Frank Zappa as special guest. The complete concert was released on "Interstellar Zappadrive" by Harvested. The songs "Green Is the Colour", "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" are in soundboard quality, but were performed without Frank Zappa. Afan Lido Port Talbot, Wales, 6 December 1969 audience recording, released by Man of Leisure Music. Ahcid Atthak! November–December 1969'Omay Yad'. Also released as 'The Midas Touch' Includes the officially unreleased instrumental "Fingals Cave".
During the two one-week recording sessions in November and December 1969 of the soundtrack for Michelangelo Antonioni's Zabriskie Point at International Recording in Rome, Pink Floyd experienced for the first time a studio leak. Three out-takes appeared on a bootleg album Omay Yad, also known under titles as Oneone, Fingal's Cave and Rain in the Country.
With the advent of a 1997 deluxe reissue of the movie soundtrack on a double compact disc, four previously unreleased Pink Floyd out-takes were also revealed. Almost simultaneously, a 15-track bootleg CD of the complete sessions appeared that revealed additional works in progress, among them a track that was long referred to by Pink Floyd as "The Violent Sequence". It was penned by Richard Wright for a riot scene in the movie and although unreleased in any form officially, was incorporated into their live set as an acoustic piano piece in the early part of the year. It was a forerunner to the melody of "Us and Them", which featured on their 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon.
1970: Atom Heart Mother tour