Reply #12: Was recently a Limewire user. Lately xFactor (combines most of those

[ForrestGump]

networks for the Mac). Recently graduated to BitTorrent -- mainly downloading music through tracking sites (easytree.com being the main one) that stipulate that the material has to be not released officially. Bootlegs, in other words, in the traditional sense of the word in the rock world (i.e., unreleased material).

Today I burned (on my laptop) my first DVDs ever, from material downloaded from easytree (man, I bought 50 DVD-Rs for $19.99...a couple or three years ago they were going for a ton of money for each disc...I was too afraid to use them before now). Got myself Paul McCartney in Red Square and Bruce Springsteen in Toronto (1984). I am endlessly impressed. I ahve also filled up my considerable hard-disk space with stuff in the process of downloading. :-)

You've got to be patient, but torrent files are where it's at if you want the really good stuff. I'm a big fan now.

Check out this sampling of the gems that I've downloaded lately while working (wireless!) on my computer (and, indeed, while away from my computer):

AUDIO
Elvis Presley (live in Las Vegas, August, 1973)
Elvis Presley (on tour in March and April, 1977)
Elvis Presley (most of his great 1969 Memphis recordings - already had a lot of the unreleased outtakes but when I finish these ten disks I'll have about all that's survived for every song recorded)
The Beatles - tons of audio material from the "Let It Be" sessions, with more on the way (some I already had, but this is better quality)
The Beatles (on Swedish Radio, 1963)
The Beatles (half of the "Unsurpassed Masters" series already in hand)
The Beatles (Vancouver and Hollywood Bowl, August, 1964)
The Beatles ("It's Not Too Bad" - the evolution of "Strawberry Fields Forever")
Paul McCartney (Charlotte, 1993)
Paul McCartney (Arnhem, Holland, 2003, on 2 CDs)
Paul McCartney (Bridge School benefit, 10/24/04...downloaded just a few days after the show)
Paul McCartney & Wings ("Unsurpassed Masters" series)
Paul McCartney and Wings (Melbourne, 1975)
Paul McCartney and Wings (Glasgow, 1979, and the 1979 Concert For The People Of Kampuchea, on two CDs)
John Lennon (some of the "Complete Lost Lennon Tapes" series)
James Brown (Bridgeport, 1987, on two CDs)
Otis Redding (Stockholm, 1967)
Ray Charles (Paris, 2000)
Stevie Ray Vaughn (Amsterdam, 1983, on 2 CDs)
Stevie Ray Vaughn ("Accolades" - live and studio, 1979-1985, on four CDs)
Stevie Ray Vaughn and Buddy Guy (jamming together in Chicago, 1979)
Bruce Springsteen (1/15/85, on 2 CDs)
Lynyrd Skynyrd (Osaka, 1977)
Leon Russell & Elton John (Fillmore East, 11/70, on two CDs)
Elton John (London, December, 1973, on two CDs)
Spinal Tap (outtakes, live, and other great stuff)
Lyle Lovett (St Paul, 1992, on two CDs)
Lyle Lovett (Austin 1993, on two CDs)
The Doors (Isle Of Wight, 1970)
Stevie Wonder (London, 1974, on 2 CDs)
Roy Orbison Tribute (LA, 1990, on three CDs)
Al Green and Ike & Tina Turner (from 1972, 1974, and 1975)
Santana (Los Angeles and San Diego, 1971, on two CDs)
U2 (Adelaide, 1993, on 2 CDs)

VIDEO
The Beatles - three volumes of video rarities (VCDs)
Stevie Ray Vaughn (Tokyo, 1985, on two VCDs)
Paul McCartney in Red Square (5/24/03, DVD -- in PAL, but it plays on my computer)
Bruce Springsteen (Toronto, 1984, plus bonus footage from other venues and '80s dates on DVD)

Among those I'm trying to get now (gotta be persistent) are a 1975 Skynyrd show, a compilation CD of Bruce doing Elvis songs, the famous 1968 Boston concert that James Brown gave after MLK's death (been having problems with those files), very early Van Halen from the '70s (including them playing at a community college in Pasadena -- never will a Van Hagar tune cross my computer's portal), more Beatles and Elvis (and John and Paul), the Blues Brothers live in 1978 (supposedly very good), more from the likes of U2 and Stevie Ray, Marvin Gaye live in 1979, the Doobie Brothers in Memphis in 1975...there's just a lot of cool stuff out there. Most of it languishing in obscurity because it was never released or aired (or rebroadcast).

Of course, I've been too busy to look at even a fraction of the stuff I'v e so far successfully downloaded, but it's great to have and I've enjoyed what little I've heard (or, in the case of the excellent Bruce DVD today, seen). I've also got familial connections to several of these performers, some very strongly, so those involved are probably going to like having copies of such pristine (all of the ones I've thus far downloaded have been soundboard or broadcast recordings) documents of events that they were actually part of.