Bootlegged Beauties Bootlegged Albums Are Everywhere You Turn, But Some Of Them Have Been Elevated To Classics

Picking the best bootleg albums is like naming your favorite musicians of all time: Someone’s going to choose the Beatles, someone’s going to pick the Sex Pistols, someone else Metallica.

But with changes in technology, sound quality and major leaks over the years, there are a few bootleg discs in the flood of releases in the past few years that stand as milestones, sonically or historically:

Bob Dylan, “Highway 61 Revisited Again”

A complete look at the making of “Highway 61”-era songs as it happened, including the full final takes of “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Positively Fourth Street.” The holy grail for Dylan fans.

The Beatles, “Ultra Rare Trax, Vols. 1-6” and “Sessions.”

Beatles bootlegs generally were of poor quality until these tapes leaked out of the EMI vaults in ‘83 and finally turned up on CD in ‘88. Featuring everything from an acoustic take of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” to a 1963 version of “The One After 909” to unreleased songs such as “If You’ve Got Troubles” and “Leave My Kitten Alone,” these discs sent shockwaves through the world of Beatles collectors.

Bruce Springsteen, “The Ties That Bind.”

More than a year before “The River” was released in 1980, Springsteen had put together this shorter alternate version. Different versions of “Stolen Car,” “You Can Look” and the title cut meshed with unreleased songs such as “Cindy” and “Loose Ends.”

Prince, “Small Club, Second Show That Night.”

A secret 1988 after-show gig was recorded professionally by Prince and turned up as a two-disc set, including many unreleased songs and plenty of extended, brilliant guitar solos.

Van Morrison, “Van Morrison Gets His Chance to Wail, Vols. 1-3.”

A wealth of Morrison brilliance, including solo acoustic demos of “Wild Night,” “Caravan,” “And It Stoned Me”; full-band demos from ‘63 to ‘78; and the complete recording of an April 1970 concert at Fillmore West.

Nirvana, “Roma”

A Feb. 22, 1994, radio broadcast from Rome that features hard-edged performances of Nirvana’s best work, including “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “All Apologies,” “Dumb,” “Polly,” “About a Girl” and more.

Guns N’ Roses, “Practice for Destruction.”

Pre-“Appetite For Destruction” demos include covers of “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” as well as songs that would turn up on the band’s debut.

Van Halen, “77”

Live show from 1977 that includes early versions of songs that would turn into Van Halen classics, as well as demos and cover versions of songs such as David Bowie’s “Jean Genie” and Rick Derringer’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll Hootchie-Koo.”

Neil Young, “Chrome Dreams”

Two bootlegs go by this name, but only one is the actual album Young was going to release in the mid-‘70s. Comprising some of his greatest songs - “Powderfinger,” “Like a Hurricane,” “Look Out For My Love,” “Pocohontas,” “Stringman” and more - “Chrome Dreams” eventually was dismantled and spread over several albums from 1976 to 1993.

U2, “Salome”

A three-CD set of the jam sessions that led to the “Achtung Baby” album. The seeds of every song on that album are contained here in perfect sound.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Bootleg jargon Here are some definitions of bootlegging terms Q. What is a bootleg? A. Recordings of material not available through record companies, including live concerts, unreleased albums and studio songs. Q. Who wants them? A. Collectors of a certain musician will seek these after they find themselves wanting more than the artist or record company is willing to release legitimately. Q. Where do you find bootlegs? A. Some small stores carry bootleg CDs, but it’s hit and miss. Sometimes they show up at record swap meets, but authorities have cracked down on them in recent years. Record collectors’ magazines such as Goldmine and the International CD Exchange are more reliable and often carry ads with thinly disguised pitches for mail-order bootlegs, advertised as “collectibles,” “ultra rare” or “live import CDs.” For those with access to the Internet, check out specific band bulletin boards such as alt.fan.nirvana or go directly to alt.fan.bootlegs. Q. Is it legal to sell and buy bootlegs? A. It’s a violation of state and federal copyright laws to make or sell bootlegs - and authorities do prosecute. It’s not illegal to buy or own them. Recording Industry Association of America/Orange County Register