Coda Records - Rare And Legal Bootlegs

Introduction

A bootlegger is someone who sells illegal goods. Today, bootleggers are most likely to sell pirated movies or music. This word comes from bootleg and, in particular, the trick of hiding a flask inside a boot. Bootleggers smuggle illegal things, and sometimes legal goods too, in order to avoid paying taxes.

The video is "Go To Rhino Records" by Wild Man Fischer because there is no "Go To Coda Records" . Frank Zappa tells a funny story about Larry Fischer, well vioently funny:

"Larry had the axe, his brother had the bad luck"

Since I started buying music people's attitudes to music have changed seismically, partially due to the remarkable steps in technology (though they still haven't got a teleporter to work, that would really make my life so much better, instant transport to anywhere and the ability to go for a coffee with my friends around the world).

In the sixties and seventies bootlegging was disliked intensely by most bands, except The Grateful Dead who encouraged it. Their attitude was that a concert was a moment in time that would never happen again and people had paid for their tickets, so the band had got what they needed.

I think that when bootlegs were being sold for often exorbitant fees bands saw their fans getting ripped off and maybe thought it would reflect on them for letting it happen.

With the advent of compact cassette recorders and more significantly digital recording, especially phones, anyone can record a concert without too much effort.

I picked up these CD sets from Springsteen and Bowie. The Springsteen is fifteen discs of radio broadcasts, three different concerts with very similar set lists and when you listen to them they are like a good radio broadcast. The Springsteen set was only £15 when I bought it, it is a bit more expensive now.

On To Coda Records

Coda Records specialises in radio broadcasts and album sessions but does carry official album releases, and their website is worth a wander around if you like rock music and vinyl.

This is their website:

And this is my collection from Coda featuring live performances from David Bowie, The Grateful Dead and Deep Purple, and rehearsal sessions by Uriah Heep for their albums "Salisbury" and "Look At Yourself" which, to me are not far off the original album releases.

So you can see that I have failed to resist temptation a few times, but all these albums are great to listen to and are permanently part of my collection.

I do get a little annoyed when coloured vinyl or picture discs are used as a main selling point for a record, and as you can see there is not a single black vinyl record among these discs.

I would say that the Grateful Dead one is the most striking (the 10" sets are both double albums and the sleeves are very informative).

Coda often advertises these recordings as "legendary" when in fact they are live recordings and that's it.

So that is my criticism but on to the many good points.

The Uriah Heep album sessions meant I got vinyl copies if some of my favourite songs for a very favourable price. There is nothing but the record, but that is OK. I do like a good record cover that I can read and explore, but if I want that I really need to invest in the official release. One example is the reissue of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" which comes with the original posters and stickers and was repurchased for my collection.

Coda keeps unearthing many interesting recordings and though I can mostly resist temptation I know that I will slip and buy something. I continually tell people my vinyl collection is complete, and then something else turns up that I think would fit snugly with the rest of my collection.

Conclusion

Coda are an impressive operation and they have spawned a few imitators, but they are likely to be my first port of call for vinyl copies of radio broadcasts and similar recordings.

Thand you for reading