Boots and birdmen

[svante@df.lth.se (Svante Boerjesson)]

Hi all,

quoting myself...
>>I know the "story" behind "Lifehouse To Leeds" about some "birdman"
>>buying
>>the master tapes at a swap meet. I don't really buy it. Isn't it
>>possible
>>that Pete Townshend was in possession of the tapes and decided to
>>"release" it?
>>And, isn't "birdman" just a synonym for Pete Townshend?
>
>>This may also explain the bootleg "The Tommy Demos" and similar
>>bootlegs.

>From: WFang01@aol.com
>Svante, re: "Lifehouse To Leeds". I've spoken to Chris Charlesworth on this
>issue as I believe he bought those NY Kit Lambert produced tapes from the guy
>who booted it.

How did Chris Charlesworth get in touch with the guy? Did he know him?

>
>As for the "Tommy Demos", I have yet to get a straight story (at least to my
>satisfaction). According to Chris C, these demos may have been floating
>around in the UK for quite some time. He told me that he has an old vinyl
>boot called (this part is interesting), "The Genius Of Pete Townshend" that
>has the demos, to which I replied, "Are you sure you don't mean, "Obscure And
>Oblique" as here, the "Genius of..." is the "Lifehouse Demos"??? But, he said
>he was sure.

Yes, but why is it interesting? Because old Charlesworth suffers from bad
memory? Or is he lying?

>I thought that Pete must have given them out since the quality
>was so good,

Yes, that's what I thought too. But I believe Pete has also given out demos
to journalists to rub them the right way. Maybe Chris C. has recieved some.

>but in this business, it seems that people have sat on some good
>stuff for a LONG time. Again, just glad I have it. I'm a bit disappointed
>with the treatment of the "Quad Demos",

I'm truly grateful to anyone who takes the time and trouble to get out the
tapes and high quality stuff to fans who are dying to hear them. The bootleggers
aren't that hard to find. So if some people are sitting on stuff they
shouldn't JUST BE SITTING ON, I hope they contact a bootlegger and release it
through him. There are moral issues to this of course, and legal ones, but at
least the bootlegger takes care of the legal ones, as he's the one actually
releasing it.

And, I saw a CD called ummh.. "It's a Quad" at a record fair recently. It
had, besides most of Pete's Quad-demos, also two songs listed to be demos
by the band. "I'm One" and "The Real Me" (I think)

>From: bkawa@ix.netcom.com (Bruce Kawakami )
>
>The Byrdman is an actual bootlegger (not Pete) who has issued bootlegs
>at least since the mid-eighties.  These include many non-Who boots, I
>doubt Pete could or would release boots by other bands.

Well I didn't think that Pete would actually manufacture the CDs and sell them.
But I thought that he was the one who originally _let_go_of_it_. That's what
I meant anyway.

>
>The story about the dumpster find and eventual swap meet sale of the
>"Lifehouse to Leeds" tape is true.  On a related note, the band had to
>buy a copy of their Young Vic 4/26/71 performance at a public auction
       ^^^^
       not the original?

>because they lost the master tape!  This tape also came from the
>Olympic Studios dumpster.  Obviously the owner was smart enough to make
>a copy, hence the bootleg "Lifehouse Live."

Then it's probably true, but it also makes me wonder why a better sounding
bootleg of the Young Vic show hasn't been made. And what other Who tapes
were in this dumpster?

- Svante

---------------------------------------------------------------
  Svante Boerjesson <svante@df.lth.se>, phone (+46) 40 916403
                     homepage at: http://www.df.lth.se/~svante
---------------------------------------------------------------