Bootleg: The Secret History of the Other Recording Industry

by Clinton Heylin

"Densely and with the passion of a world-class collector--the roots of boots run deep."
--Rolling Stone

"Bootleg is the thoroughly researched and highly entertaining tale of those colorful brigands, hapless amateurs and true believers who have done wonders for my record collection. Rock & roll doesn't get more underground than this."
--David Fricke, music editor, Rolling Stone

"The copy of 'GWW' that I bought on Telegraph Avenue in 1969 still sits proudly by my desk. Fascinating now to read this history of rock's demimondes."
--Chet Flippo

"With its unholy mix of consumerism, conspiracy, fetishism, and felony, Clinton Heylin's secret history of bootlegging is enough to restore one's faith in the subversive spirit of rock 'n' roll."

"I think that bootlegs keep the flame of music alive by keeping it out of not only the industry's conception of the artist, but also the artist's conception of the artist."
--Lenny Kaye, musician and critic

"Bootleg fans may ultimately consider this book nearly as crucial as Hot Wacks, a directory of underground titles . . ."
--Billboard

"A well-researched and wide-ranging look . . ."
--Chicago Tribune

"Full of arcane information and firsthand testimony, as well as a stream of anecdotal nuggets from the underground. . . ."
--Los Angeles Weekly

"Heylin methodically punctures each and every record industry argument against bootlegging, while acknowledging that bootleggers themselves are often without the purest motives."
--Los Angeles Reader

"Clinton Heylin's weighty, well-researched, entertaining and ostensibly authoritative tome is long overdue."
--CMJ New Music Monthly

Clinton Heylin is the cofounder of Wanted Man, the British information office dedicated to studying Dylan's life and work. He is the author of Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades, From the Velvets to the Voidoids, and Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions 1960-1964 (SMP, 1995).