Tag: ten years of bootlegs

Fifteen Years of Bootlegs

Though I started this blog in 2004 it wasn’t until 2008 that I started posting bootlegs for download. That’s approximately fifteen years (more or less, there have been some stops and starts along the way) of me posting shows on this blog. I don’t have any real idea of how many shows I’ve posted in all those years. I’ve got 6,960 of them that I’ve labeled “Bootleg Bonanza” which is what I used to call those posts. But that doesn’t include any of the shows that are still locked away in private mode, nor any of the more recent shows that I’ve thrown up on Google Drive. That’s a lot of sharing. I’m proud of that.

Five years ago I did a series of posts where I celebrated Ten Years of Bootlegs. I did a little countdown of my Top Ten most popular bootleg posts, according to my hit counter. I thought it would be fun to revisit that post with an update for the 15 Year Anniversary.

As always there are caveats. My hit counter is wrong. Over the years I have switched a time or two between WordPress and Blogger. I’ve had my own website, I’ve downloaded counters, and relied on whatever WordPress uses internally. I went private for a few years, blocking all search engine access. I urged everyone to sign up for my e-mails (which means most people never actually come to the site, they just download from the e-mail.) And now that I’m doing daily posts where I mostly link directly to Google instead of doing individual posts for each show. All of that has massively messed with my stats.

But with all of that in mind, I still think it is fun to see what is most popular.

Here’s the original list, with original stats.

10. Bob Dylan – Abandoned Desire – 2251 hits
09. Bob Dylan – 1978 Tour Collection – 2125 hits
08. Bob Dylan – The Genuine Never Ending Tour Covers Collection (1988-2006) – 2345 hits
07. Bob Dylan & The Grateful Dead – The Entire Tour – 3015 hits
06. Bob Dylan – The Complete Supper Club Soundboards – 3302 hits
05. Bob Dylan & Mark Knopfler – The Complete Recording Session – 3254 hits
04. Bob Dylan – Santa Cruz, CA (03/15-16/00) – 2874 hits
03. Bob Dylan – A Couple More Years – 3646 hits
02. The Allman Brothers Band – San Francisco, CA (12/31/73) – 3552 hits
01. Bob Dylan – The 1974 Soundboard Collection – 4367 hits

And here’s the updated list.

10. Bob Dylan & The Grateful Dead – San Rafael, CA (06/01/87) – 3802 hits
09. Bob Dylan – 1978 Tour Compilation – 3891 hits
08. The Grateful Dead – The Entire Warfield Theatre 1980 Run – 3963 hits
Van Morrison – Shows by Year – 4251
07. Bob Dylan – Santa Cruz, CA (03/15-16/00) – 4459 hits
06. Bob Dylan – The Genuine Never Ending Tour Covers Collection (1988-2000) – 4641 hits
05. The Allman Brothers – San Francisco, CA (12/31/73) 4880 hits
Grateful Dead: Shows by Year – 5103
04. Bob Dylan & Mark Knopfler – The Complete Recording Sessions 1979-1986 – 5191 hits
03. Bob Dylan – Complete Supper Club Soundboards – 5323 hits
02. Bob Dylan – 1974 Soundboard Collection – 6487 hits
01. Bob Dylan & The Grateful Dead – The Entire Tour – 8139 hits

So as you can see it mostly stayed the same, which makes sense, I guess. What was popular then stayed popular now. The positioning has changed a bit which is interesting.

The Dead’s Warfield run of 1980 joined the list. It wasn’t posted until the middle of these anniversary posts which explains why it wasn’t on the original list. And a single Dylan and the Dead show also entered the list. I’m not sure why that particular one is popular. Pushed out were two Dylan outtake sessions – Abandoned Desire and A Couple More Years.

And there you have it. I don’t know if anyone but me cares about this stuff but I think it is pretty interesting. It does sadden me a little to realize that the way I post shows now pretty much eliminates my ability to know which shows are the most popular. Maybe someday I’ll go back to posting individual posts for individual shows, but that day isn’t today.

Ten Years of Bootlegs #1: Bob Dylan – The 1974 Soundboard Collection

And here we are, the #1 most popular bootleg post. When I started this blog I had no idea how long it would last. When I first started posting bootlegs it was really just one more thing in the big pop cultural potpourri that I was posting to my little plot of webspace. I couldn’t have guessed they would completely take over the blog within a few years and that I’d still be plugging away ten years later. I have no complaints, this blog has brought me a lot of joy. I’ve met some pretty cool people and listened to and learned a lot about some really great music. So once again to all of you, thanks for making The Midnight Cafe such a great place, it wouldn’t exist without you.

Ten Years of Bootlegs #1: Bob Dylan – 1974 Soundboard Collection

Of course, this is the biggest bootlegs on my site. It is Dylan, It is the Band, and it’s all from glorious soundboards.

First posted on September 2, 2015
Total number of hits: 4367

I don’t know about you all, but I’ve had a lot of fun trolling through these old posts and see what’s most popular. It has been really interesting to watch all the numbers go way up after I write a new Ten Years post and see everybody flock to the old post. I’m thinking about doing a regular post where I highlight some old shows I posted ages ago. Might be a fun way to remind people of something maybe they didn’t see the first time. Maybe I’ll even ask for some guest writers to pick out a favorite show or something.

Anyways thanks for hanging around.

Here at the other Ten Years of Bootlegs posts.

#10 Bob Dylan – Abandoned Desire
#9 Bob Dylan – 1978 Tour Collection
#8 Bob Dylan – The Genuine Never Ending Tour Covers Collection (1988-2000)
#7 Bob Dylan & The Grateful Dead – The Entire Tour
#6 Bob Dylan – The Complete Supper Club Soundboards
#5 Bob Dylan & Mark Knopfler – The Complete Recording Sessions
#4 Bob Dylan – Santa Cruz, CA (03/15-16/00)
#3 Bob Dylan A Couple More Years
#2 The Allman Brothers Band – San Francisco, CA (12/31/73)

Ten Years of Bootlegs #2: The Allman Brothers Band – San Francisco, CA (12/31/73)

Ever since coming up with this list, I’ve pondered why The Allman Brothers Band would be the only non-Bob Dylan show to crack the top ten. Why is there no Jerry? No Van on this list? I don’t have a good answer. My best guess is that Jerry and the Dead both exist in abundance on the Internet and that my little site is one of many places you can download and stream those artists. One thing you might notice in my top ten list is that most of the shows on it are either alt-cuts of a specific album or compilations of some sort. Thus far there hasn’t been a single show appearing on the list. The closest we’ve come is #4 which includes two complete shows from Dylan in 2000. The thing is I haven’t posted very many compilations from Jerry or the Dead. I suspect there just isn’t a single show from them that can push them above a Dylan comp.

As for Van, he doesn’t have that large a presence online. He’s kind of the opposite of the Dead where very few places exist on the Internet that are sharing his shows. Part of this is due to Van himself taking measures to stop the spread of his music being shared online. For years he used the Web Sheriff to take down anything that wasn’t officially sanctioned. He’s calmed down over the last few years but that still leaves people a little gun-shy. Van also doesn’t seem to be as popular as Bob and Jerry. At least he doesn’t seem to create the sort of fans that create passion websites about him.

All of this is just me guessing. I really have no idea.

So why the Allman Brothers? Over the ten years I’ve been doing this I’ve only posted a handful of shows from the Allmans. Fans are certainly not tuning into these pages for ABB bootlegs. I’m sure many of you are fans of the band, but The Midnight Cafe is not the place you are coming to for their shows. Similar to Van Morrison you can’t find a ton of places for ABB bootlegs. They officially allow tapers to record their shows but they get a little wonky in terms of letting people like me post the shows online. I suspect there is a high demand for the shows, but not as many places to find them. Thus when I posted this show people gravitated toward it. Or more likely someone posted a link to this show on some ABB forum or another.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that this is a pretty epic show from the band’s peak. Oh, and it does feature Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzman & Boz Scaggs.

Whatever the reasons the Allman Brother Band comes in at #2 in my Top Ten viewed bootlegs of all time. Here are the stats.

Allman Brothers Band
December 31, 1973
Cow Palace
San Francisco, CA

First posted on November 7, 2011.
Total number of views: 3,552

Here at the other Ten Years of Bootlegs posts.

#10 Bob Dylan – Abandoned Desire
#9 Bob Dylan – 1978 Tour Collection
#8 Bob Dylan – The Genuine Never Ending Tour Covers Collection (1988-2000)
#7 Bob Dylan & The Grateful Dead – The Entire Tour
#6 Bob Dylan – The Complete Supper Club Soundboards
#5 Bob Dylan & Mark Knopfler – The Complete Recording Sessions
#4 Bob Dylan – Santa Cruz, CA (03/15-16/00)
#3 Bob Dylan -Bob Dylan – A Couple More Years

Ten Years of Bootlegs #5: Bob Dylan & Mark Knopfler – The Complete Recording Sessions

June slipped by and half of July before I realized I’d missed posting this. These posts have been fascinating for me to write and then watch as the blog changes. I’ve noted before that I don’t really pay a lot of attention to my counter stats and the like, but doing this list has made me look at some of the numbers at least. It has been amazing to watch how whenever I write one of these anniversary posts and link back to an original post that original post then explodes in terms of hit count. After a couple of months, I made a text file listing the TOP Ten shows because the numbers were changing too much.

The numbers are changing on shows I haven’t talked about, too.

The fifth most downloaded bootlegs of all time:

Lossless Bootleg Bonanza: Bob Dylan & Mark Knopfler – The Complete Recording Sessions 1979-1986
Total number of hits: 3254

When I made my text file this show had 2874 hits. In the last few months, it has received an additional 380 hits all on its own. Obviously, that’s not a huge number but considering I originally posted that show back in 2015 and blogs are all about the new I think that’s pretty cool.

I’m actually not a huge expert on this period of Dylan’s career (compared to some of you I’m not an expert on any part of Dylan’s career). Which means I don’t have a whole lot to say about this bootleg. Mark Knopfler has played on a few of Dylan’s albums and played with him on tour. This boot collects some of the b-sides for Infidels, plus tour rehearsals and a couple of live songs. It’s a pretty eclectic mix, but an interesting one, especially for fans of Knopfler’s work.

Here at the other Ten Years of Bootlegs posts.
#10 – Bob Dylan – Abandoned Desire
#9 – Bob Dylan – 1978 Tour Collection
#8 – Bob Dylan – The Genuine Never Ending Tour Covers Collection (1988-2000)

#7 – Bob Dylan & The Grateful Dead – The Entire Tour
#6 – Bob Dylan – The Complete Supper Club Soundboards