Bob Dylan’s Isle of Wight Bootleg: Lou Waxman on Vinyl, Bootlegs, and the Thrill of the Hunt

It began at Lou’s grandparents’ houses.  One grandfather was a bit of a hoarder.  The other collected rocks and minerals.  While the holiday dinner was being prepared and relatives huddled around the TV watching football, Lou was in attics, garages, and basements exploring.  Digging, you dig?  Lou really honed his skill searching for porn in Spring cleaning garbage piles, in the woods, on construction sites, and in the garages and workrooms of friends’ fathers.  This is the genesis of American Pickers.  Frank has that look.  It is a look of desperation and hunger.  He scrounged for porn in his youth.  

In vinyl collecting, the equivalent of looking for porn is searching for bootlegs.  In a world of corporate music and media conglomerates, the unauthorized is obscene.  If you can’t scan it, ban it.  So, when Matt at  The Vogue handed Lou a simple record sleeve with an LP with nothing on the white label and no marking in the wax, Lou knew this was something pornographic in the world of capital and Capitol.  In the sleeve was a single sheet of paper, printed in red on one side with a picture of Bob Dylan from Newport.  There was a track listing of about 17 songs, and the heading indicated that this LP documented Dylan at the Isle of Wight in 1969.  For Lou, this was gold.  

Like most people, Lou was much more familiar with the Isle of Wight concert from 1970.  It could be argued that this was the height of the rock festival that kind of began with Monterey in 1967, crested with Woodstock in 1969, and crashed with Altamont that same year.  The festival was a Sixties thing to be sure, but the Seventies was the golden age of the festival.  There was seemingly one every weekend and their setlists were packed with major acts.  The Isle of Wight in 1970 was no exception, in fact it was exceptional.  Miles Davis.  Jimi Hendrix.  The Who.  The Doors.  The list of acts goes on for days.  It is speculated that 700,000 people may have attended.  There are numerous recordings and videos of the performances.  The list of recordings goes on for days as well.  It was massive.  The 1969 festival was huge, but 1970 was massive.  What is the difference?  About an inch and a half so Lou is told.  But that is another matter altogether in the altogether.

For all the star power and major performances of the 1970 festival, for all its massiveness in short.  The 1969 festival may have had more juice.  It was more than huge; it was legendary.  And this was because of only one artist.  The one artist from the 1960s who held the audience’s ear while holding the audience in the palm of his hand:  Bob Dylan.  Since his 1966 motorcycle accident, Dylan spent three years in semi-retirement.  Albums came out but Dylan did not tour to support them and did not perform live.  Dylan, who did not appear at Woodstock despite living practically next door, was convinced to appear on the faraway Isle of Wight in large part to get a free vacation with his family.  The rumors surrounding his performance were out of control.  Dylan was slated to appear with The Band, but speculation ran wild that the Beatles would show up.  As it turned out, Harrison, Lennon, and Starr were in the audience along with their wives.  Anticipation was at a fever pitch, and Dylan at the Isle of Wight became one of the most hyped shows of the entire decade.  But The Beatles did not come up on stage with Dylan.  Instead, Dylan played a set with The Band that focused on a countryfied sound as represented by John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline plus reworkings of classics like “Maggie’s Farm”, “Like a Rolling Stone”, and “Highway 61 Revisited”.  

It could be argued, and has, that the bootleg industry starts with Bob Dylan and the Great White Wonder from July 1969.  This is no doubt true.  This Isle of Wight recording is the type of stuff that bootlegs were created for.  If the Great White Wonder had not appeared the Isle of Wight recording may have been the first notable rock bootleg.  This boot captures a super-hyped show that most people could never have heard in person.  The sound on the bootleg is definitely countryfied, and it is also somewhat of a rough listen.  It is not soundboard recording stuff.  

In addition, Lou is having trouble tracking down just what pressing this bootleg is exactly.  This is where the history of digging for porn comes back in handy.  From what Lou can tell,this is something related to the Contraband bootleg of a bootleg from 1972 that has a white cover and a red printed insert.  Apparently, there are various Contraband labels out there.  From the sound of the LP and the quality of the vinyl, this platter seems to be several pressings down the line.  

Sound quality be damned.  It is over-rated.  This bootleg is the stuff that Lou lives for.  It takes him back to watching scrambled porn on the TV, while he furiously fiddled with the TV antennafor better reception.  Oh, those glimpses of paradise through the static.  That is what a great bootleg is:  an echo of paradise through the static.  For a few days in the late 1960s and early 1970s the Isle of Wight was paradise on earth for music lovers.

Suggested Sites and Sounds:

Dylan at the Isle of Wight: The Book:  Bob Dylan at the Isle of Wight Festival 1969, Bradshaw 9781909339385 New 9781909339385| eBay

Dylan at the Isle of Wight:  A Review:  Bob Dylan & the Band – Isle of Wight Festival Review | Cult Following

The Who (1969):  The Who - ISLE OF WIGHT 1969 (Full Concert) REMASTERED - YouTube

The Who (1970):  The Who live at the Isle of Wight (1970) Full Concert (high quality)

Miles Davis:  Miles Davis Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970-08-29

The Blue Wild Angel:  God Save the Queen (Live at the Isle of Wight, UK)

 — Lou Waxman