1971 Beatleg Roundup

One of the more notable early Beatlegs appeared in August, 1971 on the Trademark Of Quality label. Yellow Matter Custard was the first of a plethora of titles to include Beatles BBC Radio performances - in this case, an exciting mixture of tunes from Pop Go The Beatles otherwise unreleased by the group (apart from "Slow Down"). Most purchasers probably had no clue about the source of the recordings, and even John Lennon assumed them to be Decca audition tapes when presented with the album later that year.

Other Beatlegs from 1971 covered the by-now familiar "Get Back" acetates (Let It Be - Live), the Let It Be film soundtrack (More Get Back Session), the Hollywood Bowl concert (Shea The Good Old Days), the Shea Stadium concert (Last Live Show), and the Fan Club flexis (Complete Christmas Collection 1963-1969). And the cannibalization had begun: one album paired half of Last Live Show with half of a Rolling Stones bootleg (Battle)!