Though not a Beatles-specific book per se, this is the new 2nd volume book from Italy that traces the history of underground or what is more commonly called as bootleg recordings. Authored by Fulvio Fiore and Alex Franchi, this is their latest title in a long line of very interesting books. The photographs provided here were taken by one of the authors, Alex Franchi and the book contains quite a bit of Beatles content. Want to make it absolutely clear that posting this book is in no way an endorsement or promotion of underground records, but they do exist, and they appeal to many collectors. This is a collected history of them. Copyright laws are more liberal in several European countries.
There has always been a lot of discussion from critics about the merits or lack thereof of the bootleg industry since their sale is strictly illegal. The collector and fans often take a different perspective seeing the availability of rare material from their idols or favorite artists that is not available elsewhere. I believe that the record companies could make the bootleg industry virtually disappear by catering to the fans interests as to what they would like to see properly issued. Marketing people in the various companies could certainly find a suitable way to not only present the material in the best possible sound quality, but to effectively promote it as well. Bob Dylan with his legally released Bootleg series seems to have found a good way to present his rare material for example.
Here is the text of what was recently sent to me and several of the photos provided for the post by Alex Franchi…
BOOTLEG – THE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, PART 2
FROM THE DVD ERA TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (1998/2024)
By Fulvio Fiore and Alex Franchi
704 Pages, Isla Publishing 2025 / Release Date March 28th, 2025
For ordering or additional information about the book: soundlover30@hotmail.com
Hi READERS! Here we are with the follow-up book of the “Illustrated History of Bootlegs”, 700 pages in addition to the 630 pages of the previous work, all worth reading!
The book traces the period 1998-2024, twenty-six years of history and technological innovations (CDs, DVDs, recordable Blurays and AI), with world market opening sales, traditional and online, of the good old “bootleg” in all its new formats. From 2000 to 2010, DVD reigns supreme, with thousands of titles and new subjects, including the Dutch “The WOW Corporation” (over 500 DVDs in their catalogue). After a decade, however, the new medium is replaced again by the revived vinyl and heroic CD labels, the Japanese Tarantura and the Swedish Crystal Cat, the latter with a catalogue, up to 2024, of 1300 titles!
2024 is the year of “AI” boots, with the everlasting Beatles, Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Springsteen reigning supreme and with the new idols of collectors Madonna, Adele and the latest acts like Taylor Swift.
And here the story ends, even if, 55 years later, bootlegs (despite everything) are still alive…
Here a few extracts on Beatles from the mammoth 700 pages.
Author Alex Franchi has informed me that this book is a limited edition of only 50 copies!
Here is the signed bookplate in the book…
