While this site normally concentrates on official releases, it seems there is room for a page detailing Mellotron-related bootlegs. Official live releases cover a lot of Mellotronic ground, but unless they're by King Crimson, they're unlikely to cover everything (well, nearly), so here are some less-than-completely-legal albums, some only available through the trading community on CD-R, others pressed up commercially. And before you ask, no, I don't sell bootlegs.

Of course, the more popular bands are likely to have many boots available from the same tour, so I've concentrated on the best I've heard, or those with rare performances. Expect regular additions to this page as I expand my collection. You may notice that I've listed releases slightly differently to those on my 'regular' pages; the same concert is often released under a multitude of titles, or none at all, so unless it's a specific collection (usually of studio material), I've listed venue/date, rather than title. To avoid the inevitable continentally-induced confusion, performance dates are written in full. Since sleeve art is a rather moveable feast in bootleg circles, I've tended not to bother putting anything at all, unless one very specific sleeve is generally used.

Highlighting in album tracklistings denotes 'contains Mellotron'. On 'multi-part' tracks I've tried to indicate which parts contain 'Tron, although this isn't always possible.

Ratings:
The * rating (½-5) is my personal, entirely subjective and completely partisan rating of the music.
The 'T' ('Tron, of course...) rating (0-5) is an only slightly more objective indicator of an album's Mellotronness.

Black Sabbath  (UK)

	Convention Hall, Asbury Park, New Jersey, August 6th 1975  (99.58)  ****½/T
	Supertzar/Introduction/Killing   Yourself to Live Hole in the Sky Snowblind Symptom of the Universe War Pigs Megalomania Sabbra Cadabra Jam/guitar solo	Drum solo/jam Supernaut Iron Man Orchid/guitar solo/Rock'n'Roll Doctor Black Sabbath Spiral Architect Embryo/Children of the Grave Paranoid

Mellotron used:

• Band's own M400

By 1975, Black Sabbath were arguably at the peak of their considerable live powers, touring the stunning Sabotage across the civilised world. And Lewisham. Their August 6th gig at Asbury Park's Convention Hall was recorded for the legendary King Biscuit Flower Hour, source of so many great boots, and is a fab document of the Sabs gleefully promoting their new album to a doubtless typical quaalude-popping American audience. The recording is fantastic - way better than the officially-available Live at Last - and the playing is top-notch, too, with none of the drug-induced torpor of later tours. As for the set-list... The only problem with a Sabbath set from this era is that it could never be long enough to include everything you want to hear, the band (as always) fall back on several crowd-pleasers, and Tony Iommi's solo guitar spot was already well out of control, gobbling up a sizeable chunk of their on-stage time. As it is, they touch on all their albums, playing unexpected classics like Hole In The Sky and Spiral Architect in a 100-minute set.

I was under the impression that live keyboard player Gerald Woodruffe played Mellotron on two songs, although closer inspection reveals the strings on Megalomania to be string synth. However, the string part on Spiral Architect, which has a good go at replicating the studio part, is definitely 'Tron, which means they hauled one around for all of one song. Bizarre. There's none of the 'Tron work of some years later, not least the bells on Black Sabbath itself, but one 'Tron track is better than none... It seems that the Mellotron in question was Geezer Butler's; he still has the machine in storage, though I hate to think what sort of condition it's in these days.

All in all, this radio broadcast is more than worthy of official release, and should be sought out by anyone who considers themselves a fan of the band, although it's a bit thin on the ground, Mellotronically speaking. Other relevant info... According to Black-Sabbath.com, the mighty Fireballet supported that night, though sadly their set presumably wasn't recorded. Unless you know better... One version of this boot is available as Behind the Wall of Spock, referring to the band's sometime engineer Spock Wall, although I've also seen it as A Hole in the Spectrum, and at least half a dozen other titles.

See: Black Sabbath

Kaipa  (Sweden)

Stockholm Symphonie  (1976,  54.55)  ****/T Allting Har Sin Början Förlorad i Istanbul Saker Har Tva Sidor Musiken är Ljuset Korståg Stengrodornas Parad/Inget Nytt Under Solen Hoppfullheten/Överheten/Vilseledd

Mellotron used:

• Hired-in M400

Kaipa's Stockholm Symphonie is often sold as a legitimate release, originally appearing on a Japanese label in 1993, but its no-show on their recent The Decca Years 5-CD box pretty much proves its lack of legality, I think. Definite information is hard to come by, but going by the tracklisting, it appears to be a radio broadcast (no audience track) from around 1976, featuring material from their first two albums, Kaipa and Inget Nytt Under Solen. The playing is excellent, as is the song selection, including the brilliant Musiken Är Ljuset from their debut, the only problem being that Roine Stolt's guitar seems to be mixed noticeably higher than Huns Lundin's keyboards, although it's clearly a desk recording.

Now, I know the band never owned a Mellotron, hiring one in for their two relevant albums, so it's quite surprising to hear one used here. Lundin seems to have effectively reproduced his album parts from Inget Nytt, with choirs on Korståg and Hoppfullheten (part three of Skenet Bedrar), although all strings are string synth generated, for some strange reason, as on their albums. This isn't that difficult to find, and can even be bought from some retailers, working on the assumption that it's at least condoned by the band, so if you like their studio work, I doubt if you'll be disappointed. Very little 'Tron, however, making you wonder why they even bothered.

See: Kaipa

Ragnarok  (New Zealand)

Live  (1977,  55.01)  ****/TTTT½ Raga Butterfly Sky Rainbow Bridge I Fall Apart Pink Floyd Medley Led Zeppelin Medley

Mellotron used:

• Band's own M400

While Ragnarok's Live is often sold as an official release, it seems highly likely that it's actually a bootleg. It opens with a 'test tone', then a radio announcer giving some spiel about the band, with the audience cheering in the background; he even mentions some of their gear, including the Moog and Mellotron. Although plenty of radio broadcasts have been released officially, this one seems unlikely; I don't even know for certain that it appeared in '77; I'm just going by the info I've been given. What I can say is that it must've been recorded in '76, as the announcer refers to their 'forthcoming' album, Nooks, which was recorded late that year. The first three tracks are all from their debut, and are slightly stripped-back versions, without the studio gloss, although Butterfly Sky features the same phased 'Tron as its studio counterpart. They betray their pub scene roots with a decent version of Rory Gallagher's I Fall Apart, and their Pink Floyd and Zeppelin medleys, though, making the album well over half covers.

Loads of 'Tron throughout, of course (keys man André Jayet would've been largely silent, otherwise), mostly strings, but with choir on Raga and flutes on Rainbow Bridge, with the highlight being on the Pink Floyd Medley. Ever wondered what Dark Side of the Moon would've sounded like had Rick Wright used a Mellotron? (You haven't?). Wonder no more. Ragnarok play from Us And Them to the end of the album, and as the cliché goes, it's absolutely 'Tron-drenched, mostly strings with a bit of choir, with the odd bit of synth emulating the original. Wonderful.

See: Ragnarok