Pixies

Discography: Bootlegs


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PIXIES BOOTLEGS TOP TEN

  1. Rough Diamonds
  2. Give Me Ecstasy
  3. B-side File 3rd Edition
  4. The Fallen Shelter
  5. Live In Vienna
  6. The Dream Is Over
  7. Timeless Stars
  8. Gone To Heaven
  9. Come On Pilgrim/Surfer Rosa Demo Tapes (bootleg cassettes)
  10. Here We Come

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Rough Diamonds

Rough Diamonds (bootleg CD)
Blue Moon Records (BMCD32)
Europe




  1. Hey
  2. Levitate Me
  3. Wild Honey Pie
  4. Caribou
  5. In Heaven
  6. Dead
  7. Tame
  8. There Goes My Gun
  9. Manta Ray
  10. Down To The Well
  11. Into The White
  12. Wave Of Mutilation
  13. Monkey Gone To Heaven
  14. Allison
  15. Wave Of Mutilation
  16. Ana
  17. Palace Of The Brine
  18. Letter To Memphis
  19. Motorway To Roswell
  20. Subbacultcha
  21. Build High
  22. I Can't Forget
  23. Born In Chicago
  24. Velouria
  25. Hang On To Your Ego
  26. Is She Weird?
  27. Gigantic
  28. River Euphrates
  29. Tame
  30. Down To The Well
  31. Rock A My Soul
Where and when: all songs are STUDIO versions
1-5: Maida Vale, Studio 4, 3/5/88 (4 tracks on Timeless Stars & B-side File)
6-9: Hippodrome Studio, London, 9/10/88
10-12: Maida Vale Studio 3, London, 16/4/89
13-16: Maida Vale Studio 5, London, 18/8/90
17-20: Maida Vale Studio 3, London, 23/6/91
21-22: Master Control Studio, Burbank, 9/91 (L. Cohen tribute version for 22)
23: Recording Co. Studio, Chicago, 7/90 (Rubaiyat compilation version)
24-26: Portastudio demo, Los Angeles, 6/90
27-28: Blackwing Studio, London, 2/5/88 (Gigantic ep versions)
29-31: Fort Apache Studio, Boston, 3/87
Length: 73:33 (31 songs)
Sound: from A to A+
Definitely the best existing Pixies boot!
31 tracks, all studio versions, among which:
- 5 only can be found on officially released CDs (one very rare)
- 9 only can more or less easily be found on other boots, but usually with a worse sounding quality!
- 17 are exclusive to this CD!
Certainly all BBC sessions are there (the first 20 tracks!).
The overall sound quality is excellent, and many of the alternate versions are quite exceptional, e.g. Into The White, a version of Wave Of Mutilation between the original and the UK Surf ones, two early versions of Down To The Well, a crazy version of There Goes My Gun, a rough version of Is She Weird?, and many others.
RD is also the only record to feature a Pixies version of Hang On To Your Ego. Frank Black has mentioned this BBC session as a first, weak attempt to make the Beach Boys cover. Personnally, I prefer the Pixies version to the Frank Black one: it is weirder.

Give Me Ecstasy

Give Me Ecstasy (bootleg CD)
Psycho Studios Ltd. (Psycho 02)
USA/Europe (?)




  1. Tame
  2. Debaser
  3. I Bleed
  4. Wave of Mutilation
  5. Crackity Jones
  6. Bailey's Walk
  7. Mr. Grieves
  8. Dead
  9. Gouge Away
  10. Manta Ray
  11. Santo
  12. No. 13 Baby
  13. La La Love You
  14. There Goes My Gun
  15. Silver
  16. Monkey Gone To Heaven
  17. Into The White
  18. Wave of Mutilation
  19. No. 13 Baby
  20. Dead
  21. Crackity Jones
  22. River Euphrates
  23. There Goes My Gun
  24. Monkey Gone To Heaven
  25. Isla De Encanta
  26. Gigantic
  27. Hey
  28. Caribou
  29. Debaser
Where and when:
1-16: Studios (Doolittle Demos)
17-29: Live in Liverpool (May 3rd 1989)
Length: ~72 min. (29 songs)
Sound: A/A+ (for both studios and live versions)
Two excellent boots into one: the first half (16 tracks) consists of Doolittle demos, whereas the second half (13 tracks) was recorded live in Liverpool (May 3rd 1989).
The overall sound quality is excellent.
Doolittle demos do not contain otherwise unreleased songs (the pseudo "unknown" tracks on the CD insert are actually B-sides, cf. detailed information). However, all of the tracks (except these B-sides!) are different from the versions officially released.
Some songs are quite different from the known versions (just listen to the versions of Debaser or La La Love You!), even though most of them already have their final shape.
The Liverpool gig is quite good (and this is the only boot I know to feature it). An interesting thing is that Black Francis speaks quite a lot, when compared to usual gigs.

B-side File 3rd Edition

B-side File 3rd Edition (bootleg CD)




  1. Down To The Well
  2. Rock My Soul
  3. Gigantic (12 " version)
  4. Vamos (live)
  5. Heaven (live)
  6. Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)
  7. Into the White
  8. Bailey's Walk
  9. Manta Ray
  10. Weird At My School
  11. Dancing the Manta Ray
  12. Make Believe
  13. I've Been Waiting For You
  14. The Thing
  15. Velvety Instrumental Version
  16. Winterlong
  17. Santo
  18. Born In Chicago
  19. Theme From Narc
  20. Build High
  21. Evil Hearted You
  22. Planet of Sound (live)
  23. Tame (live)
  24. Letter to Memphis (instrumental)
  25. Hey (Peel session)
  26. In Heaven (Peel session)
  27. Wild Honey Pie (Peel session)
  28. Caribou (Peel session)
  29. I Can't Forget
Length: 70:40 (29 songs)
Sound: A+ (except Peel sessions: B+)
Note: 29 is not listed on the insert
2nd Edition = 3rd Edition - (18, 29)
B-Side File = 2nd Edition - (3, 4, 5)
The B-side File is certainly the most famous Pixies boot.
There have been several editions of it, each new one extending the former with new tracks. The First B-Side File had 24 tracks, and the last one for now (3rd edition) has 29 of them (including a hidden track, which is I Can't Forget, the L. Cohen cover).
What does it contain? Nearly all EP B-sides (there is still one missing: the alternate version of River Euphrates on Gigantic EP), several other rare official tracks (Rock A My Soul, Down To The Well from 1987, I Can't Forget, Born In Chicago), and 4 BBC sessions. All the non-EP tracks are also featured on Rough Diamonds.
Official tracks originally on CD just sound as if the boot was a regular release. Sound quality for other tracks is not as good as on Rough Diamonds: there is a hiss in Down To The Well (transferred with Rock A My Soul from an original 7"), and the BBC sessions, though not bad, do not sound that good.
The B-side file is very interesting for those who don't want to buy all Pixies EPs/compilations. Another interest (even for those who have the B-sides) is that they are combined into a single CD. Non American purchasers will have the opportunity to listen to Motorway To Roswell (Instrumental), which was US-only. American purchasers will have the opportunity to listen to 75% of the tracks from Gigantic EP (not released in the USA).
Note: The 3rd edition's insert has a nice photograph of the group inside.

The Fallen Shelter (bootleg cass.)


  1. Holiday Song
  2. I'm Amazed
  3. Rock A My Soul
  4. Isla De Encanta
  5. Caribou
  6. Broken Face
  7. Subbacultcha
  8. Build High
  9. Ed Is Dead
  10. Nimrod's Son
  11. Down To The Well
  12. I've Been Tired
  13. Boom Chick A Boom
  14. Vamos
  15. Heaven
  16. Interview
Where and when: WJUL studios (University of Lowell), December 1986
Length: ~42min.
Sound: B/B+
Fallen Shelter is an exceptional document on the Pixies: this is a radio broadcast from December 1986. The Pixies are a brand new group, which is desperately looking for a label. Their manager at that time is a certain "Ann", and the singer still presents himself as "Charles Thompson".
The recording is composed of songs performed live in the WJUL studios (University of Lowell), and is followed by a short interview.
Fallen Shelter boot seems to originally be a vynil record. Unfortunately, only tapes seem to circulate, which are duplicated one from another in an endless process. The sound quality is quite low, and a funny thing is that all the copies I have heard have the same problem: this is as if the source record had been played too fast, which makes the rythm a little bit fast, and voices a little bit high.
Besides its historical importance, FS has another interest: a Pixies song which cannot be found anywhere else. A speculated title for it is Boom Chick A Boom.

Live In Vienna

Live In Vienna (bootleg CD)
Oblivion




  1. Bone Machine
  2. Cactus
  3. Caribou
  4. Crackity Jones
  5. Dead
  6. Debaser
  7. Gigantic
  8. Gouge Away
  9. Hey
  10. The Holiday Song
  11. I Bleed
  12. Isla De Encanta
  13. Levitate Me
  14. Mr. Grieves
  15. Monkey Gone To Heaven
  16. Nimrod's Son
  17. No. 13 Baby
  18. River Euphrates
  19. Tame
  20. There Goes My Gun
  21. Vamos
  22. Wave Of Mutilation
  23. Where Is My Mind?
Where and when: Vienna, June 12th, 1989
Length: 62:42 (23 songs)
Sound: A/A+
The first 4 boots mainly dealt with studio tracks. What about real live performances?
Live In Vienna is an excellent one. It features a whole set from the Doolittle era concerts (with the set list in alphabetical order!).
Good live boots from this era are the easiest to find, but Vienna uniquely combines both quality and completeness.

The Dream Is Over

The Dream Is Over (bootleg CD)
Frank Black
a.k.a Black Francis
KTS156




  1. Tame
  2. Cactus
  3. Tony's Theme
  4. The Holiday Song
  5. Gouge Away
  6. Monkey Gone To Heaven
  7. Weird At My School
  8. Hang Wire
  9. No. 13 Baby
  10. Dead
  11. Wave Of Mutilation
  12. Broken Face
  13. Into The White
  14. I'm Amazed
  15. The Happening
  16. Manta Ray
  17. I Bleed
  18. Blown Away
  19. Crackity Jones
  20. Is She Weird?
  21. Nimrod's Son
  22. Ed Is Dead
  23. Levitate Me
  24. River Euphrates
  25. Dancing The Manta Ray
Where and when: USA, 1992 (?)
Length: 57:48 (24 songs)
Sound: B+/A (audience)
Pixies songs performed by Black Francis solo (before Pixies split).
It is claimed to be recorded in the USA in 1992, but was more certainly recorded after Doolittle tour, in 1990, either in Europe or in the USA.
This is really an interesting boot, which obviously sounds differently from Pixies or Frank Black live performances. Black Francis does not make sensitive acoustic renditions of his songs, but plays his electric guitar, and flail and scream as if the three other Pixies were backing him up.
This is an audience recording, but a good quality one.

Timeless Stars

Timeless Stars (bootleg CD)
Speedball (SBC011)
Europe




  1. Into the white
  2. Wave of mutilation
  3. There goes my gun
  4. Monkey gone to heaven
  5. Debaser
  6. Isla de enchanta
  7. Bone machine
  8. Cactus
  9. Gigantic
  10. Gouge away
  11. Tame
  12. Down to the well
  13. Rock a my soul
  14. Hey
  15. Hey
  16. In heaven
  17. Wild honey pie
  18. Caribou
Where and when:
1-11: Live Newcastle Poly May 89 (A) (28:19)
12-13: Previously released tracks on "Sounds Waves 3" EP (A+) (3:54)
14: Live town & country May 1st 88, released on Sounds Machine EP (A) (3:12)
15-18: First John Peel session (B+) (10:01)
Length: 45:28 (18 songs)
This one includes live tracks recorded at the Newcastle Poly in May 1989. Therefore yet another Doolittle era boot. The sound is very good.
Additional tracks include BBC sessions (those also available on the B-Side File and on Rough Diamonds), and the Pixies tracks from the two Sounds mag EPs. If those from Sounds Waves 3 are quite common (Rough Diamonds, B-Side File), TS is the only boot to feature the track from Sounds Machine 7 " (Hey (live)).

Gone To Heaven

Gone To Heaven (bootleg CD)
The Swingin' Pig Records (TSP-CD-163)
Luxemburg




  1. Rock Music
  2. Cecilia Ann
  3. Gouge Away
  4. Motorway To Roswell
  5. Alec Eiffel
  6. Velouria
  7. Crackity Jones
  8. Distance Equals Rate Times Time
  9. Manta Ray
  10. Dancing The Manta Ray
  11. Lovely Day
  12. Subbacultcha
  13. Letter To Memphis
  14. Palace Of The Brine
  15. Ed Is Dead
  16. Wave Of Mutilation
  17. Monkey Gone To Heaven
  18. Bird Dream Of The Olympus Mons
Where and when: Los Angeles, december 22, 1991
Length: 48:42 (18 songs)
Sound: A/A+ (FM broadcast)
A Trompe Le Monde era live boot.
The sound is really excellent, and the concert has something special:
keyboards, played by Eric Drew Feldman. This gives some very interesting interpretations, more especially for Gouge Away.
The track listing is quite complementary to that of Subbacultcha, another interesting boot from the same period.

Come On Pilgrim/Surfer Rosa Demo Tapes (bootleg cassettes)


  1. Build High
  2. Down to the Well
  3. Here Comes Your Man
  4. Ed is Dead
  5. Brick is Red
  6. Weird At My School
  7. Rock A My Soul
  8. I'm Amazed
When: 1987 or 1988
Sound: C+/B

  1. Levitate Me
  2. The Holiday Song
  3. I've Been Tired
  4. Break My Body
  5. Down to the Well
  6. Rock A My Soul
  7. I'm Amazed
  8. Build High
  9. In Heaven
  10. Caribou
  11. Here Comes Your Man
  12. Subbacultcha
  13. Vamos
  14. Broken Face
  15. Nimrod's Son
  16. Isla de Encanta
  17. Ed is Dead
When and where: Fort Apache studios, Boston, 1986 or 1987
Sound: B+
Notes: songs from Come On Pilgrim are identical to album versions. Down To The Well and Rock A My Soul are the versions from Sounds Wave 3 EP.
There are obviously several tapes from various sessions. I never heard about an LP or CD version.
Depending on the sessions, the sound quality ranges from low to OK. It is never really good.
Some of the highlights are the demo from Brick Is Red, with additional lyrics, and the very early version of Subbacultcha, which actually combines it with future Distance Equals Rate Times Time.

Here We Come

Here We Come (bootleg CD)
MLP (MLP 1, 1992)




  1. Velvety Instrumental Version
  2. Brick Is Red (instrumental)
  3. Oh My Golly (instrumental)
  4. Ana
  5. Cecilia Ann
  6. Levitate Me
  7. Stormy Weather
  8. All Over The World
  9. Extinction
  10. Distance Equals Rate Times Time
  11. Subbacultcha
  12. Here Comes Your Man
  13. Dead
  14. Manta Ray
  15. Head On
  16. U-Mass
  17. Motorway To Roswell
  18. Letter To Memphis
  19. Palace Of The Brine
  20. Planet Of Sound
  21. Bird Dream Of The Olympus Mons
  22. Trompe Le Monde
  23. Is She Weird
  24. Caribou
  25. The Holiday Song
  26. Weird At My School
  27. Nimrod's Son
Where and when: New York, February 5th, 1992
Length: 70:51 (27 songs)
Sound: B+ (audience)
There are some other TLM era boots with a much better sound quality than Here We Come (e.g. Subbacultcha).
Here We Come (New York, February 5th, 1992) is interesting because it features songs, which were very seldomly played by the Pixies on stage, such as Brick Is Red (an instrumental version here), Trompe Le Monde, or Oh My Golly (instrumental also).

QUICKIES ON OTHER BOOTS (CDs)

SUBBACULTCHA (TLM era gig)

Live at Leysin Rock Festival (July 11th 1991)
Excellent boot.

ALL OVER THE WORLD (Doolittle era gigs)

Live at Newcastle Polytechnic (same as Timeless Stars), Pink Pop Festival (15 May 1989, average quality), and Cabaret Metro, Chicago (Pixies Live promo).
Very good boot (but somehow redundant).

PIXIES VELOURIA LIVE (Doolittle and Bossanova era gigs)

Live at Cabaret Metro, Chicago (Pixies Live promo), and in Utrecht (September 25, 1991)
Excellent, but short boot (41 min.)

ZURICH 1989 (Doolittle era gig)

Live at Rote Fabrik, Zurich, June 10, 1989.
Set list is a subset of Live In Vienna, and quality is not as good.

GIGANTIC (BBC sessions + Doolittle era gigs)

Low quality. Most tracks appear on other boots.

BLACK HUNTER (Doolittle era gig)

Apparently, a good part of the Chicago gig. Maybe other source(s).
Good quality.

PIXIES LIVE (BBC tracks + Doolittle era gig)

Cabaret Metro, Chicago (Pixies Live promo), + 3 excellent quality BBC sessions (also on Rough Diamonds)
Excellent, but now redundant boot. The insert is a copy of the US Pixies Live promo sleeve.

BONE MACHINE (Doolittle era gig, alphabetical order)

Good one, but Live In Vienna is better.

PLANET OF SOUND (double CD, TLM era gig)

Could have been an interesting boot, but relatively poor audience recording.

SITUATION RED (TLM era gig)

Live in Florida, 1992.
Low quality. To be avoided.

JAAP EDENHALL (TLM era gig)

Live at Jaap Edenhall, July 13, 1991.
Not that good (audience recording)

THIS WAS MY LIFE (Doolittle era gig)

Live in New York, July 31, 1989.
Good, but short one (45 min.)

Last Updated 12-11-95