I was helping clear out an old record store in Pittsburgh last month and behind a shelf of moldy jazz LPs sat a reel-to-reel with no label, just 'Buttermilk 3/14/71' scratched on the side. Spooled it up on a friend's deck and it's a full 40 minutes of them jamming way looser than the studio version of Yeti, with this crazy feedback solo that cuts in around the 22 minute mark. Anyone else ever stumble on a live tape of a forgotten krautrock band that completely changes how you hear their album cuts?
I grabbed a scratchy audience tape of a Nektar show from the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium off a trade list, expecting to file it away as a curiosity. The mix was muddy and someone kept yelling near the mic, but the drum solo on 'A Tab in the Ocean' hit this raw energy that the studio version completely lacks. Now I'm torn between chasing more soundboard-quality bootlegs or keeping this mess for the atmosphere. Anyone else find a terrible recording that made them appreciate a band more than the polished albums?
Grabbed what the seller swore was a one-off demo by a Cleveland garage band, but side A is just them messing up the same riff for 11 minutes. Side B was actually decent, so is there any value in the flaws or did I just fund someone's flea market fantasy?