Expert: James Michael Anderson - 10/14/2009

Question
I picked up a copy of a Twickenham sessions bootleg called "In a Play Anyway," produced by Circuit Records for a buck.

What do you know about this recording?  I understand it was from the video that came out of the Let It Be sessions in the early 80's.  What is the audio quality of this pressing relative to other bootlegs from those sessions?

If you wouldn't mind giving me an idea of what I should be looking to get first in the effort to begin my Beatles bootlegs collection (and what to avoid!), I would appreciate it.  I'd like to start with the basic, must-haves.

Also, what are the "Holy Grail" bootlegs?  And I'm not talking about The Wedding Album, here.  I mean ones that I might actually come across if I keep my eyes open.

Thanks so much!

Answer
I'm sure you will be unimpressed with majority of the Twickenham/Let it Be era bootlegs.  Many of them are snippets of songs or The Beatles just fooling around.  Often times the quality is also poor.  The definitive Let it Be session tapes to look for are called the Nagra Tape rolls, these are inclusive of the audio from both "A" and "B" cameras.  However, as far as the Holy Grail bootlegs for a collection, look for these:

1) As Nature Intended
2) Get Back: The Glyn Johns mix
3) Beatles Not for Sale
4) The Beatles Ultra-Rare Trax (many volumes of these)
5) The Beatles BackTrack (about 6 volumes of these)
6) Pop Go The Beatles radio series
7) ANY Solo albums released from the Strawberry Records Label (They are all outstanding)
8) McCartney: Cold Cuts

I'm sure you'll enjoy all of the above!