A Pig's Tale

by Ralph Sutherland, Harold Sherrick, William Stout (Illustrator)

Genres: Music

336 pages, Perfect Paperback

Published October 1, 2021

Reviews

[James Klagge · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book for a particular audience--record collectors fascinated by bootleg recordings. I'm one, but there can't be too many of us. Still, this is interesting because it is a history of the first producers, the two who started Trade Mark of Quality. In this book they are called "Pigman" and "Carl." There is a certain amount of overlap with Heylin's Bootleg: The Secret History of the Other Recording Industry, who names them "'Dub' Taylor" and "Ken Douglas." Perhaps these latter names are real, I'm not sure. While I mainly have a collection of bootleg CDs, I have a small collection of original LPs. And what mainly interested me about them was the imaginative cover artwork of William Stout. I have several of his covers. The bizarre thing is that in the book under review he is called "Rob Snout." This seems to be taking the anonymity thing a bit far.
However, for each TMQ album released this book provides a complete record of contents, origin, matrix numbers, etc. ... and cover art, for which he is named William Stout. So not anonymous after all. Anyway, the details are complete, reliable, and welcome. And the story line itself is well-told, even if somewhat repetitive. On the whole, an interesting read...for those who are interested.
For those who are concerned about the morality of bootlegging, you might be interested in reading my essay "Great White Wonder: The Morality of Bootlegging Bob" in Bob Dylan and Philosophy: It's Alright Ma. (It can also be found on my website.)

[Jesse Lundy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a record collector, or someone who enjoys bootlegs as much as I do...this is the book you want to read. The mystery around "The Great White Wonder", which appeared in 1969 looms large in the bootleg world, but to get an idea of where it came from and what it spawned is made clear here. So many of the bootlegs and live shows I've listened to over the years were created by TMQ and the Pigman...but I never knew any of it

Amazing photos of the classic albums are great to look at, but also help sort out what copies are real and what copies are forgeries. I had no idea people bootlegged bootlegs. But I can see how it would cause a lot of confusion and put more value on records that are just knockoffs. The photos let you see the subtle ways to tell real from fake

The text and essays are filled with great stories about the FBI, Bill Graham and just what challenges the TMQ people were up against

Read!

[Gary Lang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fun. An alternate universe. I think I bought 20 of these albums in my lifetime. Almost everything they released is now available - often officially - online, today. It's a bit of a slice-of-life of L.A., too. For music fanatics only.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book filled with great photographs and other information regarding "Trade Mark of Quality" bootleg records from 1969-1976. Facinating behind the scenes stories with many twists and turns.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much. It's really a fantastic compendium of primary source material, wrapped into an engaging memoir that is so specific in time and place. This is a must for anyone who wants to understand rock music history, histories of the record industry, fandom, but also late-1960s/early 1970s Los Angeles history, post-war California, and the DIY nature of analogue life. So good!