Kum Back
Kum Back is an early bootleg album by the English rock band the Beatles, widely regarded as the first unofficial release of the group's unreleased material. Released in January 1970, it features rough studio mixes from the band's January 1969 Get Back sessions at Apple Studios in London, which would later be refined and included on the official Let It Be album.[1] The album was compiled from a reference acetate cut by producer Glyn Johns in May 1969, containing unpolished takes intended for an aborted Get Back LP project.[2] Its circulation was accelerated by unauthorized radio airings of the sessions on U.S. stations like WKBW-AM in September 1969 and WBCN in Boston shortly after, sparking fan demand for the tracks.[3] Kum Back typically spans two sides with the following track listing, though variations exist across pressings due to its underground production: Side A: Side B: Pressed in limited quantities on white-label vinyl, Kum Back was distributed in plain white jackets stamped with the title in blue or red ink, with no official label or artwork.[4] Estimates suggest 7,500 to 15,000 copies were sold, marking it as a pivotal release in the history of music bootlegging and influencing subsequent unauthorized Beatles recordings.[4]Historical Context
Get Back Sessions
The Get Back sessions began on January 2, 1969, at Twickenham Film Studios in London, where The Beatles aimed to rehearse and record 14 new songs for what was initially conceived as a live television special marking their return to the stage after more than two years without a public performance.[5] The project, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, involved a film crew capturing over 60 hours of footage and more than 150 hours of audio across 21 days, documenting the band's creative process in a raw, unpolished manner that included jamming, laughter, and spontaneous rehearsals on multitrack tape.[6] Early sessions at Twickenham started around 10 or 11 a.m., but the cavernous, cold environment and lack of a dedicated recording space contributed to a tense atmosphere, with the band experimenting freely but often struggling with cohesion.[6] Internal tensions escalated during these rehearsals, exacerbated by the constant presence of cameras and Yoko Ono's involvement, culminating in George Harrison's temporary departure on January 10, 1969. Harrison, feeling stifled by creative differences—particularly with Paul McCartney over song arrangements—announced, "I'm leaving the band now," and left the studio, later quipping "See you 'round the clubs" to Lindsay-Hogg.[7] The remaining members responded with a chaotic jam session, but Harrison returned five days later on January 15, agreeing to continue only if the band relocated to their own Apple Studios at 3 Savile Row and abandoned the live show idea.[6] This move to Apple Studios, starting January 20, improved morale and allowed for more focused rehearsals in a warmer, band-controlled space, though the project's direction shifted toward an album amid ongoing strains.[5] A pivotal event occurred on January 30, 1969, when The Beatles staged an impromptu rooftop concert on the Apple building, their final live performance, lasting approximately 42 minutes and filmed by Lindsay-Hogg's crew as a culmination of the rehearsals.[8] The sessions extended beyond January, with raw multitrack recordings continuing through late January 1969 at Apple Studios, as the material evolved from live-oriented demos to polished tracks, ultimately influencing both the Let It Be album and elements of Abbey Road.[6] These unvarnished captures preserved the band's improvisational style and interpersonal dynamics, providing essential context for later compilations like the acetate test pressing.[5]Acetate Compilation
Glyn Johns, the engineer and de facto producer for The Beatles' Get Back sessions, played a pivotal role in assembling an early album version from the raw session tapes, creating multiple acetate test pressings as potential precursors to an official release. In early May 1969, Johns produced his second compilation acetate at Olympic Sound Studios, selecting and mixing tracks to capture the band's live interactions and unpolished performances. By late May 1969, he completed a third version, which included refined edits and was distributed to the band members for approval; this iteration, featuring 14 tracks, was later broadcast in its entirety on WBCN-FM in Boston on September 22, 1969, serving as the direct source material for the Kum Back bootleg.[9] The editing process was meticulous, drawing from over 100 hours of January 1969 recordings at Twickenham Film Studios and Apple Studios to emphasize a "warts and all" aesthetic that highlighted the group's spontaneous arrangements and rehearsal banter without any post-production overdubs. Johns focused on performances that conveyed the sessions' live energy, such as rooftop concert takes and studio jams, aiming to present the material as an audio documentary of the band's creative process amid the project's underlying tensions. This approach resulted in a cohesive sequence that prioritized musical flow over perfection, with tracks sequenced to reflect the evolving dynamics of the rehearsals.[9] Key differences from the eventual Let It Be album, released in 1970, stem from Johns' raw mixes, which retained the original session vitality without the symphonic enhancements added by Phil Spector. For instance, the compilation includes a distinctive mix of "Get Back" with Billy Preston's organ contributions from the January 30, 1969, rooftop performance, preserving the song's improvisational feel and excluding Spector's string and brass overdubs. Similarly, tracks like "The Long and Winding Road" and "Let It Be" appear in stripped-down forms, focusing solely on the band's core instrumentation and vocals as captured during the sessions.[9]Production as Bootleg
Sourcing and Duplication
The illicit sourcing of material for Kum Back began with the unauthorized broadcast of a reference acetate from the Beatles' Get Back sessions, prepared by producer Glyn Johns in early 1969, on U.S. radio stations in September 1969.[10] Stations such as WKBW in Buffalo aired the acetate on September 20, while WBCN in Boston followed on September 22, presenting it as previews of an impending new Beatles album and sparking widespread listener recordings on reel-to-reel tapes.[11][12] These broadcasts, sourced from a leaked copy possibly obtained through insider channels at EMI, prompted rapid copying and trading among record collectors and fans across North America, disseminating the raw session material beyond official control.[10] The duplication process for Kum Back relied heavily on amateur and semi-professional methods, with anonymous bootleggers employing home dubbing equipment to transfer the acetate recordings—either directly from obtained copies or from off-air radio tapes—onto vinyl long-playing records.[10] This grassroots approach resulted in highly variable audio quality, characterized by prominent surface noise from acetate wear, speed fluctuations due to inconsistent tape speeds during dubbing, and occasional distortion from low-fidelity recording devices, distinguishing early pressings from the cleaner studio originals.[10] As demand grew, production shifted to more organized efforts, with the first professional pressings traced to underground labs in California, particularly in Los Angeles and Berkeley, where operators utilized local independent pressing plants to produce initial runs of around 3,000 copies on colored vinyl variants like blue or yellow for Lemon Records editions.[10] These anonymous U.S.-based figures, including early entrepreneurs like Michael O in the Bay Area, operated covertly to evade detection, marking Kum Back as a pioneering example of bootleg replication techniques in the pre-digital era.[10]Packaging and Labels
The original packaging of Kum Back featured a plain white sleeve with the title "Kum Back"—a pun on "Come Back"—applied via handwritten notation, typed label, or rubber stamp in blue or red ink, emphasizing its clandestine, underground production without any official artwork or commercial polish.[4] Some variants included rudimentary inserts, such as black-and-white photographs of the Beatles, while others remained entirely blank to evade detection.[13] This minimalist design reflected the bootleg's illicit origins, sourced from duplicated acetates of the Get Back sessions.[1] Label variations further highlighted the bootleg's amateurish and variable nature, with early pressings often using plain white labels devoid of artist credits or company markings.[4] Other editions employed red labels printed with "KUM BACK," track listings, and catalogue numbers like KB-1A/KB-1B in black ink, or blue-green alternatives marked KB-A/KB-B.[13] Vinyl colors ranged from standard black to red, blue, or clear, underscoring the inconsistent duplication processes typical of early bootlegs. Later reissues introduced more contrived elements, such as generic labels mimicking official styles (e.g., pink or orange with pirate motifs) or crude covers imitating Beatles album artwork, though these remained low-fidelity and error-prone.[2] The bootleg's rarity is evident in its limited initial circulation and identifiable pressings, distinguished by matrix numbers such as "15 Side I 95" on side one and "15 # 2 95 II" on side two for early stereo versions, or "KB 10 A X" and "KB 10 B X" for later ones.[13] These etchings, along with pressing ring diameters (e.g., 32 mm or 10 mm), allow collectors to differentiate variants, with original 1970 copies remaining highly sought after due to their historical significance as the Beatles' first bootleg.[1]Release and Distribution
Initial Circulation
Kum Back first surfaced in the United States in late 1969, with initial copies becoming available in independent record stores in Berkeley, California, by autumn of that year. Pressed in Los Angeles, the bootleg drew from acetate discs of rough mixes from The Beatles' January 1969 Get Back sessions, which had begun circulating among radio stations and collectors earlier in the year. By early January 1970, it had appeared more widely in stores across major markets like Los Angeles and New York City's Greenwich Village, capitalizing on growing anticipation for the delayed official Get Back album.[10] Distribution occurred primarily through underground networks of bootleggers, record store owners, and fan collectors, avoiding mainstream retailers and official channels. Key figures, including a bootlegger known as "Michael O" and associates at Lemon Records, handled pressing and small-scale sales, often via informal mail-order lists and head shops catering to counterculture audiences. The album's plain white jacket, rubber-stamped with "Kum Back" in blue or red ink, facilitated discreet handling in these networks. Priced at around $10 per copy in 1970, it appealed to dedicated fans seeking unreleased material.[10][4] The bootleg quickly expanded beyond the U.S., with exports to Europe and Japan through emerging international collector circuits by early 1970. Initial pressings totaled around 3,000 copies, which sold out within days, followed by additional runs of 2,000 and 1,000 units, leading to estimates of over 6,000 copies in circulation by mid-1970; broader sales estimates for Kum Back and related variants range from 7,500 to 15,000 copies.[10][4] This scale was achieved without advertising or formal promotion, relying solely on word-of-mouth among enthusiasts, though some media reports exaggerated figures to as high as 100,000.[10]Legal and Market Response
EMI and Capitol Records responded to the emergence of Kum Back with heightened efforts to suppress unauthorized releases, though these were hampered by the anonymity of the bootleggers and the challenges of cross-border distribution, which allowed the album to circulate widely. Apple Records sought to undercut bootlegs by accelerating official releases.[10] The bootleg's appearance marked a turning point for the recording industry, prompting record labels to adopt stricter measures against leaks and unauthorized tapes, including enhanced security protocols and collaborative legal strategies in subsequent years. Kum Back was recognized as one of the earliest significant rock bootlegs, with media outlets like Entertainment World emphasizing its commercial viability by reporting sales of approximately 100,000 copies in Los Angeles and New York markets by March 1970.[10] Market demand for Kum Back surged among Beatles fans anticipating the delayed official Let It Be album, leading to rapid sell-outs of initial pressings at elevated prices—often exceeding standard retail—before subsequent runs undercut those rates. Rare early editions commanded premiums up to $20 due to scarcity and collector interest. With the Beatles disbanding at the time, the group and Apple Corps had no direct involvement in addressing the bootleg.[10]Musical Content
Track Listing
Kum Back presents a selection of raw recordings from The Beatles' January 1969 Get Back sessions, compiled on an acetate by producer Glyn Johns and later duplicated for the bootleg release. The album consists of 11 tracks spread across two sides, featuring unedited takes that capture the band's informal rehearsals and jams, distinct from the polished versions on the official Let It Be album.[2][14]| Side | Track | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | Get Back | Rough mix from early session take.[2] |
| A | 2 | The Walk | Cover of Jimmy McCracklin's instrumental, included as a brief jam.[2][13] |
| A | 3 | Let It Be | Early version without orchestral elements.[2] |
| A | 4 | Teddy Boy | Paul McCartney demo, featuring extended dialogue.[2][13] |
| A | 5 | Two of Us | Acoustic rehearsal take with false starts.[2] |
| B | 1 | Don't Let Me Down | Raw vocal performance with backing chatter.[2] |
| B | 2 | I've Got a Feeling | Energetic rooftop-style rendition.[2] |
| B | 3 | The Long and Winding Road | Piano-led version, pre-overdubs.[2] |
| B | 4 | For You Blue | George Harrison slide guitar feature with introductory riffs.[2] |
| B | 5 | Dig a Pony | Includes John Lennon's signature ad-libs and false start.[2][13] |
| B | 6 | Get Back (Reprise) | Short closing fragment.[2] |
Personnel
The personnel featured on Kum Back reflect the musicians involved in The Beatles' January 1969 Get Back sessions at Twickenham Film Studios and Apple Studios, from which the bootleg's acetate source was derived.[15]- John Lennon: lead and harmony vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, piano
- Paul McCartney: lead and harmony vocals, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, piano
- George Harrison: lead and rhythm guitar, harmony and lead vocals
- Ringo Starr: drums, harmony vocals
- Billy Preston: electric piano (on tracks including "Get Back")[16]