THE BEATLES' FIRST BOOTLEG - BEATLES MAGAZINE

In January 1970, the music world witnessed a paradigm shift with the release of Kum Back, widely recognized as the very first bootleg album by The Beatles. Issued in a minimalist plain white sleeve featuring blank white labels with zero record company branding, this historic vinyl record offered fans an unprecedented, unpolished look at the group during a turbulent transitional era.

The audio material driving the bootleg originated from early rough mixes assembled by recording engineer Glyn Johns. During the tense January 1969 sessions intended for a television special and companion album—originally titled Get Back and later transformed into Let It Be—Johns cut reference acetates.

Rather than polished studio tracks, these mixes captured a raw, “fly-on-the-wall” perspective of the band working through early takes. Although the project stalled officially, a reel-to-reel copy of Johns’ acetate found its way to American airwaves, notably broadcast in full by Boston radio station WBCN in September 22, 1969. Bootleg producers later used recordings of these radio broadcasts to master the Kum Back LP.

“Kum Back” became known four days before the album “Abbey Road” is released in the United Kingdom. In the UK it came out on September 26, 1969, and in the United States it came out on October 1, 1969 (some record label sources also record October 3 due to initial distribution by Capitol Records).

Fascinating rock lore surrounds how the audio escaped into the public domain. John Lennon himself was long suspected of being the unintentional catalyst. Discussing the leak years later, Lennon remarked:

“They say it came from an acetate that I gave to someone who then went and broadcast it as being an advance pressing or something.”

Kum Back paved the way for the modern bootleg industry, preceding many legendary underground releases of the 1970s. While tracks like “Get Back” and “The Long and Winding Road” eventually saw official release—the latter altered by producer Phil Spector‘s orchestral additions—the raw mixes preserved on Kum Back remain an essential artifact of rock history.

Label: Without manufacturer details
Matrix Number of the 1st issue: 15 side I 95 / 15 # 2 95 II
Release Date: January 1970
Country: USA

Length : 38:33

Setlist:
Side A
1. GET BACK (guitar riffs,dialogue/guitar riffs/count-in) 2:27
2. THE WALK 0:55
3. LET IT BE ( riffs/count-in ) 3:37
4. TEDDY BOY (dialogue) 5:35
5. TWO OF US (2 false starts, dialogue) 3:09

Side B
6. DON’T LET ME DOWN (dialogue/count-in) 3:23
7. I’VE GOT A FEELING (dialogue) 2:31
8. THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD (piano riffs) 3:23
9. FOR YOU BLUE (2 false starts, Guitar riffs and dialogue) 1:44
10. DIG A PONY (w/false start,Dialogue/count-in) 3:27
11. GET BACK (w/ false start) 2:26
12. I’VE GOT A FEELING (fragment) 0:06
13. HELP (fragment) 0:02

Sound Quality: EX stereo (slight tape hiss)

Sources:
1, 2: Apple studios, January 27, 1969
3, 8: Apple studios, January 26, 1969
4, 5, 7, 10: Apple studios, January 24, 1969
6: Apple studios, January 22, 1969
9: Apple studios, January 25, 1969
11, 12, 13: Apple studios, January 23, 1969