"Brucelegs" refers to the enormous body of unreleased material performed by Bruce Springsteen with and without the E-Street band. Much of it emnates from live shows recorded on DAT taping devices by fans in the audience, also from soundboard recordings, or ALD (alternate listening devices) that are recorded during the live shows. Others are from studio tapes that were never officially released.

Brucelegs are usually produced by companies such as Crystal Cat Records. Some are foreign based companies. Those originally produced Bootlegs come with art work included. They are sometimes offered for sale in the rec.music.artists.springsteen newsgroup. The traders you will be dealing with will record your show on a CD burner, it being copied from either an original issue or a CDr.

How can I get shows if I am just starting? Before you can begin trading, you have to start a "trading list" of a few good shows. I got my first show by posting a "grovel" (a humble plea to other fans) on the rec.music.artists.springsteen news board. A great fan, who's name I still remember, offered to send me my first show for the cash equivalent of the cost of the blank CD-R's, postage, mailers, CD-sleeves, which totalled about 17 dollars for a 3-CD set. Another good site to post a grovel (only available to AOL members) is The Bruce boards. Go to keyword "Bruce Springsteen" and choose which area you want to enter. I am a member of an excellent trading group at eGroups: SpringsteenSharing, where the philosophy is about sharing the music freely. You will really like this group.

If you are new to trading, you may feel overwhelmed at the volume of materia that is available, I suggest the Top 50 Springsteen Shows to Have on Tape as a starting point to begin your collection ( Editors note: Author's dangling participle was removed by the WebMaster!! )
Rich Breton's " SPRINGSTEEN "BRUCELEGS" DISCOGRAPHY " is the definitive source for all you need to know about any show or collection you are seeking. Every release is listed here in chronological order, along with setlists and references to the sound quality and source of the song. Backstreets.com-The Boss Website offers a great set of books entitled "You Better Not Touch" which gives the lowdown on the boots, and steer you clear of the recordings that don't deliver.

A word of caution regarding E-Bay, the auction site. You WILL find Brucelegs on E-Bay, though most will be CD-R copies of the original issues, much the same that you will receive through trading with other fans. A few will be original releases of shows from sources such as Crystal Cat. MOST, if not ALL will be GROSSLY OVERPRICED, and I would recommend that you steer clear of E-Bay, except in rare circumstances. No one should be profiting from the music, but the sellers on E-Bay do it all the time, at your expense. Though you may find the boots readily available there, you most certainly will overpay, with just a little more surfing and effort, you can get the same shows for very little money, and at the same time begin to develop trading relationships with other fans. E-Bay sellers have also been known to take a CDR, stick labels on it, enclose it with artwork, and advertise it as an original issue. Unknowing, and otherwise extremely intelligent buyers, have been duped into paying high prices for bogus recordings.

The standard media for Bruceleg trading is now CD-R. A few diehards still trade in tapes, but most scoff at tapes as an archaic form of media. If you have a CD burner, you must know how to create CD-R using the DAO method (disc at once, with no gaps between songs from the live shows), traders will not accept anything else. A CD-R with gaps is considered inferior and should not be traded.

If you don't have a CD burner, you can still trade with other fans, who will often copy shows for you if you send them blanks and postage (known as B & P), or sometimes will request a 2:1 trade, which means you send them two blank CD-Rs for every CD-R they copy for you, along with postage, and the trader keeps the other CD-Rs for their personal use.

When starting out, you will probably be doing lots of B & P's and 2:1's to build your collection. Treat the people who do this for you well, they are doing you a big favor. Ask what type of discs the trader prefers. Some may need "audio only" music CD-Rs, which are a more expensive form of media that includes a royalty to the music industry built in to the price and are used in many of the stand-alone type CD burners like Pioneer. Be sure to include the right amount of postage in stamps, so the trader doesn't have to wait in line for you at the post office. Include a return mailing label with your address on it, so the trader can simply apply it to the mailer you sent. In short, do all you can to simply and make the process as convenient as possible for the person who is copying for you. Remember also, patience is a virtue. Allow the trader sufficient time to prepare your trade. He may have to take time out to burn a copy. Try to agree to a set time frame when the trade is made. Allow for the unexpected, and remain in touch via email. If you don't receive your trade within the specified time period, contact the trader. They will do likewise if your shipments are tardy. If the doesn't arrive, track him down and tar and feather the b*stard! JUST KIDDING! Politely write, inquire, ask him why the delay, if he needs more time, etc. Many people get overwhelmed by too much trading, and this causes delays, be considerate. If the shows arrive and they are not good quality, its it OK to contact the trader, let him know your concerns, and return the tapes for him to fix the problems. If its not "fixable" then another show should be offered in return.

When trading shows outright, each trader pays the postage on the shows they are sending. Keep in touch by email if you are delayed in getting the show out for some reason. Don't get in over your head at first by doing too much trading, this is exasperating, and can result in lots of screwed up trades, which are frustrating for both parties. Take it slow, do 1-2 trades at a time, get them accomplished and move on to more trading. If you do too much at once, it becomes chaotic and onerous very quickly.

Use bubble mailers, they are a little more expensive than the fiber mailers, but are lighter and cheaper to mail, and can be reused ad infinitum, just peel off the old label and reuse!

Insurance is not necessary, first class postage is the best for the money, parcel post can be slow. Priority mail is $3.20 up to two pounds, and is very quick, sometimes the next day, usually 2 days, but cd's are so light, that unless you are sending a lot of discs, its usually most expedient and economical to use first class postage. To secure the discs, you can rubber band them together in padded sleeves, I do not recommend mailing jewel cases and they break very easily. If you are sending tapes, you can work it out with the trader, but most people prefer that you mail just the tapes and not the cases, since they tend to break easily also. Its helpful to wrap the discs in some bubble wrap if you have it. I always ALWAYS recycle my mailers and use them over and over and over, scoring points with the environmentally conscious among us :-)

Trading trees are structured trading groups that are organized by a person to provide the particular show being offered to as many people as want it. The organizer designates "Branches" who agree to burn 4-5 of the shows for their "leaves". They are offered periodically on RMAS rec.music.artists.springsteen newsgroup , and through Prove It All Night , the information source for Mystic Productions. The end-user, the "leaf" receives the "treed" show from the "branch". The branch is usually offered a comparable trade from the leaf, or a B & P trade, or a 2:1 trade, or cash equivalent. The shows are not sold, and if someone sells the shows, they are banned from further participation in the music trees.

Other links and pages are available to assist you in your quest for information. There are plenty of sites to feed your hobby! Some are listed in this section...

rec.music.artists.springsteen news board.

A site frequented by thousands of Bruce fans. Invaluable information on trades and other Bruce issues.

atl.music.bruce-springsteen news board.

A site similar to the above group, with much less information.

Live Daily Forum

A forum site where Bruce fans post messages.

eGroups: SpringsteenSharing,

Great forum and message group with lots of info.

Lucky Town Digest Mailing Lists

Discussion List and Sales/Trade List.

Greasy Lake-The Circuit

Fan Discussion Forum.

New Jersey Shrine Forum

A forum page with tons of posts, but little solid value.

Matt and Lori's Discography

All the legitimate issues and all the info.

Brucelegs Home Page

All the info, on all the boots.

Brucebase

Info on ALL the known concerts.

On the Tracks

Info on ALL the studio work.

The Studio Bruceleg File

Guide to the Studio Boots.

Cris's Setlist Database 1978-2000

All concert setlists for that period.

Springsteen Trade Software

Download concert lists, databases related to trades.

Books For Traders

Everything you ever wanted to know about boots.

Lost Master's Database

All you'd want to know about the Lost Masters Issues.

Jereon's Page

Complete lyrics for every song.

Boot Art Web Ring

Scorpion and Shabby Dog's Web Ring for CD art and covers, with links to sites.

Candy's Room Links!

Over 300 Bruce Links! Many Links in TRADE SECTION!!