Information:
One of the most famous bootlegs of all time. This is the first
bootleg ever to be produced in the rock-and-roll era. Great White Wonder
was originally released in the United States in July of 1969. There
was little on this piece to identify it to the world. It came
out in a blank white gatefold cover, with blank white labels. The
only identifying mark whatsoever is the matrix number: GF 001/2/3/4.
(gwa 1Aa version 1). The name 'Great White Wonder' probably actually
began as a joke when retailers needed to come up with a name for
this blank white album. The term quickly became synonymous with Dylan
in the bootleg world however, and has since been used many, many
times to refer to either the man or his work.
Later in the year this famous album was repressed. This second
repress, (gwa 1Aa version 2 ) can be identified only by the addition
of the number "2" carved after the matrix on all four sides of the LP.
At about the same time that the album first made its appearance in
the United States, a Swedish pressing began circulating in Europe.
The differences in this album and the previous is that this one had a very
thin blank white gatefold cover, and a machine-stamped matrix BD 101 A/B.
(gwa 1Ab). It is not impossible that this is actually the first "Great
White Wonder".
Towards the end of the year, one of the above pieces began appearing
in the east coast of the United States in two separate blank white covers.
The matrix number has been completely scratched out, so it is not sure
exactly which piece this is, or if it is actually a different pressing.
This set is known as gwa 1Ac.
Hot Wacks, the book that tries to chronicle bootlegs by every
artist, says that there is an original version of the above album with
fewer songs. It is doubtful, however, that this actually exists.
The quality on all of the above pieces is similar, and very good.
As the same master plates were used over and over, sound quality began
to deteriorate somewhat.
While these pieces, pressed in the last year of the decade, are fairly
easy to chronicle ... things start getting a little more complicated from
here on out. There are no fewer than 50 separately identifiable albums
that have either copied this material directly, or have released this material
in varying qualities under the same title.
6 stars NMP175
gwa 1Aa / b / c
Matrix: GF 001/2/3/4
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