Long before there was the internet and everyone torrented illegal music online, record stores were the best place to get bootlegged copies of popular artists. Neil Young just happened upon some bootleg records of his music, and hassled a record store clerk to let him leave the shop with the record.
Lucky for us, Young just happened to be filming an autobiographical documentary when the encounter happened in 1972, so the interaction was captured for posterity.
Usually, the bootlegs were created when someone attended a concert and recorded the live performances. Young found two bootlegs—one from a concert where Young had performed and another Crosby and Nash album.
He then told the beleaguered store clerk he was going to take the Neil Young bootleg without paying for it. The clerk asked if Young would speak to his manager on the phone first, and he politely obliged.
It's a fun trip back in time, and it's enough to make you nostalgic for the days when you had to leave the house to purchase new music. It's funny, though, how technology has evolved, yet the demand for stolen music lives on.
