How the Pink Floyd Online Forum Crowdsourced the Definitive 'Careful with That Axe, Eugene' Bootleg Discography

The biggest headache for Pink Floyd bootleg collectors used to be the swamp of mislabeled live versions of “Careful with That Axe, Eugene.” Pre-internet, tape traders slapped generic dates like “1971” or wrong venues on recordings that turned out to be from totally different tours. Then the forum Pink Floyd Online decided to fix it — not with one expert, but by pooling ears, old ticket stubs, and setlist photos from hundreds of fans.

The method was surprisingly systematic. Members created a shared spreadsheet with every known circulating tape, then cross-referenced audio details (like the length of the scream or the bass lick before the second verse) against confirmed show recordings. They also used newspaper archives and university radio logs to pin down exact dates for shows that had only been known as “Oslo 1971” or “unknown USA 1972.” Over three years, the community whittled down a sprawling list into a verified timeline — and forced bootleg labels to update their discographies or risk being called out.

The result is now the go-to resource: a chronological list of every known performance of the song from 1968 to 1973, with venue, date, and even the likely recording equipment. What started as forum chatter became the standard reference, proving that a dedicated fan base can out-research any official archive.