Frank Zappa knew something was seriously amiss when he came across a booklet called A Guide to the Alternative Recordings of Frank Zappa. The pamphlet listed 400 titles -- or about 350 more than the veteran rocker has ever released. "In 25 years I have made about 50 real albums, and somehow guys with little cassette machines have managed to produce eight times as many albums and offer them for sale," laments Zappa.
Until not long ago, the production of unauthorized records was a marginal activity that musicians tolerated and even encouraged as a form of tribute by their fans. But...