I'm with the rest of the folks on this site, as first articulated (in this thread) by McGrath. Nothing wrong with collecting, or collectors; it's up to the rest of us to avoid the trap of considering the written/recorded version of a song to be the "official" version, goiving it greater weight than other versions that are just as legitimate.

I've noticed something interesting in my own playing and recording. When I record a song that allows for instrumental soloing -- either as a separate "solo" section or just generally playing around/between the vocal lines -- I will typically improvise the solo lines or sections. However, once I've committed it to tape and listened to the playback, I almost always end up playing the previously improvised lines verbatim in subsequent performances. A weird psychological dynamic at play here; anyone else ever have this experience?