Initial recording for Pirates began in January 1980, with the live recordings for "Skeletons" and "The Returns" from January 30 from these sessions kept on the final album.
All songs were copyrighted on June 9, 1980, as well as "Hey Bub," which was omitted from the album release, except for "Living It Up" and "Traces of the Western Slopes," copyrighted in July 1981, at the time of the album release.