 genre: rhythm and blues, psych
country: uk
quality : lossless (wv, cue, log, 48 page booklet scans)
time: 1:11`52" + 1:19'23" + 1:13'57" + 1:06'31"
size: 1,74 gb
misc.: 4cd box set
Tapestry of Delights:
Like The Pretty Things the more influential Yardbirds are best remembered as an R&B band. They evolved out of The Metropolitan Blues Quartet who became The Yardbirds in 1963. They soon replaced The Rolling Stones as resident band at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond and later won a Friday night residency at The Marquee, where they recorded their first album with Columbia. Before they won a recording contract Topham had been replaced by Eric Clapton, although a bootleg EP of material from this era is rumoured to exist. Their first two singles in 1964, I Wish You Would and Good Morning Little Schoolgirl were solid R&B but their third single, For Your Love, pushed them into the public eye, reaching No 3 in March 1965. At this point Clapton, unhappy at the group's new commercial direction left to join John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and was replaced by Jeff Beck. The group was now enormously popular and further hit singles followed:- Heart Full Of Soul reached No 2 in July 1965, Evil Hearted You reached No 3 in October 1965, Shapes Of Things also reached No 3 in March 1966 and Over, Under, Sideways, Down reached No 10 in June 1966. This marked the band's most commercially successful period.
Around mid-1965 The Yardbirds began experimenting in the studio and sought to test out their new sounds on their records. Still I'm Sad was the first evidence of this and their first self-penned 'A' side (it was part of a double 'A' side). More significant testimonies of their excursion into experimental pop and psychedelia were Shapes Of Things, featuring Jeff Beck's stunning guitar work, and their first studio album, The Yardbirds, of all original compositions issued in the Summer of 1966. This contained some superb slices of psychedelia most notably Over, Under, Sideways, Down and Happenings Ten Years Time Ago - which, whilst less commercial than the former, was musically one of the most significant and ambitious recordings of 1966 - the startling Psycho Daisies and to a lesser degree Farewell and He's Always There.
1966, however, marked the departure of Paul Samwell-Smith to do production work with Cat Stevens and others. He was replaced by Jimmy Page who soon took over on lead guitar, whilst Dreja switched to bass. Although The Yardbirds lost much stability with Samwell-Smith's departure, they obtained new significance as Page's first outfit. The Yardbirds were indeed enormously influential not only in Britain on subsequent heavy metal outfits like Led Zeppelin, but also in America where countless garage bands sought to emulate their style. They were enormously popular in America where they had no less than six albums of their material released under different titles and with different listings to the UK ones. The album with Sonny Boy Williamson came out on Mercury. The other five on Epic were For Your Love, Have A Rave Up With The Yardbirds, Over Under Sideways Down, Little Games and The Yardbirds. Avoid Little Games, which, aside from the title track, was a mish-mash of material that the group had not intended for public consumption. Live Yardbirds was apparently recorded on the understanding that the group could veto its release which is exactly what they did when it appeared without their consent and was rapidly withdrawn. It's now a very sought-after collectors' item which has frequently been bootlegged. It's of particular interest to Led Zeppelin fans as an example of Jimmy Page's guitar work which would have such a strong influence on the band and includes an early version of Dazed And Confused.
Back in England their next single release, Happenings Ten Years Time Ago reached only No 43 in 1966. It was a superb single but lacked commercial appeal for mass consumption. Beck left the band at this stage for the last time. He had earlier had to step aside for a while after suffering a breakdown whilst the band was touring the States. Their next effort, Little Games, flopped. Both are now sought-after collectors' items, but their final single, Goodnight Sweet Josephine, which was never released officially and exists only in acetate form, changes hands for well of £200 per copy among Yardbirds' collectors. The Yardbirds also issued two EPs, Five Yardbirds and Over, Under, Sideways, Down. The second is now very rare. They also appeared in two mid-sixties films:- 'Swinging London' and 'Blow Up'.
The Yardbirds unfortunately soon disintegrated once they could no longer attain commercial success. Relf and McCarthy formed Together and then the excellent Renaissance. Dreja became a photographer and Page was left to form the enormously successful Led Zeppelin, who were originally, for a very short while, known as The New Yardbirds. Disastrously Relf died in 1976 after electrocuting himself at his home.
The band reformed to play gigs in Summer 1983.
In 1985 EMI released the band's 1967 US-only album, Little Games, in this country along with six additional tracks which had previously only appeared on 45s. Highlights include Jimmy Page's White Summer, an Indian-sounding number with Page performing on acoustic guitar and Only The Black Rose, a folky Keith Relf number which previewed his work with Renaissance. Incidentally White Summer bear's considerable resemblance to Davey Graham's She Moves Through The Fair. Of the additional tracks, Think About It, takes the prize largely for Page's high energy guitar playing - shades of his future days with Led Zeppelin. It's not consistently good throughout, though, but is worth acquiring.
The Yardbirds will be remembered as one of Britain's best R&B bands, who also did some interesting experimentation with pop and psychedelia.
Keith Relf - Vocals, Harmonica
Chris Dreja - Guitars, Bass
Paul Samwell-Smith - Bass
Jeff Beck - Guitars
Jim McCarty - Drums
Anthony Topham - Guitars 1963
Eric Clapton - Guitars 1963
Mike Vernon - Vocals 1963
Mick O'Neil - Vocals 1963
Roger Pearce - Guitars 1963
Jimmy Page - Bass, Guitars 1966
Rod Demick - Bass, Harmonica 1992
John Idan - Guitars, Vocals, Bass 1994
Ray Majors - Guitars 1996
Laurie Garman - Harmonica 1996
John Mayo - Guitars 1997
Alan Glen - Harmonica, Vocals 1997
 cd1: 1963 - R&B Roots
01 - Smokestack Lightning 6:51
02 - You Can't Judge A Book By Looking At The Cover 2:58
03 - Let It Rock 2:19
04 - I Wish You Would 5:55
05 - Who Do You Love 4:10
06 - Honey In Your Hips 2:30
07 - Bye Bye Bird 3:34
08 - Mister Downchild 3:59
09 - The River Rhine 5:25
10 - 23 Hours Too Long 5:07
11 - A Lost Care 2:15
12 - Pontiac Blues 3:49
13 - Take It Easy Baby 5:41
14 - Out On The Water Coast 3:10
15 - Western Arizona 3:05
16 - Take It Easy Baby 4:13
17 - Do The Weston 4:13
18 - Baby What's Wrong 2:38
cd2: 1964 - Early Studio & At The Marquee
Boom Boom (demo) 2:27
Honey in Your Hips (demo) 2:20
Talkin' 'Bout You (demo) 1:58
I Wish You Would (demo) 4:18
A Certain Girl (demo) 2:22
Slow Walk (@ The Birmingham R&B Festival) 1:04
Highway 69 (@ The Birmingham R&B Festival) 3:18
My Little Cabin (@ The Birmingham R&B Festival) 3:46
Too Much Monkey Business (@ The Marquee Club) 3:49
Got Love If You Want It (@ The Marquee Club) 2:37
Smokestack Lightning (@ The Marquee Club) 5:34
Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl (@ The Marquee Club) 2:41
Respectable (@ The Marquee Club) 5:30
Five Long Years (@ The Marquee Club) 5:16
Pretty Girl (@ The Marquee Club) 3:02
Louise (@ The Marquee Club) 3:41
I'm a Man (@ The Marquee Club) 4:31
Here 'Tis (@ The Marquee Club) 5:10
I Wish You Would 2:19
A Certain Girl 2:18
Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl (backing track) 3:21
Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl (backing track plus harmonica) 3:04
Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl (master) 2:54
I Ain't Got You 2:01
 cd3: 1965/66 Big Hits & America Calling
Jeff's Blues (take 1) 3:07
Jeff's Blues (take 2) 3:10
Someone to Love part 1 (instrumental - take 2) 2:15
Someone to Love part 1 (instrumental - take 4) 2:13
Someone to Love part 1 (instrumental - take 14) 2:04
Someone to Love part 1 (vocal - take 15) 2:24
Someone to Love part 2 4:17
Like Jimmy Reed Again 3:07
Chris' Number 2:40
Pounds and Stomps (XYZ) 2:42
Pounds and Stomps 2:30
What Do You Want (take 1) 3:45
What Do You Want (take 2) 3:30
What Do You Want (take 3) 3:37
What Do You Want (take 4) 3:11
Here 'Tis (stereo instrumental version) 3:48
Here 'Tis (Ready Steady Go version) 4:05
Crimson Curtain (edit of take 1) 2:46
Stroll On 2:45
I'm A Man (live in Germany) 6:14
Shapes of Things 2:20
cd4: 1966/67 - An Eye View of Beat
FOR YOUR LOVE 2:31
GOT TO HURRY (TAKE 2) 0:42
GOT TO HURRY (TAKE 3 MASTER) 2:49
GOT TO HURRY (TAKE 4) 2:37
PUTTY IN YOUR ARMS 2:19
SWEET MUSIC (TAKE 3) 2:31
SWEET MUSIC (TAKE 4) 2:38
I'M NOT TALKING 2:33
I AIN'T DONE WRONG 3:40
MY GIRL SLOOPY 5:38
HEART FULL OF SOUL (WITH SITAR) 1:55
HEART FULL OF SOUL 2:29
STEELED BLUES 2:39
EVIL HEARTED YOU 2:25
STILL I'M SAD 2:59
SHAPES OF THINGS 2:37
SHAPES OF THINGS (ALTERNATIVE MIX) 2:28
YOU'RE A BETTER MAN THAN I 3:59
I'M A MAN 2:38
NEW YORK CITY BLUES 4:19
THE TRAIN KEPT A ROLLIN' 3:27
PAFF...BUM 2:39
QUESTA VOLTA 2:33
MR. ZERO (KEITH RELF) 2:44
KNOWING (KEITH RELF) 1:52
NEW YORK CITY BLUES (STEREO MIX) 4:17
|
