― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Monday, 31 March 2003 03:31 (twenty-one years ago) link
As for the band, I got an anthology out of the library once and decided that "For Your Love" was, in fact, their best song. Nothing against 'em, and the Beck/Clapton/Page pedigree is impressive -- but guitars aside, I'll take the Animals.
― Jesse Fox (Jesse Fox), Monday, 31 March 2003 03:40 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Evan (Evan), Monday, 31 March 2003 03:43 (twenty-one years ago) link
"for your love" and "shapes of things" are both really interesting, musically -- "fyl" for that harpsichord and the drums that sound almost middle-eastern or indian, then the chunky mid-section where jeff beck just riffs like a motherfucker, then back to the more delicate harpsichord-and-drums; "shapes of things" with its really pompous almost-martial beat -- and the "freak out" guitar in the middle and end (though it's marred by really clunky lyrics). both must have sounded really weird to people when they come out and compared to everything else on the radio (which may be why they have a reputation?) i also vaguely remember "you're a better man than i."
that's about it afa the yardbirds go.
― Tad (llamasfur), Monday, 31 March 2003 03:47 (twenty-one years ago) link
No, it's not just you. Lester Bangs thought so, too.
― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 31 March 2003 03:48 (twenty-one years ago) link
I almost feel like I'm being kept out of an exclusive club. "How come everyone else likes it and I don't?" kind of thing...
― paul cox (paul cox), Monday, 31 March 2003 03:50 (twenty-one years ago) link
That guitar break in "Happenings Ten Years Times Ago" is still amazing.
― Chris Barrus (Chris Barrus), Monday, 31 March 2003 05:05 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dr. C (Dr. C), Monday, 31 March 2003 06:07 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Monday, 31 March 2003 06:33 (twenty-one years ago) link
― girl scout heroin (iamamonkey), Monday, 31 March 2003 11:31 (twenty-one years ago) link
― dave q, Monday, 31 March 2003 12:22 (twenty-one years ago) link
The Rhino 2cd collection called The Ultimate! is quite good. You can really tell when Page starts playing guitar in the band in the collection. The early blues tracks sound as much like the prototype for Nuggets garage rock as The Stones.
The Animals were great up until Alan Price left the band. The psychedelic Animals are pretty corny, you have to wonder what Burdon was thinking with those songs like "Monterrey" and "SF Nights".
― earlnash, Thursday, 29 April 2004 19:00 (nineteen years ago) link
Errrr...so what does it mean *exactly*?
― Worried ilXor, Thursday, 29 April 2004 21:52 (nineteen years ago) link
i completely forgot that i inherited the "little games" single (b/w puzzles) from my mother and was digging around in my 7" collection today. this band rules. can someone tell me where to go from here?
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Saturday, 5 February 2005 16:41 (nineteen years ago) link
― walter kranz (walterkranz), Saturday, 5 February 2005 16:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Saturday, 5 February 2005 16:47 (nineteen years ago) link
― lovebug starski (lovebug starski), Saturday, 5 February 2005 16:50 (nineteen years ago) link
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 5 February 2005 16:55 (nineteen years ago) link
everyone's been really helpful so far!
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Saturday, 5 February 2005 17:10 (nineteen years ago) link
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Saturday, 5 February 2005 17:15 (nineteen years ago) link
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Saturday, 5 February 2005 17:18 (nineteen years ago) link
― walter kranz (walterkranz), Saturday, 5 February 2005 17:51 (nineteen years ago) link
― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Saturday, 5 February 2005 22:04 (nineteen years ago) link
YIKES, sorry, no way. did you listen to their earlier pre-psych stuff as well. (not that i don't think s.f. & parachute and all the singles and b-sides from that period aren't plenty catchy/poppy and powerful as well, i do, but the early daze as beat/r&b powerhouse is when they truly made a name for themselves and were ripped off by everyone and their mother.)
― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 5 February 2005 22:08 (nineteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 5 February 2005 22:13 (nineteen years ago) link
― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Saturday, 5 February 2005 22:16 (nineteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 5 February 2005 22:25 (nineteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 5 February 2005 22:27 (nineteen years ago) link
Next: The Marmalade...
― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Saturday, 5 February 2005 22:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 5 February 2005 22:50 (nineteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 5 February 2005 22:51 (nineteen years ago) link
― Stormy Davis (diamond), Saturday, 5 February 2005 22:53 (nineteen years ago) link
Hey Eddie, do you have this record? (I wrote it up on my blog after I bought it out in Oregon during the holidays):
Charley D. And Milo - S/T (Epic) Gentleman pot-farmers unite! This record is a warm breeze of a thing. And again, I must have missed the Mojo that hyped it cuz this is right up their King Parsons/Beechwood Sparks alley. Lovely harmonies, lotsa guitars, acidic baths of twang. Great cover of Richard & Mimi's "Pack Up Your Sorrows". It ends with the weary drug traveller's mantra "Om Sweet Om". Brain-fried C&W fans need this now.
― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 5 February 2005 23:14 (nineteen years ago) link
is this anything like kraftwerk's "ohm sweet ohm"?!?
― Eisbär (llamasfur), Saturday, 5 February 2005 23:32 (nineteen years ago) link
Not to mention the amazing Euro groups whose main influence was the PTs like the Dutch Outsiders.
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 6 February 2005 00:01 (nineteen years ago) link
― walter kranz (walterkranz), Sunday, 6 February 2005 02:12 (nineteen years ago) link
The Yardbirds were let down by their management and record labels who probably didn't know exactly what to do with them. If their manager would have pushed them towards putting out LPs and playing up the acid guitar hero stuff, they might be looked at somewhat different.
That being said, I still can't figure why "You're A Better Man Than I" wasn't a big pop hit. I think that song had hooks out the yin yang and it wasn't even released as a single in most places.
Jeff Beck could never quite put and keep together a proper rock band. For such a great guitarist, he doesn't have too many good songs with his name attached other than some of the fusion mid 70s matierial. The first Jeff Beck Group album and parts of the second are really impressive. If he could have let Rod Stewart and Ron Wood write the tunes and just wail on top, that could have been the biggest band of the early 70s. Beck even got another chance with the Cactus/Vanilla Fudge rhythm section, but again no songs or singer of note. It's all listenable and interesting, but one has to wonder what could have been.
The Pretty Things' "Balloon Burning" is a great song. I love that one.
― Earl Nash (earlnash), Sunday, 6 February 2005 02:41 (nineteen years ago) link
I say the Byrds too, but I also say Blue Cheer. And maybe The Shadows of Knight if only cuz they had an album called "Backdoor Men"
― Special Agent Dale Koopa (orion), Monday, 28 November 2005 03:40 (eighteen years ago) link
― Special Agent Dale Koopa (orion), Monday, 28 November 2005 03:44 (eighteen years ago) link
― Special Agent Dale Koopa (orion), Monday, 28 November 2005 03:48 (eighteen years ago) link
It means a lot.
And the Yardbirds weren't just good some of the time, they were THE BEST some of the time.
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 28 November 2005 19:51 (eighteen years ago) link
― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 28 November 2005 19:55 (eighteen years ago) link
And yeah, hard to keep all the various permutations of the records straight.
― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 28 November 2005 20:00 (eighteen years ago) link
― walter kranz (walterkranz), Monday, 28 November 2005 20:32 (eighteen years ago) link
― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 28 November 2005 20:36 (eighteen years ago) link
Walter, I won't ask to see your list of fifty bands ...
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 28 November 2005 21:53 (eighteen years ago) link
Yardbirds discography is very confusing. I only have an appallingly mastered compilation CD. I have a few things on mp3 though and they sound much better, so I need to get some remasters I guess. My favourites are the hits really - For Your Love, Heart Full Of Soul, Evil Hearted You.
― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Monday, 28 November 2005 21:57 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 28 November 2005 21:58 (eighteen years ago) link
this thread is a good reminder to try and remember to look for some yardbirds..
theres a good description of the shooting of "Blow Up" in that kinda crappy "Ready Steady Go" book. 'course i can't recall what the story was exactly. ill look it over tonight and report back in the morning.
― bb (bbrz), Monday, 28 November 2005 22:07 (eighteen years ago) link
I can't think of any British bands from the '60s that I would place above the Yardbirds though.
― walter kranz (walterkranz), Tuesday, 29 November 2005 00:17 (eighteen years ago) link
oops, should read 'that Velvets cover'
― Frank Sumatra (NickB), Thursday, 5 February 2009 10:32 (fifteen years ago) link
They might have played with them!
― Vicious Cop Kills Gentle Fool (Tom D.), Thursday, 5 February 2009 10:38 (fifteen years ago) link
Also, Page something of an aficionado of US underground music, yes?
― Vicious Cop Kills Gentle Fool (Tom D.), Thursday, 5 February 2009 10:39 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, I guess he was. Wasn't he a big Spirit fan or something?
― Frank Sumatra (NickB), Thursday, 5 February 2009 10:40 (fifteen years ago) link
And Kaleidoscope, and Buffalo Springfield et al
― Vicious Cop Kills Gentle Fool (Tom D.), Thursday, 5 February 2009 10:41 (fifteen years ago) link
Not to go all off-topic, but: "Psycho Daisies"!
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Thursday, 5 February 2009 11:10 (fifteen years ago) link
Kinda like that engineer album. Not too keen on the early blues stuff.
― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 5 February 2009 12:31 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, Roger the Engineer is great. And Psycho Daisies too! B-side of Happenings Ten Years Time Ago, what an amazing single.
― Frank Sumatra (NickB), Thursday, 5 February 2009 12:57 (fifteen years ago) link
Not a big fan of the Yardbirds, beyond the famous songs
― Vicious Cop Kills Gentle Fool (Tom D.), Thursday, 5 February 2009 12:59 (fifteen years ago) link
Somewhere I have an old Rolling Stone wherein it says, in the Random Notes section, that The Yardbirds changed their name to Led Zepplin, which in hindsight, is a pretty terrible name for a band.
The hook that follows the chorus of "Heart Full of Soul" always (still) gets me.
― factcheckr, Thursday, 5 February 2009 14:18 (fifteen years ago) link
Full circle for this thread: the VU book Uptight says the Velvets were originally slated to be the band in Blow-Up, but it went to the Yardbirds instead.
Anyhow, Yardbirds are classic. Clapton never topped his work with them, by my reckoning.
― dad a, Thursday, 5 February 2009 14:51 (fifteen years ago) link
always thought the riff @ 2:35 of this stooges track
sounded like happenings ten years time ago
― eman, Thursday, 5 February 2009 15:18 (fifteen years ago) link
made me a edit recently. loop madness.yardbirds-train kepta rollin (ettiem kepta editin)
― andrew m., Thursday, 5 February 2009 15:52 (fifteen years ago) link
Eman, Iggy was a big Yardbirds fan, so you are probably onto something.In some interview he talks about listening to "Heart Full of Soul" and thought to himself "Well, what's my heart full of?" (Napalm, obv)
― Trip Maker, Thursday, 5 February 2009 16:02 (fifteen years ago) link
I guess I mean he IS a big YB fan.I love their psych shit, some of the early "rave up" stuff is great, too.Especially "Here Tis"
― Trip Maker, Thursday, 5 February 2009 16:03 (fifteen years ago) link
also "i'm not talking" and "i got a right"
― eman, Thursday, 5 February 2009 17:53 (fifteen years ago) link
For that matter, the MC5 version of I'm A Man on '66 Breakout owes more to the Yardbirds than to Bo Diddley.
― dad a, Thursday, 5 February 2009 18:13 (fifteen years ago) link
Woah! Never saw the Stooges link before!
The archetypal Freakbeat band. I really need to upgrade from my crappy beat-up Vinyl greatest hits.
― Soukesian, Thursday, 5 February 2009 18:17 (fifteen years ago) link
Sundazed dropped the news on Facebook today that they'll be putting out the Little Games lp in mono on cd & vinyl in December. Only two bonus tracks tho: "Puzzles" & "I Remember The Night".
― Your cousin, Marvin Cobain (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 22 September 2010 22:54 (thirteen years ago) link
are there any bootlegs of the brief beck & page lineup? paging tyler
― baby beluga (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 28 January 2013 19:44 (eleven years ago) link
not that i know of? this one is tricky -- http://vivalesbootlegs.blogspot.com/2009/02/yardbirds-feat-jimmy-page-jeff-beck.htmli think there are two shows though, one w/ beck, one w/ page.
― tylerw, Monday, 28 January 2013 19:48 (eleven years ago) link
in case anyone missed it, i wrote a little something about the VU/Yardbirds thang (along with mp3) here: http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2013/01/15/the-yardbirds-im-waiting-for-the-man-vu-cover-live-1968/
― tylerw, Monday, 28 January 2013 19:49 (eleven years ago) link
here's the high point of the beck/page y-birds recorded outputhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S47NPJQq8h8
― tylerw, Monday, 28 January 2013 20:30 (eleven years ago) link
actually a pretty rockin' milkshake commercial tbh.
― tylerw, Monday, 28 January 2013 20:31 (eleven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpcyWKKY9-s and here they are playing in 1966 -- page on bass, I think?
― tylerw, Monday, 28 January 2013 20:43 (eleven years ago) link
jim mccarty + whoever is playing as yardbirds in my town but tickets are like 40 or 50 bucks so screw that. i got ghostface tickets and they were only 30! anyway, i fuckin' love yardbirds and i have listened to their (post-clapton) records a TON in the last 5 years or so. hoo boy, so addicted. so great. i could rave about them all night.
― scott seward, Sunday, 15 April 2018 01:06 (six years ago) link
This, from last year, is really awesome, especially the live disc: https://www.discogs.com/Yardbirds-Yardbirds-68/master/1269951
― brimstead, Sunday, 15 April 2018 02:01 (six years ago) link
I would skip the McCarty-birds and get that killer Yardbirds '68 comp. I think it's my fave reissue from last year.
― Elvis Telecom, Sunday, 15 April 2018 04:36 (six years ago) link
Roger the Engineer was pretty much the shape of hard rock to come.
― earlnash, Sunday, 15 April 2018 08:13 (six years ago) link
Reviews say Yardbirds '68 has the Anderson Theater set that's been available before, but it's fixed up to sound clearer. Question: does it sound *that* much better to justify the premium price?
― Josefa, Sunday, 15 April 2018 15:02 (six years ago) link
Sounds quite good, finally heard it yesterday. But not compared it with anything. Just been shared on torrent sites. But I'm still thinking of buying it.
― Stevolende, Sunday, 15 April 2018 16:21 (six years ago) link
Haven't heard it yet, but the original issue had overdubbed crowd noise (from bullfights), so presumably this reissue sounds better.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Sunday, 15 April 2018 16:26 (six years ago) link
EVERY live album should have overdubbed bullfight noises.
― scott seward, Sunday, 15 April 2018 16:33 (six years ago) link
the new ugly things claims that they are not actual bullfight noises, the myth beginning with a misinterpreted jimmy page quote.
― Thus Sang Freud, Sunday, 15 April 2018 17:28 (six years ago) link
It was actually Jake Holmes who said it had bullfight noises.(and Scott otm)
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Sunday, 15 April 2018 19:20 (six years ago) link
and it wasn't even released on matador
― ziggy the ginhead (rushomancy), Sunday, 15 April 2018 23:01 (six years ago) link
What's the deal with "Knowing That I'm Losing You" being released without the vocals (as they'd already been on Cumular Limit)? Is Pagey afraid of being sued by Relf's estate for not acknowledging Keith wrote the lyrics to the second verse?
― Lee626, Monday, 16 April 2018 04:51 (six years ago) link
FWIW, I have the original issue of the Anderson Bullfight show and the new remaster completely smokes it.
― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 17 April 2018 10:32 (six years ago) link
Fun stories about the Anderson:
http://bedfordandbowery.com/2018/01/the-anderson-theater-forgotten-forerunner-of-the-fillmore-east/
― Josefa, Tuesday, 17 April 2018 14:00 (six years ago) link
that was the anderson, huh? i was actually in there! when it was the "cbgb theater" in the late 70s. saw the jam. mick jagger was in the house that night w/ jerry hall.
― Thus Sang Freud, Tuesday, 17 April 2018 14:49 (six years ago) link
this is a group i could be a completist of from their beginning till their end!
― xzanfar, Friday, 24 December 2021 14:56 (two years ago) link
Watching through some interviews, picked up a nugget from Angus that him and Malcolm saw the Yardbirds live with Jimmy Page and were quite impressed.
Seeing the Yardbirds live seems to be a pretty formative thing for many of the old rock and rollers - I've seen this stated in various interviews with Nugent, Iggy, Wayne Kramer and both Stephen Tyler and Joe Perry.
― earlnash, Friday, 24 December 2021 15:17 (two years ago) link
It's pretty easy to snag the more or less 'Complete' Yardbirds: the Yardbirds By Giorgio Gomelsky box on Charly for everything from the beginning up 'til early '66; a good reissue of Roger The Engineer for the rest of '66; and an expanded Little Games and that Yardbirds '68 thing for everything Page. There's also a BBC set, but IMHO those recordings (Beck & Page eras, nothing together) aren't that revelatory.
― Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 24 December 2021 15:26 (two years ago) link
Yardbirds discography has generally always been a bit of a basket case.
― earlnash, Friday, 24 December 2021 15:59 (two years ago) link
ultimate covers all their albums best songs and more and the ones it misses is no great loss!
― xzanfar, Friday, 24 December 2021 16:01 (two years ago) link
Oh yeah, drag with taht yardbirds Giorgio gomelski thing is that it has loads of tyakes of several songs following each other. Which I think is probably not the best way to listen to them. I think I have a copy.Shame the Ultimate set is so compressed.
& wish I could get that Roger The Engineer expanded as cd only. Or at least without Stereo following mono version which is a drag on a 3changer.
― Stevolende, Friday, 24 December 2021 16:05 (two years ago) link
the expanded for your love, having a rave up and little games might be interesting to hear anyone have these?
― xzanfar, Friday, 24 December 2021 16:18 (two years ago) link
I had an (the?) expanded Little Games years ago (mid-'90s) and was extremely disappointed. I was expecting more things along the lines of "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago," but it's mostly (as I recall, it's been years since I listened to it) Mickie Most trying to smother all of the band's strengths in awful arrangements.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 24 December 2021 16:28 (two years ago) link
There's been a least a few different Little Games reissues with different extras. I've got the Tarfumes has, the '90s EMI double, which gets bogged down a bit in the bonuses mostly being alt. mixes and backing tracks. There's a newer edition on Spotify that has a bunch of Page-era BBC recordings added on instead.
― Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 24 December 2021 16:48 (two years ago) link
The Little Games album itself is a mixed bag, as Mickie Most really wasn't the producer that lineup needed, although there is a neat friction at times with Page throwing out these wild solos on Pop ready-mades foisted onto the band.
Another problem is that some of that era's best stuff was on singles (like "Think About It", "Puzzles", and their scary version of Nilsson's "Ten Little Indians"), so make sure that the version you're checking out has extras.
― Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 24 December 2021 16:58 (two years ago) link