There is as yet no thread discussing the Yardbirds

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.

I can't think of any British bands from the '60s that I would place above the Yardbirds though.

It's not you...it really is. It's that good.

For me it's the Beck period by a longshot but I'm curious to see what others say.

ts: "the train kept a-rollin'" vs "stroll on"!

Nobody has yet mentioned the Yardbirds hidden strength, Graham Gouldman! What a brilliant songwriter.

I *still* haven't picked up Cumular Limit or that Sundazed live thing. thread revival serves as a good reminded that i need that stuff.

when I get back from the bar I can ysi that Page live album.

Is _Cumular Limit_ still out there? IIRC it was a grey-area release to begin with. . .

The other great post-Beck tracks are "Puzzles," the B-side of "Little Games," and "Think About It," a classic sounding Yardbirds track with a total fucking proto-"Communication Breakdown" guitar solo. It was the B-side of their last single. I agree, of course, that Beck-era Yardbirds had more good material, but Page was a more radical player. Total ferocity - sounding like he's about to rip the string off the guitar.

"what did the Pretty Things invent?"

They invented the style of music on which the Dutch Outsiders based practically their whole sound on and which was hugely influential.

but yeah, "Think About It" = "Dazed and Confused" solo .. also, Aerosmith covered "Think About It" on the pretty putrid NIght In the Ruts lp!

Ah, I see. I knew I was missing some bit of context somewhere.

Well, For Your Love if you count that as an album.

BTW this DVD is worth watching for Yardbirds fans.

Don't forget Top Topham! Only joking..

Tim OTM re: Puzzles and Think about it. Not much to add to the debate that hasn't been said really - Beck and Page eras both fantastic. I'd say that Beck edges it for the magnificence of the BIG singles - 'Shapes..' and 'Heart Full Of Soul', although some of the blues workouts were a bit dull. I think the reason that the likes of the Yardbirds pretty much disappeared into the ether after the 60's was a combination of factors : a) no canonical album b) reputation of band itself overshadowed by the status of Page/Beck/Clapham c) uncharismatic Relf/Dreja/McCarty d)the big hits were pretty primitive sounding to fit into 70's radio playlists, so got forgotten about. The Stones, even though equally primitive sounding, were allowed in because they were the Stones.

Much of this applies to the Pretty Things too. Personally I rate them a bit higher than the Yardbirds, and 'Talkin About The Good Times'/'Walking Thru My Dreams' is THE BEST pop-psych single of the 60's from either side of the pond. 'Defecting Grey'/'Mr. Evasion' is nearly as good. The early stuff is totally punk and Midnight To Six Man a quite brilliant mod-pop development of that early snot. Great band.

Weird. I think Mr. Evasion > Defecting Grey > Talkin' > Walking but Happenings 10 Years Time Ago, Mr. You're A Better Man Than I, and other Yardbirds tunes trump them all.

I love the way Phil sneers that "day"

No, I was genuinely confused! I've never heard the Outsiders and I thought "But the Pretty Things invented it." was a comment on the Yardbirds.

From the Wikipedia Yardbirds page:

Unfortunately, the Beck-Page lineup recorded little else in the studio, and no live recordings (save a scratchy cover of the Velvet Underground's "Waiting for the Man") of the dual-lead guitar lineup have surfaced.

I'd be pretty interested in hearing that - is it readily available anywhere?

IIRC, it's on one of the "Afterhours" bootleg tapes.

Afterhours: legendary Velvet Underground bootleg tape series.

This is a pretty horrible recording, but cool to hear nonetheless ...

Now that just kills. It also should be said that McCarty is pretty underrated drummer. Great no-frills stuff.

Thanks for the info and thanks for posting the song. Cool stuff! Makes them sound like the MC5.

I love the Yardbirds but when they crap out they really go all out. "Pafff...BUM that's a sound called LUUUV!"

damn that velvets cover rocks

i think there's some story about the Velvets and the Yardbirds playing on the same bill ... Jeff Beck carrying a gun around or something ...

Are we sure that's really the Yardbirds? This seems too good to be true.

Definitely sounds like the Yardbirds right at the end of the song, wouldn't have known otherwise.

Did a search and turned up this bootleg:

(Shrine Exposition Hall, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 31/05/68)

1. The Train Kept A Rollin'
2. Mr. You're A Better Man Than I
3. Heart Full Of Soul
4. Dazed And Confused
5. Shapes Of Things
6. I'm A Man
7. Smokestack Lightning
8. Beck's Bolero
9. I'm Waiting For The Man
-Bye Bye Bird
-Happenings Ten Years Time Ago
-Drinking Muddy Water
-New York City Blues
10. I Wish You Would
11. Hey Gyp

The Yardbirds Featuring Jimmy Page Live At The Shrine - Another show featuring Jimmy Page with The Yardbirds. This show, a bit more complete has an over exuberant taper in spots however, the sound quality get's pretty good in places. Another nice document of Jimmy Page

yeah, dunno if these links will still work, but that show is over here: http://musictravellerstwo.blogspot.com/2008/12/yardbirds-with-jimmy-page.html

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kTObUFWzaKA/ST_5z5hQo4I/AAAAAAAABs4/w5fcygnxfsc/s1600-h/Fillmore+Poster.jpg

^ I'm liking the look of that gig.

Oops, no picture. The one with Cecil Taylor and It's A Beautiful Day anyhow.

Bumping this for Tom D. The idea of that Velvets is still amazing me. Know anything about it?

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.

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.