If there is one band's recorded work that should be included in an appreciation of the roots of psychedelia and as one of the prime movers of the genre then it should be The Yardbirds and they should be somewhere near the top of any list. But the problem with this band is that although they are almost universally cited as being one of the most influential on the music that evolved into what we would now call the music of classic rock, i.e. out and out guitar orientated songs and whilst they also made some really fine examples of psychedelic music during the latter part of their career, if you want to seek out an album that shows them at their best then it is almost impossible to do so.
The band came together in 1963 and were in the vanguard of the British R&B movement that gained momentum in the early sixties and then gained worldwide acceptance in the next few years. British R&B in it's purest form was adhering closely to the music of the American blues and R&B artists and their songs, mainly because the music was almost unknown in England (and so too, for the most part, in the US) and these bands were trying to spread the word and, in the process, were being evangelical and reverential in equal measure. The Yardbirds did the same in their early days, but in order to set themselves slightly apart from the other bands and especially The Rolling Stones, in whose wake they closely followed, they eventually began to take some liberties with this precious music and so began to take a slightly different path.
It is well known that the band featured three of England's finest guitar exponents during it's lifetime, namely, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page ( the latter two, very briefly featured in the band together, more of which later). During Eric Clapton's tenure, the band had started to stretch out on some songs when they played live and start to feature what was referred to as a 'rave up', whereby the arrangement of a song would include, at a certain point, a unison crescendo, normally involving the guitars and bass shifting the music to an octave higher than normal and then dropping back down into the groove of the song again. Eric's playing was developing fast too and he was allowed to take flights of fancy that probably any other R&B band of the time would have frowned upon. Whilst this was an exhilarating experience, live it wasn't the sort of thing that was going to translate into commercial success and it was this lack of chart action that prompted the band to record singles of a more commercial nature and when they finally got the hit with 'For Your Love', Eric was out of the door to pastures new, claiming that he needed to follow the path of a blues purist rather than a pop star. Jimmy Page was approached, but declined the offer and suggested they try a friend of his called Jeff Beck. Beck was poached from a band called The Tridents and seemed to fit in right away and also seemed to be happy with both the chart success and also the opportunity to experiment. To his credit, it was Mr Beck's tenure that pushed the band further and further away from the R&B format and into uncharted territory, his guitar playing was becoming more prominent and fiery within the band's sound both live and on record. They were happy to incorporate his ideas into new songs as it was getting them more attention and the single 'Shapes of Things' is a fine example of the progress they were making at this time. The album of the time simply entitled 'Yardbirds' was more rooted in R&B and although good enough, seems like a lost opportunity to push ahead with more experimentation.
In mid' 1966, bassist Paul Samwell Smith decided he wanted to leave the band and concentrate on producing records and, once again, Jimmy Page was approached and this time, he accepted the offer to join. Initially he was happy to play bass, but soon a unique idea was dream t up, which was for Beck and Page to both play lead guitar. So England's first heavyweight guitar orientated band was about to take flight. A single was recorded with the new rearranged band line-up and it delivered in spades, pre-dating and pre-emptying psychedelia by six months or more 'Happenings Ten Years Time Ago' was an extremely left field offering, consisting of an odd guitar figure playing behind the verses, lyrics dealing with deja vu and one of the most apocalyptic solos and middle eights ever. The problem was that it hit the public and they weren't ready for this glimpse of the future and it brought about the end of their run of hits. The band were actually hauled up in front of their record company and issued a warning that if they dared to serve up anything like 'Happenings..' ever again, then they would be parting company very swiftly! An appearance in the film 'Blow Up' playing a reworked version of 'The Train Kept a Rollin' under the name of 'Stroll On' is the only real evidence of what this line-up must've been like live, but the guitar smashing sequence ruins everything by being contrived rather than spontaneous.
And so, the most forward looking of guitar bands were reigned in and had to be content with producing pop singles in order to continue. Around this time, Jeff Beck jumped ship and the band were reduced to a quartet for the remainder of their career. Whilst they offered up various slices of forgettable pop nonsense to diminishing returns for the record buying public both on singles and the 'Little Games' album, they had continued to develop apace as a live act. Their live shows were incorporating more and more guitar pyrotechnics and they were in turn becoming a much heavier sounding band. As chart success evaporated, it beamed clear that their days were numbered and once their US record label got wind of the possibility of the band falling apart they took steps to make sure they got one more product out of them whilst they could.
On March 30th 1968, the band were to play The Anderson Theater in New York and Epic records sent a team of recording engineers and equipment to capture this show for a live album. The recording engineers had little experience of recording a 'rock' band, but did the best they could in the circumstances and a historic document of the last days of this important band was captured on tape.
The set opens with a fast and furious version of 'The Train Kept a Rollin', followed by 'Mr, You're A Better Man Than I'. What follows then is a song that Led Zeppelin fans will instantly recognise as 'Dazed and Confused' although the lyrics are not the same. In this setting the song displays the band at their psychedelic best and was indicative of where the band might be headed if they'd stayed together. After that is the band's cover of Garnet Mimms song 'My Baby' with it's odd bar count and an interesting solo from Mr Page for good measure. Up next
is a straightforward run through of their then most recent hit 'Over Under Sideways Down'. Then comes a cut from the 'Little Games' album,'Drinking Muddy Water', which is essentially blues standard 'Rollin' and Tumblin' under a different name and with weaker lyrics. 'Shapes of Things' follows and allows Jimmy Page to demonstrate that he was capable of handling both lead and rhythm guitar duties without breaking into too much of a sweat. Then comes another cut form the 'Little Games' album, the instrumental guitar showcase 'White Summer' and Mr Page plays a much more listenable live version than is contained on said album. For a finale, the band launch into 'I'm a Man' which had been in their set right from early on, but by now it had become something far and away from an R&B tune, it was stretched out almost beyond all recognition and features all the tricks that Jimmy Page was to take with him into his next musical venture. The band lasted for a few more weeks after this show and then were no more.
Jimmy Page was the only member of the band who had enthusiasm for the sort of music they were getting into and faced with more or less complete apathy from the rest of the band, he went off and formed The New Yardbirds, who almost immediately became Led Zeppelin. Once this band had started to hit the dizzy heights of success, Epic records realized they had some unreleased material featuring the talents of Mr Page and so in 1971 released the album of the Anderson Theater gig 'Live Yardbirds Featuring Jimmy Page' to cash in on the success of their former charge. The band had never sanctioned the release of this album and also the material contained within was deemed by Page to be a bit too close for comfort and he obtained an injunction, forcing Epic to withdraw the album from sale after only a few weeks in the shops. Sometime around '75 or '76, the album popped up once again and was again forced off the record racks by Page. In 2000, Mooreland Street Records released an official cd version of the album for the first time, but as a limited edition and it quickly sold out.
So, one of the most important historical live documents of one the most important guitar bands remains elusive, which is a great shame and although the band do sound slightly ragged in places, it's is an energetic performance, especially by Jimmy Page, as he was still fresh, whilst the others had been on the road for years and were possibly work worn. There have been a number of bootleg versions available down the years, but the most recent cd release's re mastering and general cleaning up make it the one to have if only it were to be made generally available. Who knows, it might get released again at some time in the near future, you'll just have to keep an eye out for it, but it'll be worth the wait!
