Posts tagged: The Yardbirds

Buy Having a Rave Up with The Yardbirds

Having a Rave Up with The Yardbirds is an oddly constructed mish-mash of recent singles, new recordings, and live tracks recorded over 19 months prior to this album’s release. Still, this late 1965 release captures the heart of The Yardbirds from many different angles and laid a firm foundation for the heavy blues rock which would dominate the music world for decades to come. The songs on this album straddled between live and studio tracks as well as the group’s earlier pure blues and later psychedelic rock. Side one features (then) current lead guitarist Jeff Beck while Side Two features older live recordings with former guitarist Eric Clapton, songs which were previously released in England on the 1964 album, Five Live Yardbirds.

That live album failed to reach the charts and was subsequently not issued in the US or any other part of the world. Clapton soon departed as he considered himself a blues purist and didn’t like the commercial approach being forged with tracks like the hit single, “For Your Love”. Released in June 1965, the album For Your Love, was the group’s first international release and featured songs with both Clapton and Beck on lead guitar. Later in the summer, The Yardbirds embarked on their first US tour and decidedly shifted their focus towards the American market.

Some of the studio tracks for Having a Rave Up were recorded during that first American tour at Sam Phillips Recording studio in Memphis and Chess Studios in Chicago. The album was co-produced by Giorgio Gomelsky and group bassist Paul Samwell-Smith. Smith also helped give the album its title as he forged many of the “rave up” arrangements during the middle instrumental sections of several songs, especially those on the “live” side of the album.

Having a Rave Up by The Yardbirds
Released: November 15, 1965 (Epic) Produced by: Giorgio Gomelsky & Paul Samwell-Smith Recorded: London, New York, Chicago, Memphis, March 1964–September 1965
Side One	Side Two
You’re a Better Man Than I Evil Hearted You I’m a Man Still I’m Sad Heart Full of Soul The Train Kept A-Rollin’	Smokestack Lightning Respectable I’m a Man Here ‘Tis
Group Musicians
Keith Relf – Lead Vocals, Guitars, Harmonica Jeff Beck – Lead Guitars Eric Clapton – Lead Guitars Chis Dreja – Guitars Paul Samwell-Smith – Bass, Vocals Jim McCarty – Drums, Vocals

The understated but fantastic opener, “You’re a Better Man Than I”, launches things with advanced rock techniques and message. Production wise, there is a subtle play on amplitude to give a serious and somber effect and bring out the rolling bass and drums along with the catchy and hip melodies by vocalist Keith Relf. The song was written by brothers Brian and Mike Hugg and it features a sustain-heavy guitar lead by Beck. Group collaborator Graham Gouldman composed the guitar-driven “Evil Hearted You” which was a major hit for The Yardbirds in Britain. Here, Beck inventively uses Spanish scales and odd chords before the group launches into their first frantic, rave-up bridge.

Next comes a distinct and souped-up version of the Bo Diddley classic “I’m a Man”. This studio recording of the song was recorded at Chess Studios and it packs much into its two and a half minute duration while still remaining a loose and fun jam. Relf’s harmonica really shines as the main lead instrument here, with guitarists Beck and Chis Dreja contributing nicely to the frenzied end jam. On the second side is another fine but not quite as potent version led by Clapton’s guitars. “Still I’m Sad” is the only fully original composition on the album, co-written by Smith and drummer Jim McCarty. This track takes a radical turn as a dark folk song with monk-like chanting persisting throughout to a steady, slow beat.

The heart of the album comes at the end of the first side, starting with Gouldman’s “Heart Full of Soul”. Starting with a slightly Indian-influenced guitar riff by Beck, the song features a good mixture of rock elements with superb production and a perfect mid-sixties vibe, “Heart Full of Soul” reached the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic. “The Train Kept A-Rollin'” would become the classic late sixties jam song with renditions by countless bands following this version by The Yardbirds. Relf recorded two lead vocals for an odd effect, which becomes more of a distraction, but this is counterbalanced by a couple of great jam sections with over-driven guitars and shuffling rhythms.

The four remaining songs were renditions of traditional blues classics recorded live with Eric Clapton in London in March 1964. While these are not the best recordings, as the bass and drums are too loud and the lead vocals are a bit too low in the mix, the energy of the performances nevertheless seeps through. Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning” is the best of these as a sixties rock interpretation of a pure blues song. The Isley Brother’s “Respectable” is fast and frantic, with early reflections of the latter ska genre, while the closing “Here ‘Tis” features great bass with a scat, chanting vocal chorus in the background and wild, frenzied guitar picking along with rapid percussion.

Having a Rave Up with The Yardbirds was the Yardbirds’ highest charting album in the US during their active career and a later re-issue was packaged with eleven additional bonus tracks. These include the popular single, “Shapes of Things”, a group original which lies on the cutting edge of sonic evolution, and “New York City Blues”, a true precursor to the Led Zeppelin blues sound several years later.

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Part of Classic Rock Review’s celebration of 1965 albums.

Buy For Your Love

About four years ago, we reviewed the 1966 album by The Yardbirds commonly known as “Roger the Engineer”, which saw the final days in the band for guitarist Jeff Beck. Today, we circle back to Beck’s earliest days with the group when he replaced Eric Clapton during the later stages of the debut studio album For Your Love, which was released 50 years ago today on June 13, 1965. The music on For Your Love was recorded over an extended time and features many different compositional styles.

The Yardbirds were formed in London in 1963 and got their name from a nickname of jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker. They got their first break by taking over for the Rolling Stones at the Crawdaddy rhythm and blues club. Here the quintet forged their reputation and were soon enlisted to be the backing band for Sonny Boy Williamson when he toured England in 1964. Clapton was complemented by rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja and vocalist/harmonica player Keith Relf, who all helped the band forge their distinct style of American-inspired English blues. The group’s first release was the December 1964 live cover album Five Live Yardbirds, which featured tracks that would later be reused for the late 1965 album Having a Rave Up.

The group’s manager Gorgio Gomelsky produced the album through the hodge-podge method of assembling previously released singles and B-sides. In total, the album contains mostly covers and outside compositions along with a few group-penned originals, but it all makes for a fascinating peer into this moment in rock history.

For Your Love by The Yardbirds
Released: June 13, 1965 (Epic) Produced by: Giorgio Gomelsky & Manfred Mann Recorded: London, March 1964–April 1965
Side One	Side Two
For Your Love I’m Not Talking Putty (in Your Hands) I Ain’t Got You Got to Hurry I Ain’t Done Wrong	I Wish Your Would A Certain Girl Sweet Music Good Morning Little Schoolgirl My Girl Sloopy
Group Musicians
Keith Relf – Lead Vocals, Harmonica Eric Clapton – Lead Guitars Jeff Beck – Lead Guitars Chis Dreja – Guitars Paul Samwell-Smith – Bass, Vocals Jim McCarty – Drums, Vocals

The album commences with its title song, which was at once the first real hit for the band as well as the single song which made Clapton decide to depart. “For Your Love” was presented to the band by publisher Ronnie Beck and everyone in the group, aside from Clapton, loved it. Written by then 19-year-old Graham Gouldman, the song contains a distinct harpsichord by session man Brian Auger and is overall a strong departure from the blues-rock style of most of the other material on the band. Still, it was melodic and catchy and peaked in the Top 10 on the pop charts of both the UK and US. Clapton played the sessions for this song and then immediately left the group.

When Clapton departed, Gomelsky asked Jimmy Page, then the top session man in London, to join the group. However, Page was busy and happy with his session work and suggested Beck, who was sort of an understudy, for the position which Page would ultimately fill himself a few years later. Beck immediately makes an impact on “I’m Not Talking”, with its  heavy rock, crunchy riffs and rudiments along with great rhythmic elements by bassist Paul Samwell-Smith and drummer Jim McCarty. “Putty (In Your Hands)” contains a cool 60s groove while the bridge has some jazz elements, while Calvin Carter’s blues classic, “I Ain’t Got You”, features the fine harmonica playing by Relf for the first time on the album.

“Got to Hurry” is the first real original composition as an instrumental credited to Gomelsky (as “Oscar Rasputin”), but really a jam composed by the group. Rhythmically, this instrumental has surf music elements while it also acts as a showcase for Clapton’s bluesy leads. “I Ain’t Done Wrong” is a driving rocker with blues vocals by Relf and some great rudimental riffs thrown in for fun, while “I Wish You Would” is another blues standard with consistent, upbeat guitar rhythm by Dreja and Relf adding harmonica between every line during the verses. This side two opener also has a bridge section which builds towards a frenzied crescendo and was released as a single in August 1964. Although “A Certain Girl” was just the ‘B-side’ for the previous track, but is the first real shot at pop with a bright sound, strong melody, call and response vocals, and a blistering pop lead by Clapton which sounds like a souped-up Byrds lead.

The Yardbirds sound like a whole different band on “Sweet Music”, a song produced by Manfred Mann who also brought in some outside session players and vocals. The track is interesting because of the players involved, but really out of place on this album. In contrast, “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” is pure fifties-style pop style with harmonized vocals, Relf’s fine harmonica, and an outstanding, bluesy lead by Clapton. The song was originally composed and recorded by Williamson nearly three decades earlier. “My Girl Sloopy” is an interesting album closer as a fun rendition of a song which had not yet been made famous as “Hang On Sloopy” by The McCoys. The vocals here are odd but entertaining, especially the exaggerated high pitched harmonies and this extended track adds some Beatles elements.

While For Your Love barely broke the Top 100 on the album charts, it set The Yardbirds up for their first American tour, where Beck began to forge his own sound as well as help direct the group’s evolving sound through the mid sixties.

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Part of Classic Rock Review’s celebration of 1965 albums.