The Yardbirds

[dynatech]

I have just watched a documentary on The Yardbirds, I never realised how good they were, nor how big they were in 65/66 with a run of 5 very big hits each one very different to the last. They are famous for the succession of legendary guitarist that seemingly used the band as an apprenticeship (Eric Clapton, Jeff "Nigel Tuffnel" Beck & Jimmy Page) but the discs they cut were pretty hot and quite often groundbreaking, and Keith Relf was a very cool frontman. It's a shame their version of Dazed & Confused wasn't released, musically it is more or less the same as the Led Zep version cut a few months later after Relf & drummer McCarty quit to form the folky Renaissance and were replaced by Robert Plant and his mate John Bonham...

[johnlewis]

if you?re a fan of Keith Relf, you should check out a band called ARMAGEDDON, great psychodelic/blues/hardrock..

http://www.progressiveworld.net/armageddon.html

[andy at handiwork]

Fans old and new of the Yardbirds can see the band as it now is, original members Jim McCarthy on drums, Chris Draja on guitar, plus some new faces, at the Tithe Barn Community Centre, in Rayners Lane, Harrow on Friday 15th Sept. Have a look at for details.

[steve56]

was this the ch4 doc?dynatech wrote:

> I have just watched a documentary on The Yardbirds, I never
> realised how good they were, nor how big they were in 65/66
> with a run of 5 very big hits each one very different to the
> last. They are famous for the succession of legendary guitarist
> that seemingly used the band as an apprenticeship (Eric
> Clapton, Jeff "Nigel Tuffnel" Beck & Jimmy Page) but the discs
> they cut were pretty hot and quite often groundbreaking, and
> Keith Relf was a very cool frontman. It's a shame their version
> of Dazed & Confused wasn't released, musically it is more or
> less the same as the Led Zep version cut a few months later
> after Relf & drummer McCarty quit to form the folky Renaissance
> and were replaced by Robert Plant and his mate John Bonham...

[Joe A]

They were a great band in their time and they nurtured some great musicians

I auctioned a two single sided EMI test pressing of their "Roger The Engineer" LP at Bonhams about 8 years ago and got ?250 for it .. At the same time I sold a Status Que ltd edition demo which made just under ?200.... It was fun being a dj from a very young age and getting loads of promo from record companies back in the 60's-70's.. Then it tightened up

[mike johnson]

Wasn't the story that Clapton left when he thought the group had become too commercial, leaving their blues roots behind??

[steve56]

yes i heard that too.

[steve56]

did they show the heart full of soul clip i just about recall the record.dynatech wrote:

> I have just watched a documentary on The Yardbirds, I never
> realised how good they were, nor how big they were in 65/66
> with a run of 5 very big hits each one very different to the
> last. They are famous for the succession of legendary guitarist
> that seemingly used the band as an apprenticeship (Eric
> Clapton, Jeff "Nigel Tuffnel" Beck & Jimmy Page) but the discs
> they cut were pretty hot and quite often groundbreaking, and
> Keith Relf was a very cool frontman. It's a shame their version
> of Dazed & Confused wasn't released, musically it is more or
> less the same as the Led Zep version cut a few months later
> after Relf & drummer McCarty quit to form the folky Renaissance
> and were replaced by Robert Plant and his mate John Bonham...

[dynatech]

It was a BBC "Without Walls - My Generation" programme, I believe there was a series of shows featuring the stories of various 60's bands - I have 3 or 4 including The Kinks & The Small Faces. They showed quite a few clips of performances of hits, including a pretty good live version of Dazed & Confused from early 68. I have a full performance of Heart Full Of Soul on a dvd called Journey to Tyme, it has Jimmy Page miming the guitar (actually 2 guitars, Jeff Becks lead and Chris Dreja's acoustic) and I believe it is from a French show from late 1967.
I'm always up for swaps and trades on similar stuff if anyone's interested.

[steve56]

cheers,the old clip i have was transferred from vhs it has them on like a small boat performing"heart full of soul" . dynatech wrote:

> It was a BBC "Without Walls - My Generation" programme, I
> believe there was a series of shows featuring the stories of
> various 60's bands - I have 3 or 4 including The Kinks & The
> Small Faces. They showed quite a few clips of performances of
> hits, including a pretty good live version of Dazed & Confused
> from early 68. I have a full performance of Heart Full Of Soul
> on a dvd called Journey to Tyme, it has Jimmy Page miming the
> guitar (actually 2 guitars, Jeff Becks lead and Chris Dreja's
> acoustic) and I believe it is from a French show from late
> 1967.
> I'm always up for swaps and trades on similar stuff if anyone's
> interested.