The Yardbirds

The Yardbirds are an English rock band that had a string of hits in the mid-1960s, including "For Your Love", "Over Under Sideways Down" and "Heart Full of Soul".

This major English band of the 60s, precursor and founder of hard rock blues, exerted a decisive influence on a whole section of rock history. Despite his short career (1963-1968) started at the same time as The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, he saw the holy trinity of British guitarists : Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck.

When this came out in 2003, it marked the first studio release by the Yardbirds in 35 years. In that time, of course, the personnel had changed quite a bit. Even those inclined to get excited by reunions of great bands should know right off that it includes just two original members, drummer Jim McCarty and rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja (though Jeff Beck plays guest guitar on one number, "My Blind Life"). Rounded out by three "new" members (including bassist John Idan, whose lead singing sounds fairly close to original Yardbirds vocalist Keith Relf in style and tone), the record also features guest lead guitar cameos by Jeff Baxter, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Brian May, with Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls singing lead on "For Your Love"…

Beginning as one of rock's all-time great (and influential) blues-rock bands, the Yardbirds had taken a turn toward the psychedelic side of things once Jeff Beck replaced Eric Clapton, as evidenced by 1966's Over Under Sideways Down. As with Beatles and Rolling Stones albums from around this era, the U.K. and U.S. versions would often differ with album titles and altered track listings, and as a result, quite a few tracks slipped through the cracks. The same was true of the Yardbirds. But the 2002 Repertoire reissue of Over Under Sideways Down finally compiles all the tracks from this era on one single disc - the end result being 22 tracks of the Yardbirds at their creative peak. For anyone who was wondering if Beck could truly fill in for Clapton, he was silenced by the playful "Jeff's Boogie," which shows the guitarist was one of the more technically proficient blues-rock players of the time…

CD reissue of the debut album from the British Blues legends featuring 10 bonus tracks. Recorded live at the Marquee Club in 1964, the line-up of the band was their best-ever and featured Eric Clapton, Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty, Keith Relf and Paul Samwell-Smith.
Five Live Yardbirds was the first important - indeed, essential - live album to come out of the 1960s British rock & roll boom. In terms of the performance captured and the recording quality, it was also the best such live record of the entire middle of the decade. Five Live Yardbirds was a popular album, especially once Eric Clapton's fame began to spread after he left the band.

Recorded December 8th, 1963 at Craw-Daddy Club, Richmond and at the Club A Go Go, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England on 30 Dec. 1963.
Sonny Boy Williamson was, in many ways, the ultimate blues legend. By the time of his death in 1965, he had been around long enough to have played with Robert Johnson at the start of his career and Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Robbie Robertson at the end of it. In between, he drank a lot of whiskey, hoboed around the country, had a successful radio show for 15 years, toured Europe to great acclaim, and simply wrote, played, and sang some of the greatest blues ever etched into Black phonograph records…

The 2013 low-budget compilation The Early Days: Ultimate Collection brings together tracks legendary guitarist Eric Clapton recorded in the 1960s with the Yardbirds. Also included are a few cuts off his rare 1971 album Guitar Boogie, which featured Clapton jamming with fellow British blues-rock guitarists Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Included are such cuts as "Boom Boom," "Train Kept a Rollin'," "I Ain't Got You," and others.