Over, Under, Sideways Down (U.S.)/Roger the Engineer (U.K.)

Yardbirds, The

One Hatchling from the British Invasion Guitar Incubator

At different times during its brief existence (1962–1968), the Yardbirds had Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and/or Jimmy Page on lead guitar. As dynasties go, that's possibly the best ever in rock, on par with the New York Yankees home run club from Babe Ruth through Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. This album, the band's first to be conceived as an album and not merely a collection of singles, documents the Beck era and includes several early tracks with Page. It's essential listening for anyone who cares about rock guitar.

Each axman's tenure brought a corresponding shift in sound. The Yardbirds started out playing a jittery blues rock, with Clapton, then a staunch blues purist, providing Delta-obsessed leads. When the band started to move away from blues with the soaring single "For Your Love," Clapton left in disgust, joining John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Beck came aboard ready to try different styles and loosened up the band. His stinging, crystal-clear sound drives the determinedly weird "Hot House of Omagarashid," a wordless chant (drawn, allegedly, from Gregorian chant) splayed over a twisted Bo Diddley beat, and "He's Always There," a straight pop hook embellished with psychedelic guitar musings.

Beck and Page played together for a brief time, on the foreboding "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago"; "Psycho Daisies" features Page on bass. These tracks solidified the Yardbirds' reputation for sonic mayhem; it's a treasure trove of piercing leads, thick distortion, and other guitar sound-shaping tricks.

The Page era of the Yardbirds is most notable for a record that's not available—the March 1968 Anderson Theater concert in New York that was very briefly issued by Epic as Live Yardbirds! Featuring Jimmy Page. It was recorded shortly before the Yardbirds dissolved around Page, and he was forced to assemble the lineup that became Led Zeppelin. The live set offers moments of savage guitar intensity ("Dazed and Confused") and an extended guitar exploration, "White Summer," that directly foreshadows Led Zeppelin in its conjoining of blues and traditional folk song (in this case, "She Moves Through the Fair"). Later, Page recast the tune on the first Led Zeppelin record, as "Black Mountain Side." And the rest, as they say, is history.

Genre: Rock
Released: 1966, Epic (Reissued 2004, Repertoire)
Catalog Choice: Live Yardbirds! Featuring Jimmy Page
Next Stop: The Who: The Who Sings My Generation
After That: Jeff Beck: Wired
Book Pages: 880–881

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