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Having a Rave Up

The Yardbirds - Having a Rave Up Audio CD

A fair review of the The Yardbirds "Having a Rave Up" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Yardbirds reviews here, or go back to the The Yardbirds tabs.

Band: The Yardbirds
Title: Having a Rave Up
Rating:

Release Date: 1999-06-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Mr. You're a Better Man Than I 2: Evil Hearted You 3: I'm a Man 4: Still I'm Sad 5: Heart Full of Soul 6: Train Kept A Rollin' 7: Smokestack Lightning 8: Respectable 9: I'm a Man 10: Here 'Tis 11: Shapes of Things 12: New York City Blues 13: Jeff's Blues, Take 1 14: Someone to Love, Pt. 1 15: Someone to Love, Pt. 2 16: Like Jimmy Reed Again 17: Chris' Number 18: What Do You Want 19: Here 'Tis [Stereo-Instrumental Version] 20: Here 'Tis [Version for RSG] 21: Stroll On

1965, not 1966
"Having a Rave Up" actually came out in late 1965 . . "Heart Full of Soul" was a hit in London during the summer of that year (I know from personal experience). I bought this album without hearing it on the basis of comments made by Clay Cole in the December 1965 issue of 16 magazine . . . he said that, "if you were a guitar fan, Jeff Beck was the best one out there (even George Harrison and Keith Richards said so!). " He was right.

This album changed my life. It redefined rock & roll, and was the first (and one of the all-time best) examples of what can happen when musicians push the envelope. Beck has gone on to create some of the most interesting and innovative music imaginable; his recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was long overdue.

Buy it. You won't be disappointed!.

Essential Yardbirds
The band played with the fringe element of Psychedelic rock and perfectly infused the blues element they were known for. This LP, I bought the vinyl way back when , was such a wonderful experience. I live in San Francisco and most garage bands at that time couldn't cover the intricate vocals of say the Beatles. But they could play the Yardbirds. Not that they were simple songs but they were just so much darn fun to play and expand on. This is the real deal and no other album of this period was so well done in its melding of genre's. . . do yourself a favor and buy it. . you won't be sorry , even happenings 40 years on it sounds Fab !!!!.

Inspirational!
It's good. Considered by many to be The Yardbirds' best, whether it is or is not true, hardly matters. That's all that really matters.

The opening track, "Mr. You're a Better Man Than I" serves as evidence of this, as it manages to be, simultaneously, catchy, bluesy, slightly psychedelic, and pretty heavy (especially for its time). The album is full of such songs, with a bluesy feel over very heavy bass and drum lines, making it both rock and proto-metal, while maintaining a psychedelic, progressive feel. Thus, in one album, The Yardbirds balance a good number of future trends in rock/metal music, and it's easy to see in this one album the precursors to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Cream, as well as Jeff Beck's solo material.

The number of artists influenced by this, either directly or through one of the above bands/artists, must be staggering!.

I got this album when it first came out ...
I will never forget the first time I heard "The Train Kept A-Rollin" . It was December 1965, and after reading a music column by Clay Cole saying that Jeff Beck was the best guitarist out there, I knew I had to have this album. . . I couldn't believe a guitar could sound like that. This album changed my life; it made me realize that rock and roll could be intense, improvisational, virtuoso, and hot.

An awesome mid-sixties rock album.
In its original (vinyl) incarnation, Having a Rave Up was split neatly down the middle: Side 1 consisted of six studio tunes recorded with Beck on guitar, while Side 2 featured four songs recorded live during the group's Clapton days (these recordings, as well as several others, can be found on the group's 1964 U. The Yardbirds' third album (and their second with guitarist Jeff Beck, who replaced Eric Clapton) is one of the very best rock records of the entire mid-60s, a scintillating collection of tunes that plays like a best-of collection. K. debut, Five Live Yardbirds). This may seem like a messy and unfocused way to organize an album, but it works fantasticaly well- the record effectively showcases the unique talents of each guitarist, as well as the distinctive features of both eras of the band's career. The first half is marked by Beck's effects-laden guitar virtuosity- the band's amazing rendition of "Train Kept A-Rollin'" is a hyperactive rush of fuzz-toned soloing and brutal thunderclouds of feedback. Keith Relf's exuberant, double-tracked vocals are equally inpressive. The cover of Bo Diddley's "I'm A Man" is another freewheeling classic, propelled by a storming, air-tight rhythm section and some swaggering harmonicas from Relf. The instrumental break, in which the tempo switches to a double-time gallop and Beck turns his guitar into a pure rhythm machine, is nothing short of dazzling. "Mister, You're A Better Man Than I" burns with quiet intensity, riding along on Jim McCarty's crackling drums and some bitterly sarcastic vocals. Jeff's searing, distorted guitar solo is, of course, superb. "Heart Full Of Soul" is a slice of minor-key mid 60s cool with a few superb fuzz-toned guitar interjections. The folky, melancholy "Still I'm Sad" and the puzzing paranoia of "Evil Hearted You" are also excellent. Side 2 shows off the Yardbirds when they were still a young and hungry blues-rock band, bashing out out songs with more gritty passion than technical skill. It's every bit as good as the first half, a wonderful showcase of rock 'n' roll in its rawest and purest form. The cover of Howlin' Wolf's classic "Smokestack Lightening" captures all of the original's menace and vicous bite, throwing in a rip-roaring instrumental explosion for good measure. "Respectable" keeps things going with a rip-roaring burst of R&B drenched fury, while another rendition of "I'm a Man" (compare to the one found on the first side) features a searing harmonica solo and a raucous Relf performance. Finally, the take on "Here' Tis" is a rhthmic blood-pumper with some of Clapton's coolest guitar-strangling. All in all, a superb little record. This CD edition features eleven bonus tracks, including the Beck-era non-LP single "Shapes of Things," which foreshadows psychedelia with its bold, trippy lyrics, cavernous instrumental effects, and trembling, off-kilter guitar work. This CD will fit snugly in the collection of any fan of 60s rock n roll. Totally recomended.

You can see a complete list of all The Yardbirds discography, or go back to the The Yardbirds tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.