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The Yardbirds - BBC Sessions Audio CD

A fair review of the The Yardbirds "BBC Sessions" 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.

The Yardbirds Band: The Yardbirds
Title: BBC Sessions
Rating:
Release Date: 1999-08-02
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: I Ain't Got You 2: Keith Relf Talks About the Band's Background 3: For Your Love 4: I'm Not Talking 5: I Wish You Would 6: Keith Relf Talks About U.S.A.Tour 7: Heart Full of Soul 8: I Ain't Done Wrong 9: Too Much Monkey Business 10: Love Me Like I Love You 11: I'm a Man 12: Evil Hearted You 13: Interview About the "Still I'm Sad" Single 14: Still I'm Sad 15: Hang on Sloopy 16: Smokestack Lightning 17: Yardbirds Give Their New Year's Resolutions 18: You're a Better Man Than I 19: Train Kept A Rollin' 20: Shapes of Things 21: Dust My Broom 22: Baby, Scratch My Back 23: Keith Relf Talks About His Solo Single 24: Over, Under, Sideways, Down 25: Sun Is Shining 26: Shapes of Things [Version 2] 27: Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) 28: Little Games 29: Drinking Muddy Water 30: Think About It 31: Interview With Jimmy Page 32: Goodnight Sweet Josephine 33: My Baby

they do this to make me mad
I was excited to see this album on amazon until I realized I already bought it in 1993, minus the interviews. I like getting newer versions of favorite albums from time to time. Still, if the sould quality is that much improved I may have to buy it again. More material lying in the vaults would surely get my heart pumping . . .


Yardbirds - 'BBC Sessions' (Repertoire)
S. Quite similar to the U. CD pressing of the Warner Archive's 'Live At The BBC'(see my review). In fact,I believe the only difference may be the several interviews of members of the band here and there. As always,it's good to hear those Yardbird classics like "For Your Love","Heart Full Of Love","Too Much Monkey Business",the low key "Evil Hearted You","Shapes Of Things" and so on. Upside of this disc is that it would likely very much appeal to BOTH completists and the average fan. Nice digipack. A definite should-have.


Great Playing


The first 3 tracks features Eric Clapton guitar, the last 6 Jimmy Page and the rest of them Jeff Beck. This CD contains the majority of what the Yardbirds recorded on the BBC during 1965-68.

Most of these recordings are very good and sounding really nice. They prove that the band was very competent and able to re-create their fine studio-recordings in live situations.

A few of these songs were never released on any of the regular Yardbirds albums.

"Love me Like I Love You" is a band compostion from 1965; from shortly after Clapton left. The song is quite nice, but it probably never reached a satisfactory final arrangement.

Their version of Elmore James'"Dust My Blues" is very good, but almost the same as Jeff's Boogie from "Roger the Engineer".

"Scratch My Back" is another band-composition that eventually developed into "Rack My Mind".

"The Sun is Shining" is another Elmore James song, also covered by Fleetwood Mac. A great blues; and arranged pretty much like "New York City Blues".

A big surprise for me was their cover of Bob Dylan's "Most Likely You Go Your Way". The recording is from the jimmy Page era. They were obviously at this stage in big confusion about which musical direction to follow.

The strongest of these "new" tracks is without comparison the closing track "My Baby"; unfortunately this is also one the tracks in the poorest sound-quality.

Of the more well-known Yardbirds material all Jimmy Page recordings sound very inspired. I particularly like "Little Games", "Think About It" and "Goodnight Sweet Josephine". Unfortunately they do sound like they were not taken from original BBC-tapes.

The versions of "Shapes of Things", "Heart Full of Soul", "I Ain't Done Wrong", "You're a Better Man", "Evil Hearted You" etc are great. In fact most Jeff Beck recordings are sounding surprisingly good.

I have to note that I never understood why they bothered to record a song like "Hang on Sloopy". The version here sound even more uninspired than the "For Your Love" version.

This CD is obviously a must-buy for Yardbirds fans. .


for true fans only
Clapton gives the group its "blues purists" sound as they battled the line between that sound and pop. The real fun of listening to this collection of live performances is in discerning the difference each lead guitarist made in the direction of the band as they progressed through the years. Beck joins and suddenly they have this incredible hard edge with his inimitable sound. Then Page comes along and takes them completely into uncharted territory. You can easily tell that Jimmy was forming in his mind the sound that would take over the world later as Led Zep but the rest of the group just can't keep up with him. The interviews also tell the story of how they went from young, naiive kids to road-travelled and disenchanted veterans within a few short years of their existence. An excellent aural history of the Yardbirds that any fan will enjoy immensely.


Five Star Sound and Excellent Performances
The sound quality exceeds the Warner Archives release and New Millennium's ". This disk by Repertoire is a must for mid 60s blue-eyed blues fans. . . Where the Action is!" by a long shot. Fancy stereo equipment is not necessary to clearly hear the Repertoire disk's superior sound. The band's instrument talent can be better appreciated due to the disk's superior sound balance. The guitars are up front and the drums beats are clear. Furthermore, many band performances are an improvement over their studio versions. If you're considering this disk, buy it.


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.

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