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Five Live Yardbirds

The Yardbirds - Five Live Yardbirds Audio CD

A fair review of the The Yardbirds "Five Live Yardbirds" 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: Five Live Yardbirds
Rating:

Release Date: 2002-11-21
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Too Much Monkey Business 2: I Got Love If You Want It 3: Smokestack Lightning 4: Good Morning Little Schoolgirl 5: Respectable 6: Five Long Years 7: Pretty Girl 8: Louise 9: I'm a Man 10: Here 'Tis 11: Smokestack Lightning [Live][*] 12: You Can't Judge a Book by Looking at the Cover [Live][*] 13: Let It Rock [Live][*] 14: I Wish You Would [Live][*] 15: Who Do You Love? [Live][*] 16: Honey in Your Hips [Live][*] 17: I'm a Man [Live][*] 18: Shapes of Things [Live][*]

Repertoire 1999 version with eight bonus tracks
Four of these tracks ("Too Much Monkey Business", "I Got Love If You Want It", "Smokestack Lightnin", "Here Tis") made it onto the Yardbirds Ultimate compilation. I was expecting better sound. Source tapes for this disc sound muddy by comparison. Also (important) this CD was mastered at maximum volume = distortion. The Ultimate set is also mastered too loudly, but the songs sound better there. Has FLY ever been mastered properly, from clean tapes? Ultimate is on Rhino/WEA - if they ever reissue FLY, it should sound great. I wonder if/when that will happen.

Probably the most complete version of this classic available right now, as far as live cuts goes..
Portions of this material were originally available in the US as just one side of the LP "Having a Rave Up With the Yardbirds," our first taste of how hot the band was in concert. Ignore commentary that this was "the poorest" version of the Yardbirds; it is only "poor" if you prefer artistic nuances like raga stylings and instruments to great raw live shows. Ultimately "Five Live" arrived at our shores and now we have several versions available to choose from, some with studio cuts mixed in. I like this one for the extra live cuts. As the reviewer below notes, be careful which one you buy so you don't feel left short. Our first real exposure to Eric Clapton's power, so how can you lose?.

Do you know where your version is?
There are at least 5 or 6 versions of this CD listed on Amazon, and the particular one I possess, which contains only ten tracks from the March 1964 Marquee show, isn't even here. The makers of 'Five Live Yardbirds' must be pro-choice. The disc I'm reviewing is a French import, on the 'Decal' label. There is a comparable 10 track Rhino version, 16 track versions by Prism and JVC Japan, an 18 track Repertoire version, 19 track Verese version, and a 20 track Phantom version. Most of these alternates package the Marquee show with a variety of other Yardbird demos, studio releases, and various live tracks. The Marquee show, however, is always at the core as the 'main attraction'.

While some reviewers disparage the quality of the recording, I find it remarkably good considering the year and the locale. . . the London Marquee club. In contrast to live recordings by The Beatles of the same era, these tapes are clean and crisp. Comparing these recordings to bootlegs is really a disservice. I once owned a fairly extensive bootleg collection, and this recording puts most of them to shame.

The Yardbirds were clearly at the forefront, along with The Rolling Stones, of the emerging rhythm and blues genre in the UK in the early 1960's. It's rather fascinating to listen to the superb quality of Eric Clapton's lead guitar, although if there is to be disparaging of the recording quality, it would have to be the squelching of Eric's leads in favor of Keith Relf's mouth harp. Never again in his career would another instrument render Clapton to second fiddle.

At times the Yardbirds leaned toward pure rock and roll rather than rhythm and blues, as in their opening cover of Chuck Berry's 'Too Much Monkey Business', and at other times submerged themselves in pure blues, as in Ellas McDaniel's 'Pretty Girl'. Three of the last four songs on the disc, in fact, are McDaniel compositions, including one of his best, 'I'm a Man' (". . . spelled M. . . A. . . N. . . man. . . . ", what a great lyric!), which I would pick as the best song of the evening. As other reviewers have noted, however, this is bare bones RnB from a band working hard to establish themselves (this recording even pre-dates the release of their first single, 'I Wish You Would'). Every song is infused with maximum voltage, and the crowd is clearly a hard-core bunch eating it up. For a band without a hit to their name, they already possessed a rabid following.

While none of the songs on this disc proved to be hits for the Yardbirds, the recording provides a unique, high-caliber snapshot of early British pub-rock. Beyond Clapton, Relf's vocals and mouth harp are exquisite, and Paul Samwell-Smith's bass meanders in delightful ways not often experienced. While the Yardbirds lacked the 'innocence' of the early Beatles, they were above the decadence the Stones excreted even in their genesis, opting for a sound not unlike the early, blues-oriented Animals. Despite Beatlemania, it may have been the most excitingly musical place to be as rock and roll evolved full throttle into the mid-1960's. You can sense the band is on the cusp of something special. We're lucky to have this recording, and you should hear it.

The Best of British Blues
The youthful energy and enthusiasm, the absence of guitar-god
posturing, and the tightness of the band combine to produce a magical recording. Despite being only the start of his long and illustrious career, Eric Clapton never played more convincing (or
more enjoyable) blues than with the Yardbirds. The sound quality is sub-par,
but that only adds to its charm. If you like John Mayall or the early Stones, don't miss this album - it's even
better.

The Best of British Blues
The youthful energy and enthusiasm, the absence of guitar-god posturing, and the tightness of the band combine to produce a magical recording. Despite being only the start of his long and illustrious career, Eric Clapton never played more convincing (or more enjoyable) blues than with the Yardbirds. The sound quality is sub-par, but that only adds to its charm. If you like John Mayall or the early Stones, don't miss this album - it's even better.

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.