718 The Yardbirds - Having a Rave Up With the Yardbirds (1965)

 718 The Yardbirds - Having a Rave Up With the Yardbirds (1965)

Hybrid studio/live album - Blues Rock



About the Act:

The Yardbirds were a British Blues-Rock band that turned into a Psychedelic band, and then turned into Led Zeppelin.

They were formed in 1963, and were active until 1968, initially, and were famous for having four lead guitarists, three of whom were Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. They were initially part of the British invention of Blues Rock, covering songs by people like Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley, and adding a rock sensibility. In this period they became well known for their lengthy instrumental sessions called "rave ups" which involved doubling the rhythm tempo and building to a crescendo.

In 1965 Eric Clapton lest the band abruptly when they started to go in a less blues-oriented direction, and was replaced by Jeff Beck, with whom they became part of the emerging Psychedelic sound. This continued, and there was a confusing period of musical chairs (well, musical instruments, with people swapping instruments, but that is inherently misleading), at the end of which they had dual lead guitars of Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.

In 1968 they fell apart, and half of the band saw this as an opportunity to reform. The people that were eventually settled on were Jimmy Page and three new people, John Bonham, John Paul Jones and Robert Plant. They played a few gigs as The Yardbirds, some as The New Yardbirds, and made a decision to effectively close the Yardbirds saga and re-invent themselves with a new name. They wanted something like Lead Balloon, and so chose Lead Zeppelin, but changed the spelling to Led so as to get the right pronunciation.

In 1992 there was a reformation, with two of the earlier members. Only one of those is left, but they are still going.

About the Album:

The first side of this album is studio recordings with the newly-joined Jeff Beck on guitar. The second side is live recordings with the newly-left Eric Clapton on guitar. This album was a US-only album. It is regarded as being hugely influential, and the turning point of the band from their Blues Rock towards the more experimental Psychedelic sounds. It has two version of I'm a Man by Bo Diddley, other blues covers, one song of their own composition, and two by Graham Gouldman, who later became part of 10CC.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

There's lots of interesting history and background to this album. However, at heart it is part of the British adoption of Blues with a rock style, that produced John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and The Rolling Stones and Cream and others. This is a style I enjoy, and so enjoyed this album. The live tracks have a lot of energy, and the studio tracks are similar actually, with the exception of Still I'm Sad, their own composition, which has a Faux Gregorian Chant thing going on and is odd.

I think that I have little else to say, I enjoyed it, it's bluesy, but there are better Blues albums to my mind.

7.3/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5SC92pfXSbQvZjgfk0oGno

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi307k6VzjI_8LOVN29v3HB8ozjmRvsDx

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Having_a_Rave_Up_with_the_Yardbirds



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