Al, they really were just a great garage rock band. Maybe the greatest!

bluesypicky

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Did you know, btw, that "Beck's Bolero" was a studio jam attended by Keith Moon who was about to walk on the Who but hadn't told 'em yet?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beck's_Bolero

"Keith was very paranoid and going through a heavy pills thing".

Nothing original here, but made me think.... out of the whole 60's gang, my all time hero seems to be the only one (or one of the very few) that escaped the drug invasion...?
 

adorshki

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Did you know that Clapton dropped the yardbirds cuz he considered their music was taking too much of a turn towards the soupy commercial stuff?

"For Your Love".
Brian Auger plays the harpsichord on the single, btw, and Keith's at his best on the bongos:

An impudent little cuss, if you ask me.
Probably gave Mick Jagger an idea or 2 about public relations and vocal delivery.
Epstein never woulda let the Beatles be that scruffy.
:biggrin-new:
 

adorshki

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Okay, I might be a bit fuzzy on this, but I had always thought that the producer gave Clapton the boot because he felt he wouldn't fit in to the direction he wanted them to go.
Hardcore Yardbirds fan here.
Never heard it that way.
From the usual source's "For Your Love" page:
"Despite the success "For Your Love" gave the Yardbirds, it signalled the departure of guitarist Eric Clapton, who played on the track.[10] Dismayed with the group's shift from R&B to pop, Clapton left to join John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers."
In any case the bassist was the producer for the single and later even dropped being the bass player to produce full time.
HAVE heard that that scenario about "Heart Full of Soul", though, Beck's debut with the band.
Beck's treatment of the riff was what made it a "go", after the original sitar player's attempts just weren't gonna cut it..
Song's Wiki page has full details
Heart Full Of Soul

Same thing I suppose. Depends on hows you look at it, big bonehead move by the producer or a good move by Clapton?
Good move for Clapton, great move for Beck.
Manager Giorgio Gomelsky came out ahead.
When bassist Samwell-Smith retired to take on full-time production chores, it opened the door for Page to join as a bassist for a short stint while rhythm player Dreja learned to pay bass, resulting in our being treated to 6 months of dual lead Yardbirds.
The real bonehead producer in all this was actually Mickie Most who was trying to mold Jeff Beck into a pop star along the Donovan/Herman's Hermits model, with which he was intimately familiar, having produced them as well as the Animals.
From his Wiki page:
"Most's productions were backed by London-based session musicians including Big Jim Sullivan and Jimmy Page on guitar, John Paul Jones on bass guitar and arrangements, Nicky Hopkins on piano, and Bobby Graham on drums. He produced Jeff Beck's hits "Love is Blue" and "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and the Jeff Beck Group albums Truth and Beck-Ola.
He teamed the Beck group with Donovan for the single "Barabajagal".
By 1967, after commercial and critical failure of The Yardbirds album Little Games, he decided to steer clear of rock groups. The Yardbirds objected to his insistence that every song be cut to three minutes and that albums were an afterthought following the singles. His focused approach also led to a split with Donovan in late 1969"
In spite of all that there are some great Page cuts on Little Games.
That also explains how Page and JP Jones were acquainted and why they were available for the "Beck's Bolero" session which occurred in late '66.
A-a-and:
"Despite these setbacks, Most set up his own production office at 155 Oxford Street, sharing it with his business partner Peter Grant. It was through Most's association that Grant was asked to manage The Yardbirds."
And thank the rock gods for that.
 
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adorshki

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really cool, wow! great story. i got to listen to that song.
so Entwistle was supposed to play but bagged the sessions

So I remembered last night that right around that same period (late '66-early '67) was "Break on Through" and then "Light My Fire".
Just for more examples of what was washing the Yardbirds off the charts.
The Doors had a little of the garage band thing goin' for 'em too.
 

adorshki

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Nice choice!

walrus

Y'know, many years ago in my late teens I formulated the hypothesis that Hendrix himself, a notorious "mimic", arrived in London just in time to be hear and be influenced by the Yardbirds sound (Over Under Sideways Down) (and Revolver).
Only a couple of years later that hypothesis was confirmed when I found out that Hendrix' tech Roger Mayer had been the Yardbirds' "gizmo guy".
Realize now that Beck's groundbreaking feedback on "Better Man Than I" and "Shapes of Things" had already hit on US Radio as early as '65.
For the longest time I thought that Beck detested Hendrix based on Pete Townshend's quote from the movie "Hendrix".
Coming out of a club Beck says to Townshend: "It's terrible. He's ripping off all your stuff".
In retrospect that must have been have been sheer sarcasm on Beck's part, Beck was the one actually getting ripped off by both of 'em.
Finally, only last week, I stumbled across some bio material in which Chas Chandler says when Jimi got to London the first thing he asked for was to meet Jeff Beck, although it didn't happen (then).
Also come to discover only a few years back they were actually great buddies.
Hendrix sat in with the Jeff Beck Group for a week in New York in 1969, did a duet of "Beck's Bolero" with 'em, and showed off his new Corvette to fellow 'Vette enthusiast Beck.
So who did Jimi Hendrix want to be when he grew up?
Jeff Beck.
He even borrowed the opening riff from "Rice Pudding" on Beckola and used it in the "Rainbow Bridge" concert, heard the closing riff to "Ezy Rider".
It was finally credited all these years later in the booklet accompanying the deluxe CD re-issue of BeckOla.
 
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Antney

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...speaking of "It Might Get Loud", can anyone explain why Jack White and the Edge are paired with Page? Why not Page, Pete, and Keith?
 
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