The Yardbirds discography
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Script error: No such module "Infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". The Yardbirds were an English rock group that had a string of Top 40 radio hits in mid-1960s in the UK and the US and introduced guitarists Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. Their first album released in the UK, Five Live Yardbirds (1964), represented their early club performances with Clapton.Template:Sfn The Yardbirds' first American album, For Your Love (1965), was released to capitalise on their first hit, and to promote the group's first US tour.Template:Sfn However, Clapton had already decided to pursue a different musical direction and was replaced by Beck.Template:Sfn Several popular singles with Beck followed, including a second American album, Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds (1965), that, as with their previous album, was a split release featuring songs with both Clapton and Beck.Template:Sfn
In 1966, the Yardbirds recorded their first studio album of all original material.[1] Released in the UK as Yardbirds and in the US as Over Under Sideways Down, the album acquired the nickname "Roger the Engineer" after a caption on the English cover drawn by rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja.Template:Sfn Shortly after its release, bassist Paul Samwell-Smith left the group and was replaced by Page.[1] Page soon switched to second lead guitar, with Dreja taking over on bass.[1] This lineup only produced two songsTemplate:Sndthe psychedelic "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" (1966), which was the group's last song to reach the charts in the UK, and "Stroll On", the proto-heavy metal remake of "Train Kept A-Rollin'" they performed for the film Blowup (1966).[1]
The dual lead lineup with Beck and Page did not last long; Beck had become increasingly unhappy with the constant touring and left the group, with Page remaining as the sole guitarist.[1] The period as a quartet with Page was the Yardbirds' most stable and lasted nearly two and a half years.Template:Sfn In the US, they continued to release singles and an album, Little Games (1967). The records, overseen by pop producer Mickie Most, were mostly out-of-step with the audience's shift to an album-oriented, more diverse sound.[1] However, the Yardbirds' frequent concert appearances at counter-culture venues were well received.[1] They were able to perform more experimental fare, such as "Dazed and Confused", the Page solo acoustic guitar piece "White Summer", and expanded, reworked versions and medleys of some of their earlier songs,Template:Sfn as documented on the Page-produced Yardbirds '68 (2017).[2] After a last American tour, the group disbanded in the summer of 1968.Template:Sfn
Since their breakup, a number of new albums have appeared. Besides numerous anthologies, albums featuring additional live recordings and various demos and outtakes from 1963 to 1968 have been released.Template:Sfn Although some have received favourable reviews, music critic Richie Unterberger has noted the great number of substandard releases throughout the world.[1] In 1994, original drummer Jim McCarty and rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja began performing and recording as the Yardbirds.Template:Sfn Recordings with various singers and guitarists have been released.[1]
Original 1964–1968 releases
The Yardbirds were signed to EMI and their records were released through the Columbia Graphophone Company in the UK and Epic Records in the US.Template:Sfn In other countries, the group's releases were handled by a variety of labels, including affiliates of Columbia and Epic, Capitol (Canada), Riviera (France), Ricordi International (Italy), Odeon (Japan), and CBS (international).Template:Sfn Sometimes, Yardbirds' records appeared on several labels in the same territory (in Germany, there were releases by Columbia, Epic, and CBS) and were reconfigured from the original UK and US records.Template:Sfn
Albums
In their native UK, Columbia only issued two albums during the Yardbirds' career, Five Live Yardbirds (1964) and Yardbirds, popularly referred to as "Roger the Engineer" (1966).Template:Sfn For Epic in the US, Yardbirds' manager Giorgio Gomelsky produced two albums, For Your Love (1965) and Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds (1965), which were collections of new material mixed in with singles and live recordings featuring both Clapton and Beck. Epic subsequently issued Over Under Sideways Down (the US reconfiguration of Yardbirds, 1966), The Yardbirds' Greatest Hits (1967), and the Mickie Most-produced Little Games (1967).Template:Sfn Reconfigurations of the Epic For Your Love were released in Canada (Capitol's Heart Full of Soul) and other countries.Template:Sfn All albums were released on 12-inch 33⅓ rpm LP records. Where two catalogue numbers are given, the album was released in monaural and stereo versions; otherwise it is mono only.
| Title | Album details | Main charts (peaks) | Ref(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [3] |
US [4] |
Other | |||
| Five Live Yardbirds |
|
— | — | — | Template:Sfn |
| For Your Love |
|
— | 96 | Template:Refn | Template:Sfn |
| Heart Full of Soul |
|
— | — | — | Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn |
| Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds |
|
— | 53 | — | Template:Sfn |
| Yardbirds Template:A.k.a. Roger the Engineer |
|
20 | — | — | Template:Sfn |
| Over Under Sideways Down |
|
— | 52 | — | Template:Sfn |
| The Yardbirds Greatest Hits |
|
— | 28 | Template:Refn | Template:Sfn |
| Little Games |
|
— | 80 | — | Template:Sfn |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||
Other album appearances
In an early bid to promote the group, manager Gomelsky arranged for the Yardbirds to serve as backing musicians for a British tour by American bluesman Sonny Boy Williamson II.Template:Sfn Recordings during the 1963–1964 tour were later released in 1966, after the Yardbirds had a string of Top 40 hits.Template:Sfn In 1966, after Page joined the group, the Yardbirds contributed a remake of "Train Kept A-Rollin'", titled "Stroll On", for the Michelangelo Antonioni film Blow-up (1966).Template:Sfn In 1967, MGM Records issued the soundtrack album.Template:Sfn
| Title | Album details | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sonny Boy Williamson and the Yardbirds | Recorded 8 December 1963, Crawdaddy Club, Richmond as backing musicians (all songwriting, vocals, and harmonica by Williamson) | Template:Sfn | |
| Blow-UpTemplate:SndThe Original Sound Track Album |
|
"Stroll On" is the only Yardbirds contribution to the soundtrack; film score is by Herbie Hancock | Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn |
Singles
In the UK, singles were the only source of many of the Yardbirds' songs, until the first anthology albums were released in the 1970s.Template:Sfn In the US, these were usually included on albums.Template:Efn Two singles released in Germany and Italy in 1966 remained unavailable on album until the 1980–1990s compilations by Charly Records.Template:Sfn The last three Epic singles (unreleased in the UK) did not appear on an album until the 1991 expanded Little Games Sessions and More album.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn All singles and extended play (EPs) were released on 7-inch 45 rpm records.
| Title (A-side / B-side) |
Single details | Main charts (peaks) | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Template:Sfn |
US Template:Sfn |
Other | |||
| "I Wish You Would" / "A Certain Girl" |
|
— | — | Template:Refn | Non-album release (UK) For Your Love (US) |
| "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" / "IScript error: No such module "String".Ain't Got You" |
|
44 | — | — | Non-album release (UK) For Your Love (US) |
| "For Your Love" / "Got to Hurry" |
|
3 | 6 | Template:Refn | Non-album release (UK) Included on For Your Love in US |
| "Heart Full of Soul" / "Steeled Blues" |
|
2 | 9 | Template:Refn | Non-album release (UK) |
| Five Yardbirds (EP) |
|
5 | — | — | Template:Sfn |
| "Evil Hearted You" / "Still I'm Sad" |
|
3 | — | Template:Refn | Non-album release (UK) Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds (US) |
| "I'm a Man" / "Still I'm Sad" |
|
— | 17 | Template:Refn | Non-album release (UK) Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds (US) |
| "Paff...Bum" / "Questa Volta" |
|
— | — | Template:Refn | Non-album release |
| "Shapes of Things" / "You're a Better Man Than I" |
|
3 | — | Template:Refn | Non-album release B-side appeared on Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds (US) |
| "Shapes of Things" / "New York City Blues" |
|
— | 11 | Template:Refn | Non-album release |
| "Boom Boom" / "Honey In Your Hips" |
|
— | — | — | Non-album release |
| "Over Under Sideways Down" / "Jeff's Boogie" |
|
10 | 13 | Template:Refn | Yardbirds (UK) Over Under Sideways Down (US) |
| "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" / "Psycho Daisies" |
|
43 | — | Template:Refn | Non-album release |
| "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" / "The Nazz Are Blue" |
|
— | 30 | — | Non-album release B-side appeared on Yardbirds (UK) |
| Over Under Sideways Down (EP) |
|
— | — | — | Template:Sfn |
| "Little Games" / "Puzzles" |
|
— | 51 | Template:Refn | Non-album release (UK) A-side appeared on Little Games (US) |
| "Ha Ha Said the Clown" / "Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor" |
|
— | 45 | Template:Refn | Non-album release B-side appeared on Little Games (US) |
| "Ten Little Indians" / "Drinking Muddy Water" |
|
— | 96 | Template:Refn | Non-album release B-side appeared on Little Games (US) |
| "Goodnight Sweet Josephine" / "Think About It" |
|
— | 127 | — | Non-album release |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||
Releases after 1969
A large number of Yardbirds anthologies of recordings originally produced by their first manager Gomelsky have been issued by numerous record companies over the years. These do not include songs recorded with other producers after March 1966, such as "Over Under Sideways Down", "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago", and "Little Games".Template:Sfn Often, the albums are a haphazard mix of studio and live recordings from the Clapton and early Beck eras.Template:Sfn Music critic Richie Unterberger wrote:
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Their [Yardbirds' song] catalog, however, has been subject to more exploitation than any other group of the '60s; dozens, if not hundreds, of cheesy packages of early material are generated throughout the world on a seemingly monthly basis.[1]
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However, a few early Epic anthologies and the Rhino Records set Ultimate! (2001) managed to cross license material from the different producers.[1] Many albums of live recordings focusing on performances with Clapton or Beck have appeared and, in 2017, the Page-produced Yardbirds '68 was released. One studio album and several live albums recorded by the post-1999 reconstituted Yardbirds have been issued.Template:Sfn
| Title | Album details | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Yardbirds Featuring Performances by Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page |
|
20 tracks from 1964 to 1967 not already included on The Yardbirds Greatest Hits (1967) | Template:Sfn[5] |
| Live Yardbirds! Featuring Jimmy Page |
|
Recorded 1968 in New York City; withdrawn shortly after release, but frequently bootlegged; superseded by Yardbirds '68 (2017) | Template:Sfn[6] |
| Remember...The Yardbirds |
|
12 tracks, limited to pre-Roger the Engineer recordings | Template:Sfn[7] |
| Shapes of Things |
|
24 tracks, pre-Roger the Engineer recordings | Template:Sfn |
| London 1963Template:SndThe First Recordings! |
|
Recorded 8 December 1963, Crawdaddy Club, Richmond, UK; 10 December 1963, R.G. Jones Studio, Morden, UK (demo) | Template:Sfn |
| YardbirdsScript error: No such module "String"....On Air |
|
Recorded 1965–1968 at BBC studios; re-released as BBC Sessions (1999) | Template:Sfn |
| Little Games Sessions and More |
|
Both stereo and mono versions of original album tracks, plus non-album singles and alternate takes/mixes | Template:Sfn |
| Train Kept A-Rollin'Template:SndThe Complete Giorgio Gomelsky Productions |
|
Most available pre-Roger the Engineer recordings, including previously unreleased 1963–1964 demos and live recordings, and later alternate takes; re-released as The Yardbirds Story (2002) | Template:Sfn |
| Reunion Jam |
|
Recorded 1992 in London | Template:Sfn |
| Cumular Limit |
|
Includes demos recorded in New York in 1968 and enhanced CD of four live songs from 1967 German TV show | Template:Sfn |
| Ultimate! |
|
52 tracks from 1963 demos to 1968 last single | Template:Sfn |
| Birdland |
|
First studio album in Dreja-McCarty era, recorded 2003 in Los Angeles and London with several guests | Template:Sfn |
| Live! Blueswailing July '64 |
|
Recorded in July 1964 at an unknown venueTemplate:Efn | Template:Sfn |
| Live at B.B. King Blues Club |
|
Recorded in 2006 in New York City | Template:Sfn |
| Reunion Jam Vol. II |
|
Recorded 1992 in London | Template:Sfn |
| Glimpses 1963–1968 |
|
Mostly live recordings, including some unreleased and those previously scattered among various semi-official and bootleg releases | Template:Sfn |
| Making Tracks |
|
Recorded during 2010–2011 US tours | Template:Sfn |
| Yardbirds '68 |
|
Recorded March and April 1968 in New York City | [8] |
Videos
| Title | Details | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blow-Up |
|
The group performs "Stroll On"; reissued on DVD by Warner Home Video in 2004 | Template:Sfn |
| Yardbirds: Where the Guitar Gods Played |
|
Performances and interviews; reissued on DVD by Rhino in 2003 | [9]Template:Sfn |
| Making Tracks |
|
Filmed during 2010–2011 US tours; released on audio CD in 2014 | Template:Sfn |
Other charts
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Notes
Footnotes Template:Notelist Citations
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References
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External links
- The Yardbirds discography at Discogs
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