I grew up in the North of England and in 1963 at the age of 17 saw the Beatles at the ABC cinema in Huddersfield, and in 1964 saw the Rolling Stones at a dance on the Isle of Man! At the end of 1970 I came to the US and found the originators of the blues, but that is a story for another day.

Rock and roll had come to Britain in 1956 with Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley. However, as the fifties turned into the sixties rock and roll had lost its initial muscularity and we were mired in the doldrums of British pop. However, the fortunes of the music were soon revived by the explosion of groups in Britain that were based in the blues and rhythm and blues of black American performers. From this would develop the ‘British Invasion” of the US in the mid sixties. In the midst of this firmament of energy and creativity were the Yardbirds.

The Yardbirds had first come into existence as the Metropolis Blues Quartet, and first became the Yardbirds with the line-up of Jim McCarty, Paul Samwell-Smith, Keith Relf, Chris Dreja, and, on lead guitar, 16 year-old Tony “Top” Topham. They followed the Rolling Stones into a residency at the Studio 51 Club in London. The Yardbirds hooked up with ex-Stones manager Giorgio Gomelsky and inherited the Stones residency at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond. Eric Clapton, art school acquaintance of Keith Relf, replaced Top Topham on lead guitar. The Yardbirds backed blues harmonica great Sonny Boy Williamson in 1964, and a live album was released a couple of years later. In 1964 and 65 the Yardbirds toured extensively in package tours, and became increasingly anxious for a hit record. This was to take the band away from its original blues and r&b material. “For Your Love” was the Yardbirds first big hit, reaching number 2 in Britain and number 6 in the US. By March 1965 Eric Clapton had become increasingly dissatisfied with the move away from the blues, and left and joined John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.

Two more British heavily blues-influenced rock guitar heroes were to be part of the Yardbirds; Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, co-lead guitars at one point. Beck’s guitar is showcased on the original sixties recording of “Shapes of Things”, which can be considered to be the first psychedelic rock classic. By 1966 Jeff Beck had left the band, and their output in 1967 did not keep up with their creative explosion of 1965 and 1966. The band continued touring, particularly in the US, into 1968 and then split. Jimmy Page fulfilled existing contracts as the New Yardbirds, later changing the name to Led Zeppelin.

The Yardbirds in 2003 on “Birdland” are original members Jim McCarty, drums, and Chris Dreja, rhythm guitar; Gypie Mayo (ex-Dr Feelgood), lead and rhythm guitars, John Idan, bass and lead vocals, and Alan Glen (ex-Nine Below Zero), harmonica , round out the line-up. Keith Relf passed away in 1976, and Paul Samwell-Smith went into record-producing in the sixties. The band appears to have reformed in the late nineties and has been touring over the last several years. Gypie Mayo stands aside for a galaxy of all star guest guitarists, Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter, John Rzeznik, Joe Satriani, Jeff Beck, Slash, Brian May, and Steve Lukather. This is no doubt to add some artistic punch, and perhaps more importantly, some marketing punch. The CD was produced by Ken Allardyce (Fleetwood Mac, Goo Goo Dolls), and was mostly recorded at Steve Vai’s Mothership studio in Hollywood, California. Release of the CD coincides with a tour, the US portion of which starts May 31st.

Wham, Birdland smacks you upside the head with “I’m Not Talking” right out of the gate. This Mose Allison number is fast-paced and Gypie Mayo’s guitar playing is very clean. This first of the Yardbirds sixties repertoire on the CD presages the British punk rock movement of the seventies. Other Yardbirds songs from their sixties incarnation are “The Nazz Are Blue”, “For Your Love”, “Train Kept A Rollin”, “Shapes Of Things”, “Over Under Sideways Down”, “Mr. You’re A Better Man Than I”, and “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago”. The guest guitarists all play on these songs, with the exception of Jeff Beck who plays on the new composition “My Blind Life”. The old Yardbirds numbers are excellent, do not sound dated, and have been freshened up by today’s production techniques.