The Yardbirds

A great 1960s rock and roll band from Britain known as The Yardbirds. Among their most memorable hits are “For Your Love”, “Over Under Sideways Down”, and “Heart Full of Soul.” If you’re like me and you love rock then think a bit. I react to songs and know which I hear that become my instant favorites and then there are those I listen to now and then and I recognize. However, I never paid much attention to who the performers were until YouTube came along and I searched for songs and made certain discoveries. So this trip down memory lane about bands which have been popular and are still popular is a fascinating one for me and I hope for you too. Sort of like an education in rock and roll.

There are those who are of the opinion that the Yardbirds were the “most impressive guitar band in rock music.” They broke up in 1968 and their lead guitarist Jimmy Page went on to found another band still popular and known today—Led Zeppelin. The boys in the band were Paul Samwell-Smith who was bassist and producer and wrote most of the band’s successful songs, Keith Relf singer and harmonica player, Jim McCarty drummer, and Chris Dreja rhythm guitarist/bassist. As with other 1960s bands before them, The Yardbirds reformed in the 1990s and in 1992 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Yardbirds come from the south-west suburbs of London. Some of the members were part of another band known as The Metropolitan Blues and when they got together decided to change their name. They chose The Yardbirds in association with jazz saxophonist Charlie “Yardbird” Parker and as an expression used to refer to the hobos who hung around rail yards.

They were first noticed by the British rhythm and blues scene in September of 1963 when they had the chance to become the house band at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond succeeding The Rolling Stones. Most of their repertoire came from Chicago blues musicians. When their band reformed once again in 1963 a popular musician who later went his own way joined them—it was Eric Clapton. The Yardbirds' first album titled Five Live Yardbirds was recorded at the legendary Marquee Club in London.

Their first major hit was “For Your Love” which went on to sell more than a million copies and was awarded a Gold disc. It was during this time that Clapton left the band and was replaced by Jeff Beck. The Yardbirds went on to make some memorable recordings which included “Heart Full of Soul,” Bo Diddley’s “I’m a Man” and “Shapes of Things.” They had their first U.S. tour in August of 1965 and returned three more times. They went on a European tour in 1966 and participated in the Sanremo Music Festival annually held in Sanremo, Italy.

As their popularity started to decline The Yardbirds weren’t doing well in both the U.S. and British charts. Their final single in the summer of 1967 only reached number 44 on the Billboard and their star quickly began to fade. They performed one last time at Luton College of Technology in Bedfordshire, England on July 7, 1968. They reformed in the 1990s to the delight of fans and a new album was released in 2003 titled Birdland which included a mix of their greatest hits and some new material. The Yardbirds came out with a live CD in 2007 titled Live at B.B. King Blues Club and the ever-popular cartoon series The Simpsons featured the Yardbirds “I’m a Man” in the first episode of the 2007/2008 season. They continue touring.