Search - The Yardbirds :: Five Live Yardbirds

Do you know where your version is?

running_man | Chesterfield Twp., MI | 09/17/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The makers of 'Five Live Yardbirds' must be pro-choice. There are at least 5 or 6 versions of this CD listed on Amazon, and the particular one I possess, which contains only ten tracks from the March 1964 Marquee show, isn't even here. The disc I'm reviewing is a French import, on the 'Decal' label. There is a comparable 10 track Rhino version, 16 track versions by Prism and JVC Japan, an 18 track Repertoire version, 19 track Verese version, and a 20 track Phantom version. Most of these alternates package the Marquee show with a variety of other Yardbird demos, studio releases, and various live tracks. The Marquee show, however, is always at the core as the 'main attraction'.



While some reviewers disparage the quality of the recording, I find it remarkably good considering the year and the locale... the London Marquee club. In contrast to live recordings by The Beatles of the same era, these tapes are clean and crisp. Comparing these recordings to bootlegs is really a disservice. I once owned a fairly extensive bootleg collection, and this recording puts most of them to shame.



The Yardbirds were clearly at the forefront, along with The Rolling Stones, of the emerging rhythm and blues genre in the UK in the early 1960's. It's rather fascinating to listen to the superb quality of Eric Clapton's lead guitar, although if there is to be disparaging of the recording quality, it would have to be the squelching of Eric's leads in favor of Keith Relf's mouth harp. Never again in his career would another instrument render Clapton to second fiddle.



At times the Yardbirds leaned toward pure rock and roll rather than rhythm and blues, as in their opening cover of Chuck Berry's 'Too Much Monkey Business', and at other times submerged themselves in pure blues, as in Ellas McDaniel's 'Pretty Girl'. Three of the last four songs on the disc, in fact, are McDaniel compositions, including one of his best, 'I'm a Man' ("...spelled M... A... N... man....", what a great lyric!), which I would pick as the best song of the evening. As other reviewers have noted, however, this is bare bones RnB from a band working hard to establish themselves (this recording even pre-dates the release of their first single, 'I Wish You Would'). Every song is infused with maximum voltage, and the crowd is clearly a hard-core bunch eating it up. For a band without a hit to their name, they already possessed a rabid following.



While none of the songs on this disc proved to be hits for the Yardbirds, the recording provides a unique, high-caliber snapshot of early British pub-rock. Beyond Clapton, Relf's vocals and mouth harp are exquisite, and Paul Samwell-Smith's bass meanders in delightful ways not often experienced. While the Yardbirds lacked the 'innocence' of the early Beatles, they were above the decadence the Stones excreted even in their genesis, opting for a sound not unlike the early, blues-oriented Animals. Despite Beatlemania, it may have been the most excitingly musical place to be as rock and roll evolved full throttle into the mid-1960's. You can sense the band is on the cusp of something special. We're lucky to have this recording, and you should hear it."

Marquee Act

donnelly117 | 12/14/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Yardbirds only lasted five years (1963-68) but even in their embryonic stage they could rock as loud and as hard as any band in the world. This raw, powerful CD of a 1964 performance from the Marquee Club proves this conclusively. Bootleg-level sound and a set list of covers aside, this is maximum R&B with a perspiring punk edge. Hamish Grimes' giddy introduction gets the show off to a gleeful start as the lads rip into "Too Much Monkey Business," a ferocious recasting of the Chuck Berry classic that even non-fan Dave Marsh described as "genius." (Great as it is, Eric Clapton plays the intro in the wrong key -so says Cub Koda - but no matter, it's awesome.). Clapton's spitfire guitar takes up much of the ink, but the dynamics these five generate on "I'm a Man", "Respectable" and "Here Tis" are rock as brutal jazz improvisation, full of impassioned soloing that never quite gets out of hand. Keith Relf dominates the set as much as Clapton with his feral harp and gasping vocals. Keith's adenoidal singing may be an acquired taste (he's no Eric Burdon, let's face it) but I like it because his enthusiasm is so relentless. Check out the intoxicating way Relf plays off of Slowhand on "Louise." Glorious. The rest of the gang are no slouches either. Paul Samwell-Smith lays down a pulsating bass, Chris Dreja raves on sweaty rhythm guitar and Jim McCarty revs the engine with a cattle-stampede beat. The Clash could have learned a thing or two about energy from this record. But allow me to leave the final word with Howlin' Wolf. He called their version of "Smokestack Lighting" the best he'd ever heard. Take that Animals!"

This is how Live Rock Sounds in a Bar/Pub/Tavern

John Powers | Evanston, IL USA | 01/15/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I disagree with the reviewer from Amazon. I have had this album on vinyl since about 1988 and it is a rocker. You can hear the next 30 years of rock and roll (this is recorded in 1964) in its infancy at the Marquee club. Clapton is fueled up, and his guitar leads most of the songs with the rhythym section playing catch-to to his speedy guitar. Now think about it, the reviewer says this sounds like a bunch of art students in 1964, which is self evident because these are a bunch of art students in 1964. But they sound much like the music enjoyed in bars in 1974 (Nick Lowe for example), in 1984 (Jason and the Scorchers for example) and 1994 (The Foo Fighters for example) and in pretty much every third bar in the US, UK and Ireland on a given Saturday Night. The interesting part is that this does NOT sound like the music you would hear in 1954, even though some of the songs could have been written in 1934 (Smokestack Lightnin has been around, and Good Morning Little Schoolgirl is positively perverse sounding in 2001). The Yardbirds made some tranformation in 1964 that bridged the timeless county-blues to a hyped up electric show. This transformation is what is caputred on this record here and why this album is essential for any rock and roller."