Rockin'XXL: The Yardbirds (UK)

The band formed in the south-west London suburbs in 1963. Relf and Samwell-Smith were originally in a band named the Metropolitan Blues Quartet. After being joined by Dreja, McCarty and Top Topham, they performed at Kingston Art School in late May 1963 as a backup band for Cyril Davies. Following a couple of gigs in September 1963 as the Blue-Sounds, they changed their name to The Yardbirds, either an expression for hobos hanging around rail yards or prisoners hanging around a prison yard; and a reference to seminal jazz saxophonist Charlie "Yardbird" Parker. The quintet achieved notice on the burgeoning British rhythm and blues scene when they took over as the house band at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, succeeding the Rolling Stones. Their repertoire drew from the Chicago blues of Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Williamson II and Elmore James, including "Smokestack Lightning", "Good Morning Little School Girl", "Boom Boom", "I Wish You Would", "Rollin' and Tumblin'", "Got Love if You Want It" and "I'm a Man". Original lead guitarist Topham left and was replaced by Eric Clapton in October 1963. Crawdaddy Club impresario Giorgio Gomelsky became the Yardbirds manager and first record producer. Under Gomelsky's guidance the Yardbirds toured Britain as the back-up band for blues legend Sonny Boy Williamson II in December 1963 and early 1964, recording live tracks on 8 December and other dates. The recordings would be released two years later during the height of the Yardbirds popularity on the album Sonny Boy Williamson and The Yardbirds.
After the tours with Williamson, the Yardbirds signed to EMI's Columbia label in February 1964, and recorded more live tracks March 20 at the legendary Marquee Club in London. The resulting album of mostly rhythm and blues covers, Five Live Yardbirds, would not be released by Columbia for another nine months, and it failed to enter the UK albums charts. Over time Five Live gained stature as one of the few quality live recordings of the era, and as a historical document of both the British "rock and roll boom" in the 1960s and Clapton's time in the band.The band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. They were included as No. 89 in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and ranked No. 37 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. The Yardbirds reformed in the 1990s, featuring drummer Jim McCarty and rhythm guitarist/bassist Chris Dreja as the only original members of the band. Dreja left the band in 2012, leaving McCarty as the sole original member of the band present in the lineup.

1981

L&R 44001/ 9 tr./ 33:25 min.