The Yardbirds – in session for The Saturday Club – BBC Light Programme – May-June 1966 – BBC Radio –
The Yardbirds in session tonight. Recorded between May and June of 1966 by The BBC for the Light Programme series Saturday Club. Fans and devotees who already know everything there is to know about The Yardbirds can skip the following paragraphs and head straight to the player.
I think everyone who is remotely interested in the machinations of mid-1960s Rock, particularly the scene going on in the UK at the time, knows The Yardbirds pretty much inside and out. They were an influential band whose mark on Rock was felt way into the 70s (by way of The Yardbirds re-incarnation as Led Zeppelin), and even though they may not have had the massive string of hits many of their contemporaries had, they were nonetheless one of those bands that everyone seemed to know about on both sides of the Atlantic.
Starting off as a dyed-in-the-wool Blues band, that counted no less than Eric Clapton as an original founding member, they became closely associated with the initial British Invasion starting in 1964. After their first major hit (For Your Love), Eric Clapton left to pursue the more roots-oriented Blues of John Mayall before forming another iconic band of the 60’s, Cream. Replacement guitarists came in the form of Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. For a period both were in the band, before Beck left to pursue his solo career and the subsequent Jeff Beck Group which featured Rod Stewart on vocals.
All this by way of letting you know The Yardbirds were no footnote band of the 1960s, and this session gives some indication of what they were up to in 1966. Ironically, it was around this time that a direction change came by way of their second album Roger The Engineer (or third album in the U.S.).
If you aren’t familiar with this band, you really need to be – they influenced a lot and it’s important you know.
Hit the Play button and crank this one up.
