The Yardbirds discography explained

Studio:6
Live:12
Compilation:10+
Music Videos:3
Artist:The Yardbirds
Ep:2
Singles:16

The Yardbirds were an English rock group that had a string of Top 40 radio hits in mid-1960s in the UK and the US and introduced guitarists Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. Their first album released in the UK, Five Live Yardbirds (1964), represented their early club performances with Clapton. The Yardbirds' first American album, For Your Love (1965), was released to capitalise on their first hit, and to promote the group's first US tour. However, Clapton had already decided to pursue a different musical direction and was replaced by Beck. Several popular singles with Beck followed, including a second American album, Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds (1965), that, as with their previous album, was a split release featuring songs with both Clapton and Beck.

In 1966, the Yardbirds recorded their first studio album of all original material.[1] Released in the UK as Yardbirds and in the US as Over Under Sideways Down, the album acquired the nickname "Roger the Engineer" after a caption on the English cover drawn by rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja. Shortly after its release, bassist Paul Samwell-Smith left the group and was replaced by Page.[1] Page soon switched to second lead guitar, with Dreja taking over on bass.[1] This lineup only produced two songsthe psychedelic "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" (1966), which was the group's last song to reach the charts in the UK, and "Stroll On", the proto-heavy metal remake of "Train Kept A-Rollin'" they performed for the film Blowup (1966).[1]

The dual lead lineup with Beck and Page did not last long; Beck had become increasingly unhappy with the constant touring and left the group, with Page remaining as the sole guitarist.[1] The period as a quartet with Page was the Yardbirds' most stable and lasted nearly two and a half years. In the US, they continued to release singles and an album, Little Games (1967). The records, overseen by pop producer Mickie Most, were mostly out-of-step with the audience's shift to an album-oriented, more diverse sound.[1] However, the Yardbirds' frequent concert appearances at counter-culture venues were well received.[1] They were able to perform more experimental fare, such as "Dazed and Confused", the Page solo acoustic guitar piece "White Summer", and expanded, reworked versions and medleys of some of their earlier songs, as documented on the Page-produced Yardbirds '68 (2017).[2] After a last American tour, the group disbanded in the summer of 1968.

Since their breakup, a number of new albums have appeared. Besides numerous anthologies, albums featuring additional live recordings and various demos and outtakes from 1963 to 1968 have been released. Although some have received favourable reviews, music critic Richie Unterberger has noted the great number of substandard releases throughout the world.[1] In 1994, original drummer Jim McCarty and rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja began performing and recording as the Yardbirds. Recordings with various singers and guitarists have been released.[1]

Original 1964–1968 releases

The Yardbirds were signed to EMI and their records were released through the Columbia Graphophone Company in the UK and Epic Records in the US. In other countries, the group's releases were handled by a variety of labels, including affiliates of Columbia and Epic, Capitol (Canada), Riviera (France), Ricordi International (Italy), Odeon (Japan), and CBS (international). Sometimes, Yardbirds' records appeared on several labels in the same territory (in Germany, there were releases by Columbia, Epic, and CBS) and were reconfigured from the original UK and US records.

Albums

In their native UK, Columbia only issued two albums during the Yardbirds' career, Five Live Yardbirds (1964) and Yardbirds, popularly referred to as "Roger the Engineer" (1966). For Epic in the US, Yardbirds' manager Giorgio Gomelsky produced two albums, For Your Love (1965) and Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds (1965), which were collections of new material mixed in with singles and live recordings featuring both Clapton and Beck. Epic subsequently issued Over Under Sideways Down (the US reconfiguration of Yardbirds, 1966), The Yardbirds' Greatest Hits (1967), and the Mickie Most-produced Little Games (1967). Reconfigurations of the Epic For Your Love were released in Canada (Capitol's Heart Full of Soul) and other countries. All albums were released on 12-inch 33⅓ rpm LP records. Where two catalogue numbers are given, the album was released in monaural and stereo versions, otherwise it is mono only.

Title! scope="col" rowspan="2" width=40%
Album detailsMain charts (peaks)
UK
[3]
US
[4]
Other
Five Live Yardbirds
  • Type: Live
  • Released: 4 December 1964 (UK)
  • Label: Columbia (33SX 1662)
  • Notes: Recorded 20 March 1964, Marquee Club, London
For Your Love
  • Type: Studio
  • Released: 5 July 1965 (US)
  • Label: Epic (LN 24167/BN-26167)
96
Heart Full of Soul
  • Type: Studio
  • Released: 6 September 1965 (Canada)
  • Label: Capitol (T-6139)
Having a Rave Up with the Yardbirds
  • Type: Studio, live
  • Released: 30 November 1965 (US)
  • Label: Epic (LN 24177/BN 26177)
  • Notes: Includes four tracks from the UK Five Live Yardbirds
53
Yardbirds Roger the Engineer
  • Type: Studio
  • Released: 15 July 1966 (UK)
  • Label: Columbia (SX 6063/SCX 6063)
20
Over Under Sideways Down
  • Type: Studio
  • Released: 8 August 1966 (US)
  • Label: Epic (LN 24210/BN 26210)
  • Notes: Same as Yardbirds but without two tracks and different cover art
52
The Yardbirds Greatest Hits
  • Type: Compilation
  • Released: 17 April 1967 (US)
  • Label: Epic (LN 24246/BN 26246)
28
Little Games
  • Type: Studio
  • Released: 24 July 1967 (US)
  • Label: Epic (LN 24313/BN 26313)
80
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Other album appearances

In an early bid to promote the group, manager Gomelsky arranged for the Yardbirds to serve as backing musicians for a British tour by American bluesman Sonny Boy Williamson II. Recordings during the 1963–1964 tour were later released in 1966, after the Yardbirds had a string of Top 40 hits. In 1966, after Page joined the group, the Yardbirds contributed a remake of "Train Kept A-Rollin'", titled "Stroll On", for the Michelangelo Antonioni film Blow-up (1966). In 1967, MGM Records issued the soundtrack album.

Title! scope="col"width=35%
Album detailsNotes
Sonny Boy Williamson and the Yardbirds
  • Type: Live
  • Released: 7 January 1966 (UK); 7February 1966 (US)
  • Label: Fontana UK (TL 5277); Mercury US (MG 21071/SR 61071)
Recorded 8 December 1963, Crawdaddy Club, Richmond as backing musicians (all songwriting, vocals, and harmonica by Williamson)
Blow-UpThe Original Sound Track Album
  • Type: Soundtrack
  • Released: 20 February 1967 (US); 10 May 1967 (UK)
  • Label: MGM US (E/SE-4447 ST); MGM UK (C/CS 8039)
  • Charts: on US Billboard 200
"Stroll On" is the only Yardbirds contribution to the soundtrack; film score is by Herbie Hancock

Singles

In the UK, singles were the only source of many of the Yardbirds' songs, until the first anthology albums were released in the 1970s. In the US, these were usually included on albums. Two singles released in Germany and Italy in 1966 remained unavailable on album until the 1980–1990s compilations by Charly Records. The last three Epic singles (unreleased in the UK) did not appear on an album until the 1991 expanded Little Games Sessions and More album. All singles and extended play (EPs) were released on 7-inch 45 rpm records.

Title
(A-side / B-side)! scope="col" rowspan="2" width=40%
Single detailsMain charts (peaks)
UK
US
Other
"I Wish You Would" / "A Certain Girl"
  • Released: 1 May 1964 (UK); 17 August 1964 (US)
  • Label: Columbia UK (DB 7283); Epic US (5-9709)
"Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" / "IAin't Got You"
  • Released: 30 October 1964 (UK)
  • Label: Columbia (DB 7391)
44
"For Your Love" / "Got to Hurry"
  • Released: 5 March 1965 (UK); 12 April 1965 (US)
  • Label: Columbia UK (DB 7499); Epic US (5-9790)
36
"Heart Full of Soul" / "Steeled Blues"
  • Released: 4 June 1965 (UK); 19 July 1965 (US)
  • Label: Columbia UK (DB 7594); Epic US (5-9823)
29
Five Yardbirds (EP)
  • Released: 11 August 1965 (UK)
  • Label: Columbia (SEG 8421)
  • Tracks: "My Girl Sloopy", "I'm Not Talking", "IAin't Done Wrong" (all first released on For Your Love)
5
"Evil Hearted You" / "Still I'm Sad"
  • Released: 1 October 1965 (UK)
  • Label: Columbia (DB 7706)
  • Notes: Double A-side (both songs charted)
3
"I'm a Man" / "Still I'm Sad"
  • Released: 11 October 1965 (US)
  • Label: Epic (5-9857)
17
"Paff...Bum" / "Questa Volta"
"Shapes of Things" / "You're a Better Man Than I"
  • Released: 25 February 1966 (UK)
  • Label: Columbia (DB 7848)
3
"Shapes of Things" / "New York City Blues"
  • Released: 28 February 1966 (US)
  • Label: Epic (5-10006)
  • Notes: B-side initially "I'm Not Talking", changed 28 March to "New York City Blues"
11
"Boom Boom" / "Honey In Your Hips"
  • Recorded: 10 December 1963 (demo)
  • Released: 11 March 1966 (Germany)
  • Label: CBS (1433)
"Over Under Sideways Down" / "Jeff's Boogie"
  • Released: 27 May 1966 (UK); 13 June 1966 (US)
  • Label: Columbia UK (DB 7928); Epic US (5-10035)
1013
"Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" / "Psycho Daisies"
  • Released: 7 October 1966 (UK)
  • Label: Columbia (DB 8024)
43
"Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" / "The Nazz Are Blue"
  • Released: 7 November 1966 (US)
  • Label: Epic (5-10094)
30
Over Under Sideways Down (EP)
  • Released: 27 January 1967 (UK)
  • Label: Columbia (SEG 8521)
  • Tracks: "Over Under Sideways Down", "I Can't Make Your Way", "He's Always There", "What Do You Want"
"Little Games" / "Puzzles"
  • Released: 3 April 1967 (US); 21 April 1967 (UK)
  • Label: Epic US (5-10156); Columbia UK (DB 8165)
51
"Ha Ha Said the Clown" / "Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor"
  • Released: 17 July 1967 (US)
  • Label: Epic (5-10204)
45
"Ten Little Indians" / "Drinking Muddy Water"
  • Released: 16 October 1967 (US)
  • Label: Epic (5-10248)
96
"Goodnight Sweet Josephine" / "Think About It"
  • Released: 1 April 1968 (US)
  • Label: Epic (5-10303)
127
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Releases after 1969

A large number of Yardbirds anthologies of recordings originally produced by their first manager Gomelsky have been issued by numerous record companies over the years. These do not include songs recorded with other producers after March 1966, such as "Over Under Sideways Down", "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago", and "Little Games". Often, the albums are a haphazard mix of studio and live recordings from the Clapton and early Beck eras. Music critic Richie Unterberger wrote:However, a few early Epic anthologies and the Rhino Records set Ultimate! (2001) managed to cross license material from the different producers.[1] Many albums of live recordings focusing on performances with Clapton or Beck have appeared and, in 2017, the Page-produced Yardbirds '68 was released. One studio album and several live albums recorded by the post-1999 reconstituted Yardbirds have been issued.

Title! scope="col" width=35%
Album detailsNotes
The Yardbirds Featuring Performances by Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page
  • Type: Compilation
  • Released: 31 August 1970 (US)
  • Format: 2-LP record
  • Label: Epic (EG-30135)
  • Charts:
20 tracks from 1964 to 1967 not already included on The Yardbirds Greatest Hits (1967)[5]
Live Yardbirds! Featuring Jimmy Page
  • Type: Live
  • Released: 13 September 1971 (US)
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Epic (E 30615)
Recorded 1968 in New York City; withdrawn shortly after release, but frequently bootlegged; superseded by Yardbirds '68 (2017)[6]
Remember...The Yardbirds
  • Type: Compilation
  • Released: 18 June 1971 (UK)
  • Format: LP
  • Label: Regal Starline (SRS 5069)
12 tracks, limited to pre-Roger the Engineer recordings[7]
Shapes of Things
  • Type: Compilation
  • Released: 9 December 1977 (UK); 1978 (Canada)
  • Format: 2-LP
  • Label: Charly UK (CDZ 1); Bomb Canada (104.5)
  • Charts:
24 tracks, pre-Roger the Engineer recordings
London 1963The First Recordings
  • Type: Live
  • Released: 17 July 1981 (Germany)
  • Format: LP, audio cassette
  • Label: L & R (44.001)
Recorded 8 December 1963, Crawdaddy Club, Richmond, UK; 10 December 1963, R.G. Jones Studio, Morden, UK (demo)
Yardbirds...On Air Recorded 1965–1968 at BBC studios; re-released as BBC Sessions (1999)
Little Games Sessions and More
  • Type: Compilation
  • Released: 8 April 1991 (US)
  • Format: 2-CD
  • Label: EMI USA (0777-7-98213-2 7)
Both stereo and mono versions of original album tracks, plus non-album singles and alternate takes/mixes
Train Kept A-Rollin'The Complete Giorgio Gomelsky Productions
  • Type: Anthology
  • Released: 11 May 1993
  • Format: 4-CD boxed set
  • Label: Charly (CD LIK BOX 3) (UK)
Most available pre-Roger the Engineer recordings, including previously unreleased 1963–1964 demos and live recordings, and later alternate takes; re-released as The Yardbirds Story (2002)
Reunion Jam
  • Type: Live
  • Released: 1 December 1999
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Mooreland St. (70729-2)
Recorded 1992 in London
Cumular Limit
  • Type: Compilation
  • Released: 25 August 2000
  • Format: 2-CD
  • Label: Burning Airlines (Pilot 24)
Includes demos recorded in New York in 1968 and enhanced CD of four live songs from 1967 German TV show
Ultimate
  • Type: Compilation
  • Released: 31 July 2001
  • Format: 2-CD
  • Label: Rhino (R2 79825)
52 tracks from 1963 demos to 1968 last single
Birdland
  • Type: Studio
  • Released: 21 April 2003
  • Format: CD, LP
  • Label: Favored Nations (FN2280-2)
  • Charts:
First studio album in Dreja-McCarty era, recorded 2003 in Los Angeles and London with several guests
Live! Blueswailing July '64
  • Type: Live
  • Released: 23 September 2003
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Castle Music (06076-81331-2)
Recorded in July 1964 at an unknown venue
Live at B.B. King Blues Club
  • Type: Live
  • Released: 30 March 2007
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Favored Nations (FN2580-2)
Recorded in 2006 in New York City
Reunion Jam Vol. II
  • Type: Live
  • Released: 25 June 2007
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Voiceprint (VP419CD)
Recorded 1992 in London
Glimpses 1963–1968
  • Type: Compilation
  • Released: 5 December 2011
  • Format: 5-CD boxed set
  • Label: Easy Action (EARS 035)
Mostly live recordings, including some unreleased and those previously scattered among various semi-official and bootleg releases
Making Tracks
  • Type: Live
  • Released: 7 October 2013
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Wienerworld (WNRCD5069)
Recorded during 2010–2011 US tours
Yardbirds '68
  • Type: Compilation
  • Released: November 2017
  • Format: 2-CD, 2-LP
  • Label: JimmyPage.com
Recorded March and April 1968 in New York City[8]

Videos

Title! scope="col" width=35%
DetailsNotes
Blow-Up The group performs "Stroll On"; reissued on DVD by Warner Home Video in 2004
Yardbirds: Where the Guitar Gods Played Performances and interviews; reissued on DVD by Rhino in 2003[9]
Making Tracks Filmed during 2010–2011 US tours; released on audio CD in 2014

Notes

FootnotesCitationsReferences

. Eric Clapton. Clapton: The Autobiography. 2007. New York City. Broadway Books. 978-0-7679-2536-5.

. Joel Whitburn. Joel Whitburn Presents Across the Charts: The 1960s. 2008. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Record Research. 978-0898201758.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Yardbirds – Artist Biography. Unterberger. Richie. Richie Unterberger. AllMusic. 11 December 2022.
  2. Web site: Jimmy Page-era Yardbirds album, featuring rare live and studio recordings from 1968 due in November. ABC News Radio. 25 August 2017 . 11 December 2022.
  3. Web site: YardbirdsAlbums. Official Charts. 11 December 2022.
  4. Web site: The Yardbirds: Chart history – Billboard 200. Billboard.com. 3 June 2019.
  5. Web site: The Yardbirds: Performance by Clapton, Beck & PageReview. Eder. Bruce. AllMusic. 11 December 2022.
  6. Web site: Live Yardbirds Featuring Jimmy Page – Review. Eder. Bruce. AllMusic. 11 December 2022.
  7. Web site: The Yardbirds: Remember – Review. Eder. Bruce. AllMusic. 11 December 2022.
  8. Web site: Yardbirds '68. JimmyPage.com. 25 August 2017. 3 June 2019.
  9. Web site: The Story of the YardbirdsReview. Unterberger. Richie. Richie Unterberger. AllMusic. 11 December 2022.