Customer Reviews

Having a Rave Up With (Spec)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Yardbirds' third album (and their second with guitarist Jeff Beck, who replaced Eric Clapton) is one of the very best rock records of the entire mid-60s, a scintillating collection of tunes that plays like a best-of collection. In its original (vinyl) incarnation, Having a Rave Up was split neatly down the middle: Side 1 consisted of six studio tunes recorded with Beck on guitar, while Side 2 featured four songs recorded live during the group's Clapton days (these recordings, as well as several others, can be found on the group's 1964 U.K. debut, Five Live Yardbirds). This may seem like a messy and unfocused way to organize an album, but it works fantasticaly well- the record effectively showcases the unique talents of each guitarist, as well as the distinctive features of both eras of the band's career. The first half is marked by Beck's effects-laden guitar virtuosity- the band's amazing rendition of "Train Kept A-Rollin'" is a hyperactive rush of fuzz-toned soloing and brutal thunderclouds of feedback. Keith Relf's exuberant, double-tracked vocals are equally inpressive. The cover of Bo Diddley's "I'm A Man" is another freewheeling classic, propelled by a storming, air-tight rhythm section and some swaggering harmonicas from Relf. The instrumental break, in which the tempo switches to a double-time gallop and Beck turns his guitar into a pure rhythm machine, is nothing short of dazzling. "Mister, You're A Better Man Than I" burns with quiet intensity, riding along on Jim McCarty's crackling drums and some bitterly sarcastic vocals. Jeff's searing, distorted guitar solo is, of course, superb. "Heart Full Of Soul" is a slice of minor-key mid 60s cool with a few superb fuzz-toned guitar interjections. The folky, melancholy "Still I'm Sad" and the puzzing paranoia of "Evil Hearted You" are also excellent. Side 2 shows off the Yardbirds when they were still a young and hungry blues-rock band, bashing out out songs with more gritty passion than technical skill. It's every bit as good as the first half, a wonderful showcase of rock 'n' roll in its rawest and purest form. The cover of Howlin' Wolf's classic "Smokestack Lightening" captures all of the original's menace and vicous bite, throwing in a rip-roaring instrumental explosion for good measure. "Respectable" keeps things going with a rip-roaring burst of R&B drenched fury, while another rendition of "I'm a Man" (compare to the one found on the first side) features a searing harmonica solo and a raucous Relf performance. Finally, the take on "Here' Tis" is a rhthmic blood-pumper with some of Clapton's coolest guitar-strangling. All in all, a superb little record. This CD edition features eleven bonus tracks, including the Beck-era non-LP single "Shapes of Things," which foreshadows psychedelia with its bold, trippy lyrics, cavernous instrumental effects, and trembling, off-kilter guitar work. This CD will fit snugly in the collection of any fan of 60s rock n roll. Totally recomended.

Having a Rave Up is one of the best albums from the 1960s. In particular, one might find interesting, I'M A MAN, STILL I'M SAD, HEART FULL OF SOUL, EVIL HEARTED YOU, and MISTER YOU'RE A BETTER MAN THAN I.

These tunes feature easy-to-learn guitar leads and riffs, some more developed than others. In subsequent recorded work, Jeff Beck produced exciting and creative lead guitar solos and riffs in LOST WOMAN, SHAPES OF THINGS, JEFF'S BOOGIE, HAPPENINGS TEN YEARS TIME AGO and BECK'S BOLERO. In particular, LOST WOMAN features the most interesting pairing of guitar and harmonica to be found in the entire genre of rock'n'roll, or perhaps even in the entire history of recorded music.

Moreover,what distinguishes this album is the deadpan, British-style singing of Keith Relf. Other examples of British deadpan singing can be found, for example, in anything by the 80s New Wave group, Squeeze, and anything by the 80s New Wave group, Gang of Four.

In guitar other work from that era, comparable lead guitar solo work can be found in Pink Floyd's COMFORTABLY NUMB, Vanilla Fudge's YOU KEEP ME HANGING ON, anything from The Greatful Dead's first album, and Quicksilver Messenger Service's THE FOOL. I might also recommend Return To Forever's first album, HYMN OF THE SEVENTH GALAXY. Unlike most "jazz fusion" albums, HYMN OF THE SEVENTH GALAXY cannot whatsoever be mistaken for easy listening music. This album features excellent, easy-to-learn guitar leads in a style not too far removed from that of Jeff Beck.

"Having a Rave Up" actually came out in late 1965 ... "Heart Full of Soul" was a hit in London during the summer of that year (I know from personal experience). I bought this album without hearing it on the basis of comments made by Clay Cole in the December 1965 issue of 16 magazine ... he said that, "if you were a guitar fan, Jeff Beck was the best one out there (even George Harrison and Keith Richards said so!)." He was right.

This album changed my life. It redefined rock & roll, and was the first (and one of the all-time best) examples of what can happen when musicians push the envelope. Beck has gone on to create some of the most interesting and innovative music imaginable; his recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was long overdue.

Buy it. You won't be disappointed!

In 1966 I spent my summer as camp counsellor at a Boy Scount camp and shared a cabin with 3 other guys. I brought along a record player and my albums, mostly Kinks and Beatles. Sometime during the Summer one of the guys came back from a week end at home with the Yardbirds "Having a Rave Up" album. We played that album every day from that point on. I had a little garage band back home and when I returned from camp I steered my fellow band mates away from our current Top 40 to the Yardbirds. We probably learned almost every song on the album. I learned each Beck solo note for note.
I have been playing guitar and recording professionally and semi professionally since those days. Every night that I play, some piece of a Beck or Clapton riff learned so long ago from this album gets unconsciously used on some song. This album was my guitar tutor and stepping stone to playing lead guitar.
If you are a young guitar player looking to learn the basics from the true pioneers of guitar rock, get this album and learn every lick. It may seem simple and basic, but you'll find the roots of thousands of 70's and 80's players in these songs.

Coming after a great debut album "For Your Love", "Rave Up" signals a band seeking to improve itself and to not rest on its laurels. Some of the Yardbirds' best tracks are on this album such as "Mr. You're...I" in which Beck plays a great solo that starts at a low octave and slowly slides all the way up the neck of the guitar and not a pull-off to move up the neck as the previous reviewer assumed (trust me, I'm a guitarist and if you listen closely you'll hear that it's all done with a finger sliding up the neck), "Evil Hearted You" which uses slide guitar and "Train Kept a Rollin'" which is an early rock guitar classic played by both Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, guitar legends themselves.

What's intriguing about this version of the album is that the live tracks "Smokestack Lightning", "Respectable", "I'm a Man" and "Here 'Tis" a.k.a. the entire original side 2 of the record (ask your dad what these are)are missing. For purists looking to get an improved version of the original lp, you are going to be disappointed. As for me, I'm happy with this because if you have heard the live recordings, you'll know they sound very bad as the masters themselves are terrible and so I'm glad with this new track line up which excludes the pissed poor live tracks and replaces them with 16 bonus tracks which are all great. Those live tracks are beyond redemption even with remastering and perhaps that's why they decided not to spoil the rest of the album by including them.

Other than the track changes, this version of the album has been pretty well remastered although most of the tracks are in mono just like the original lp and the mini-lp sleeve design is okay although surprisingly not as well put together as the one for "For Your Love". The cardboard used is thin and of lower quality although otherwise faithfully replicates the original lp sleeve design. Also included is a 24-page booklet with all the lyrics in English and Japanese. Fans of 60s blues rock and aspiring blues rock guitarists have to get this album as essential listening material. If you want the live stuff, you'll need to get "Five Live Yardbirds."

Recommended.

Considered by many to be The Yardbirds' best, whether it is or is not true, hardly matters. It's good. That's all that really matters.

The opening track, "Mr. You're a Better Man Than I" serves as evidence of this, as it manages to be, simultaneously, catchy, bluesy, slightly psychedelic, and pretty heavy (especially for its time). The album is full of such songs, with a bluesy feel over very heavy bass and drum lines, making it both rock and proto-metal, while maintaining a psychedelic, progressive feel. Thus, in one album, The Yardbirds balance a good number of future trends in rock/metal music, and it's easy to see in this one album the precursors to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Cream, as well as Jeff Beck's solo material.

The number of artists influenced by this, either directly or through one of the above bands/artists, must be staggering!

There is another Japanese issue of this album/cd that I picked up recently that has a variation on the track listing as well as those numbers actually on the album. Interestingly enough, not all of the original tracks listed on the cover of the cd are included. Missing are: Smokestack Lighting, Respectable, and Here 'Tis, yet Steeled Blues, Shapes of Things, New York City Blues, Questa Volta, Paff...Bum, What Do You Want, Jeff's Blues, Someone to Love (Parts 1 & 2), For RSG, Like Jimmy Reed Again, Chris' Number, Pounds and Stomps, Stroll On, and a more Indian-style version of Heart of Soul can be found among the 22 songs on the version I own. So, for those of you looking for particular numbers, I'd check with Amazon to see if their Japanese import is like the one I just bought in Japan.
All of that aside, it's a rocking album full of Jeff Beck's riffs and stings and the majority of tracks are classic Beck-era Yardbirds. Saddest song not here is the later Over Under Sideways Down, but then again, it wasn't recorded yet. Were it included, this would be more like a Jeff Beck's Yardbirds Greatest Hits. Regardless, things of note, the descending rapid-fire pull off lick in Evil Hearted You - a Beck trademark if there ever was one, the many instrumentals especially Jeff's Blues which borrows heavily from Howlin' Wolf's Highway 49, and the highly learnable yet still vital for nascent guitarists take on Train Kept A-Rollin,' infinitely more subtle and fun than the Aerosmith version.
This may not be a musical masterpiece but it is a crucial link in the chain from blues to hard rock and beyond and is an invaluable primer for any would-be rock and roll guitarist.

I bought this album (no CDs then!) when it came out. It has stood the test of time and, in my opinion, is one of the groundbreaking albums in rock. It was way ahead of it's time, considering it came out in 1966. A classic.

Having a Rave Up is one of the best albums from the 1960s. In particular, one might find interesting, I'M A MAN, STILL I'M SAD, HEART FULL OF SOUL, EVIL HEARTED YOU, and MISTER YOU'RE A BETTER MAN THAN I.

These tunes feature easy-to-learn guitar leads and riffs, some more developed than others. In subsequent recorded work, Jeff Beck produced exciting and creative lead guitar solos and riffs in LOST WOMAN, SHAPES OF THINGS, JEFF'S BOOGIE, HAPPENINGS TEN YEARS TIME AGO and BECK'S BOLERO. In particular, LOST WOMAN features the most interesting pairing of guitar and harmonica to be found in the entire genre of rock'n'roll, or perhaps even in the entire history of recorded music.

Moreover,what distinguishes this album is the deadpan, British-style singing of Keith Relf. Other examples of British deadpan singing can be found, for example, in anything by the 80s New Wave group, Squeeze, and anything by the 80s New Wave group, Gang of Four.

In guitar other work from that era, comparable lead guitar solo work can be found in Pink Floyd's COMFORTABLY NUMB, Vanilla Fudge's YOU KEEP ME HANGING ON, anything from The Greatful Dead's first album, and Quicksilver Messenger Service's THE FOOL. I might also recommend Return To Forever's first album, HYMN OF THE SEVENTH GALAXY. Unlike most "jazz fusion" albums, HYMN OF THE SEVENTH GALAXY cannot whatsoever be mistaken for easy listening music. This album features excellent, easy-to-learn guitar leads in a style not too far removed from that of Jeff Beck.

This LP, I bought the vinyl way back when , was such a wonderful experience. The band played with the fringe element of Psychedelic rock and perfectly infused the blues element they were known for.I live in San Francisco and most garage bands at that time couldn't cover the intricate vocals of say the Beatles. But they could play the Yardbirds. Not that they were simple songs but they were just so much darn fun to play and expand on. This is the real deal and no other album of this period was so well done in its melding of genre's... do yourself a favor and buy it.. you won't be sorry , even happenings 40 years on it sounds Fab !!!!