Customer Reviews

Where The Action Is!

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One of the greatest influences to Blues, Rock and Psychedelic music to emerge from the 60's. This CD captures all the energy and inovative brilliance that The Yardbirds had and delivered. With guitarists like Clapton, Beck and Page, and the superb vocals and harpist Keith Relf, and drummer supreme Jim McCarty and rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja, these guys rank with the greatest Rock musicians of all time and have earned their place in Rock history. This is a classic set not to be missed. Buy this one quick.

I've heard all the recording on "Where The Action Is" by the Yardbirds and there is no doubt that they were one of the primo performing acts of the 1960's. And though VH-1 and MTV have not done any meaningful specials on them or Jeff Beck, do we really need them after hearing this collection?

The Yardbirds were men of their times, yet do to their level of performance, and the adventurous nature of the band, it seems to me that the Yardbirds were also ahead of their times!

The tight schedule didn't leave much room for the sort improvisation that helped gain them a favorable reputation while on the BBC. Still, even today, to do justice to the music, a band has to be good!

Think About It, Shapes of Things (with the blistering fuzz tone), The Train Kept A Rollin', Too Much Monkey Buisness (or how to play a Chuck Berry song without his famous riffs), and Jeff Beck's over the top singing of The Sun Is Shining are my favorites.

From 60s television comes the featured extras. Shapes of Things is from the Sam Riddle show (he being one of L.A.'s Boss Radio broadcasters of yore) on KHJ channel 9 which I actually remember seeing! Hang on Sloopy and For Your Love come from the great Shin-dig tv show with the McCoy hit originating from a Jazz festival in England C. 1965.

The cover pictures don't indicate the power of the music which was a key turing point of rock. It also gives they Yardbirds a modern look, yet is still beholding to Op and Pop Art. In thses few recordings are similar power pop, hard rock, proto metal, blues rock, psychedelia, in other words most of what rock music is today with a performance level so good, they could easily fit or be brought up to competitive speed with todays combos.

This is why the action was with the Yardbirds (and they were on Where the Action Is on ABC) who were the name band harbinger of the shapes of things to come.

It's good to hear clear Beck and Page performances and contrast the tight BBC sets with the free wheeling live televison ones.

I'd say by the time "Think About It" was done, Led Zepplin, was teathered to ground awaiting the right pilot to get it airborne.

The place of the Yardbirds as one pop musics greatest acats is secure!

As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" I am asked often for my reviews and thoughts on 60's and 70's rock and roll.

The Yardbirds are a band I collect every note. This release deserves the 5 Stars from opening to close. With this particular pressing you'll get the 27 BBC Radio tracks and the a bunch of nice songs from Stockholm 67.

You have heard often about the trio of Clapton, Beck, and Page. Check out this release not only for the guitar but the underrated vocals of Keith Relf. He was a tremendous front man.

The material on the 2 discs will show you all sides of the band. The great hits and radio tunes shine such as For Your Love, Heart Full Of Soul, Still I'm Sad, and Train Kept A Rollin' but the cuts that may have escaped you in the past that further solidify their genius; "Love Me Like I Love You" and "Dust My Blues."

They could excel in the studio and on stage cut loose with awesome power. Go back in time and capture the moment it was rather special.

All the best,
Craig Fenton
Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"

Okay, this *is* yet another Yardbirds compilation. If you're reading this you already know the back story, the Yardbirds: probably the greatest of the British Invasion's Blue-Eyed Blues Bands; dripping with talent, three legendary lead guitarists, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page... The band signed away the rights to their early albums to their manager who ripped them off scandalously, and there's been an endless repackaging of their greatest hits ever since... 'nuff said, right? Well keep reading!!

Disc one of this compilation is the same live BBC Sessions you've seen released on several other sets... 27 tracks here... (there's other collections that have up to 33 tracks, but at least a couple of those tracks unheard here are interview tracks and/or repeated numbers...) they're in Mono, being BBC session tracks, but worth your time if you haven't heard them before... it is interesting to track the differences in the band in the perspectives of the different lead guitarists, and it's worth noting that a few of the later tracks catch a transitional period where both Beck *and* Page were in the band.

Disc two, however, is the REAL collector's gem here!! As related in the book "Led Zeppelin: 1968-1980 (Book)" the Yardbirds (with Jimmy Page) were in Stockholm in April 1967, attempting to support their new album "Little Games Sessions & More" with live shows and a radio appearance. This CD is the first commercial release of that radio appearance, and catches some absolutely ripping performances as Relf, Page & Co. run through a short list of their standard hits. Listen to this, Eddie, and you'll have some strong premonitions of what Page was to present 18 months later with the debut (also in Scandinavia) of Led Zeppelin (then as "The New Yardbirds").

Absolutely essential for Jimmy Page & Led Zeppelin affecianados!