Footage of The Yardbirds during their last stage often reveals a tired McCarty, who sighs throughout the performance. Not that he ever contributed less than his fair share on drums. He was quite simply a young man worn to a frazzle by the demands of a hungry business. Drugs only exacerbated the exhausting situation.
On March 2, 1968, Relf and McCarty again expressed their desire to quit. Page and Dreja weren’t surprised, just disappointed. They persuaded the two to stay through the end of the upcoming American tour at least.
A week later, The Yardbirds made an appearance on a French television show, “Bouton Rouge.” They played three songs, “Train Kept A-Rollin’,” “Dazed And Confused” and “Goodnight Sweet Josephine.” The quartet might have been in its death throes, but the music was as spectacular as ever. Page, in particular, was a commanding presence as he wielded his violin bow, shining like a 1,000 suns in ruffles and assorted psychedelic threads.
Be that as it may, the end of the road was in sight. There was one last American tour, however.
Dazed And Confused
On March 30, 1968, a weary band stumbled into New York City. The Yardbirds were suffering from jetlag, having landed in America two days previously. They had spent the interim battling a springtime blizzard and playing gigs spread out over New York State.
Epic Records was aware of their forthcoming demise. Consequently, the record company was determined to squeeze one more album out of them. The group was shocked when they were told that their Anderson Theatre show at Second Avenue and Fourth Street was going to be recorded.
Regardless, the doughty band took the stage before an audience of devotees. The resultant show is where the crux of the Jimmy Page-era Yardbirds’ legend lies. The group stormed into a version of “Train Kept A-Rollin’” that bore little resemblance to its rockabilly forefather. Instead, Page used an electric cattle prod to whip the song through its paces as Relf’s harp bleated like a mad cow. Heavy metal was here for better or worse. They then surged into a hallucinatory version of “Mister, You’re A Better Man Than I,” complete with aural washes from a wah wah that dripped like quicksilver before erupting into a staggering “Heart Full Of Soul.” Next up was their reworking of Jake Holmes’ tune. It was an overwhelming showpiece and the very heart of their gigs now. Throughout the song, The Yardbirds experimented with liberal dashes of silence amid the sound, creating a disconcerting aural collage that left the audience aghast. “Dazed And Confused” glistened nightmare white, sweating sex and suicide. It was psychedelia at high tide. After delivering said tune, the group realized they couldn’t one-up themselves. Rather, they strutted their soul inclinations on a cover of “My Baby.” Jimmy Page once again showed off his mastery of the Crybaby pedal. The Yardbirds ran through the rest of their repertoire, featuring hit singles and selected material from the LITTLE GAMES album. Knowing that this tour was to be their last, the band appears to have enjoyed themselves for the first time in years. Just before “Shapes Of Things,” Relf gently chided Page, introducing him as the “grand sorcerer of the magick guitar.” Then, Jimmy Page hoisted his Danelectro and proceeded to better The Byrds’ “Renaissance Fair” by conjuring images of a Moroccan bazaar on “White Summer.” The Yardbirds ended the show with an extended take on “I’m A Man,” during which Page dropped to his knees and quoted the riff from “Over, Under, Sideways, Down.” The Yardbirds stayed in New York for a few days after the show, enjoying some well-deserved rest and relaxation. At some point, Epic played them tapes of the Anderson Theatre gig. The band was unhappy with the recording. Years later, Page complained in particular about the A & R man who ordered the recording of the gig, Manny Kellem. “He had one mike on the drums, which was unthinkable, and he miked the wrong cabinet for the guitar so that the fuzz-tone which gave it all the sustain wasn’t picked up,” Jimmy Page said. The band rejected the live tape in early April 1968, insisting that Epic couldn’t release said recording. It wasn’t the last they would hear of the show, though. More later. The record company played their last card, suggesting a studio session with Manny Kellem. The powers-that-be hoped that at least one more single could be released. Kellem was another strange choice as a producer, since his previous experience had been with easy listening-type material. The Yardbirds entered Columbia Studios in New York and laid down five tracks between April 3 and 5, 1968. While Kellem wasn’t an ideal match for the group, the results were a little more interesting than under Most’s direction. “Avron Knows” was a mod-styled rocker, reminiscent of The Small Faces in polyesterday shirts and chocolate trip trousers. The Yardbirds also laid down a nice take of a song that was a regular feature in their live repertoire, Garnet Mimms’ “My Baby.” They had just played this at the Anderson Theatre a few days previously. However, this was the first time the backing vocals were properly recorded. Both were crackerjack performances. Less essential was “Taking A Hold Of Me,” a riff-rocker that featured a guide vocal courtesy of Jim McCarty. Given more studio time, this tune might have developed into something interesting. Downright strange was “Spanish Blood,” a cowboy curio that found McCarty play-acting his way through a Spaghetti Western, reciting a poem to Jimmy Page’s Spanish guitar. The most significant song recorded at the sessions was an original number called “Knowing That I’m Losing You.” Once again, The Yardbirds were on the cutting edge of rock n roll. This wouldn’t be apparent at the time, though. The Byrds’ mythic album, SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO, has often been heralded as the origins of country-rock. The Yardbirds were breaking similar ground four months before said LP was even released. “Knowing That I’m Losing You” is meandering hippy country, smacking of Buffalo Springfield. Keith Relf’s high lonesome lyrics are matched by his yearning and heartbreaking vocal. Jimmy Page brought a down-home flavour to the proceedings with a steel guitar. Strangely, there seems to be a quote from “Crimson & Clover” in the song! Be that as it may,the tune is as remarkable as any that appeared on The Byrds’ legendary album. However, while listening to playbacks, none of the recordings were deemed to have chart potential. They were filed away and remained a vague rumour for three decades. These sessions will be discussed later. Unfortunately, the group’s most powerful song was not caught on tape at Columbia in New York City. “It’s been one of my greatest regrets that we never recorded ‘Dazed And Confused’ in the studio,” Dreja said. “It’s a brilliant epitaph actually. We were feeling very dazed and confused at that point!” Last Rave-up In L.A. After New York, the band plunged into a long tour of America. They trudged across the continent for two months. Finally, they arrived in California, where they played a last stand in Los Angeles at the famed Shrine on May 31 and June 1. D.C. Cole attended these two performances, smuggling a tape deck into the auditorium under his girlfriend’s maternity dress. The resultant recording became one of rock’s most treasured bootlegs, LAST RAVE-UP IN L.A. The Yardbirds’ performance is breathtaking, but unfortunately the sound itself is abysmal. Cole’s recollections of the event do shed significant light on some of the very last shows the group ever played, though. “The 1968 shows at the Shrine were amazing. Their music had developed to such a point that some of it was the most advanced rock n roll ever done. It was like electronic Stravinsky,” Cole remembered. This is especially significant, considering Cole had seen them on three separate occasions during the previous year. At that time, he had been disappointed in Page’s performance. “I was frustrated with the band in 1967. I’d been following them since their very first American tour. Obviously, Beck was incredible. Page was a let down on their first tour as a four-piece. He carried on valiantly without Beck, playing both lead and rhythm. But his tone was muddy, not like Beck’s sultry sound. On their last tour, Page had got it together and was stunning,” Cole said. At this point, the band could segue effortlessly from pop to blues to psychedelia to heavy metal. The volume of their live shows was simply overpowering. A listen to “I’m A Man” during the Los Angeles gig reveals a girl yelling at the pinnacle of the song “can’t they play it more quietly?” The Bo Diddley number had been with them since their Crawdaddy days in 1963. Of course, it was now a barely recognizable acid casualty. The Yardbirds’ song list in Los Angeles was very similar to the one they had played two months earlier in New York. However, there were a few additions to their repertoire that they didn’t perform at the Anderson show. The old whipping post, “Smokestack Lightning,” at this point was a surrealistic medley that would dissolve into a cover of “I’m Waiting For The Man.” The Velvet Underground song had shown up in the Yardbirds’ set at various times during the previous year. On their final tour, it had been transformed beyond recognition. The original was a perverse pop song that buzzed and shimmered with an antiseptic ether-glow. The Yardbirds pushed it into the Interstellar Delta, resulting in a post-apocalyptic homage to white noise, i.e. a rave-up that reeked of Stockhausian dissonance. The Brits’ thrashing cover certainly would have felt quite at home on The Velvet Underground’s sophomore album. “That’s another one we probably should have recorded in the studio,” Dreja said. This show also featured a harmonica workout by Keith Relf on “Bye Bye Bird.” This was a strange choice indeed, being a straight blues cover with Relf playing solo harp. D.C. Cole explained why this Sonny Boy Williamson song made a seemingly arbitrary appearance. “There was a reason for that interlude. Jimmy Page had broken some strings and his hand was bleeding,” Cole said. “He sat down on the edge of the stage, sobbing. Relf played harmonica until Page got it back together.” Emotions were obviously running high as the band reached the end of the road. Relf and McCarty were experiencing a sense of relief. Page, on the other hand, must have been frustrated beyond belief, knowing they were throwing away vast potential. In early June, The Yardbirds played their last American gigs at a speedway in Montgomery, Alabama. Soon, they returned to England and on July 7, 1968 played their final gig at Luton Technical College. It was officially over. Or so they thought. The fallout is still being felt three decades later. Phoenix From The Ashes Keith Relf and Jim McCarty indulged in their acoustic fantasies for a brief time as a duo called Together. Nothing came of it, so they formed an outfit called Renaissance, which attempted to marry rock to classical. This peculiarly English fascination with legitimising rock n roll by adding classical motifs also came to naught after an eponymous debut album. One listen to said LP and it’s obvious that Relf and McCarty were shell-shocked survivors of the rock n roll wars. Nothing else can explain their decision to pursue this type of music after the sheer audacity of their earlier work. Ironically, a few years later Relf was involved in a heavy metal band, Armageddon. Their one and only album features some of Relf’s best vocals and harmonica work. Sadly, he was electrocuted to death in his private recording studio in 1976. He was only 33-years-old. Jimmy Page and Chris Dreja had initially planned on continuing The Yardbirds. However, Dreja soon dropped out. John Paul Jones entered the picture on bass and vocalist Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham rounded out Page’s new quartet. Contrary to accepted myth, the band never called itself The New Yardbirds. The real Yardbirds had contractual obligations to fulfill in Scandinavia in September of 1968. Page’s new band (with Peter Grant still managing) made the trip instead. Advertisements bill them either as The Yardbirds or The Yardbirds With Jimmy Page. The only time the band was ever billed as The New Yardbirds was on one side of a Marquee flyer for their British debut in October 1968. The other side of the same announcement portrayed them as The Yardbirds, however. Within a few days, the group changed their name to Led Zeppelin. Page continued to derive mileage from his Yardbirds past, making a reputation for himself on the back of “Dazed And Confused.” In retrospect, it’s obvious that Jimmy Page made the right choice financially. However, a comparison of “Dazed And Confused” as played by his two bands is quite telling. The Yardbirds’ version is alternately delicate and threatening while Led Zeppelin’s is shrill and devoid of spontaneity as well as lacking significant tonal shading. The piece’s real author, Jake Holmes, shares that evaluation. He received a copy of The Yardbirds’ reading of his song in the spring of 2001. Previously he had been unaware that the band had even covered it. "The Yardbirds’ ‘Dazed And Confused’ is really good. I understand what ‘garage’ people see in all this craziness. I like their version much better than Led Zeppelin’s," Jake Holmes said. Jimmy Page was still delving into his bag of leftovers on Led Zeppelin’s third album. The band re-recorded one of the songs The Yardbirds had done in April of 1968, “Knowing That I’m Losing You.” Led Zeppelin called it “Tangerine.” The arrangements are almost identical. The song was attributed solely to Jimmy Page, with no mention being made of Keith Relf, who had written a significant chunk of the lyrics that appeared in Led Zeppelin’s version. “He (Keith Relf) should really be given a credit for that one,” Jim McCarty said, referring specifically to the second verse’s lyrics in “Knowing That I’m Losing You,” which appear intact as the first verse in “Tangerine.” The two versions both feature a steel guitar courtesy of Page. Once again, The Yardbirds’ version is superior. Relf’s vocals are heartbreaking and McCarty’s drums much lighter. Their take has a prominent Morricone touch and the massed vocals at the end take it to new heights. Led Zeppelin’s version simply pales in comparison. As for Chris Dreja, he quickly settled into life as a professional photographer. He basically abandoned music until hooking up with ex-Yardbirds Jim McCarty and Paul Samwell-Smith (who had spent the intervening years as a producer of Cat Stevens and Jethro Tull among others) in the ‘80s as Box Of Frogs. McCarty had stayed busy in the music scene through the ‘70s. His valiant struggle with drugs is documented in an autobiographical album released in 1994, OUT OF THE DARK. In 1992, The Yardbirds were inducted into The Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame. It was vindication of sorts for Jim McCarty and Chris Dreja, since neither of them had reaped the rewards or recognition that their former colleagues had. The duo reformed The Yardbirds in the mid-1990s. This latter day version of the band is logging as much travel time as the ’67 incarnation. That’s another story, though. Final Approach It’s slowly becoming apparent that the Yardbirds’ final years were far more artistically successful than has been generally conceded. Some of the ’67-’68 material matches up to anything the Beck-era produced. Witness especially “White Summer,” “Only The Black Rose,” “Glimpses,” “Think About It,” “Avron Knows,” “Knowing That I’m Losing You” and “Dazed And Confused.” These songs are all as innovative and dynamic as anything produced by the band in its previous incarnations. As for albums, LITTLE GAMES has always been in the shadow of its big brother, ROGER THE ENGINEER. The Page lineup’s studio album itself is aging surprisingly well. Some of ROGER THE ENGINEER’s blues retreads are badly dated unlike the blues rewrites on LITTLE GAMES. A back-to-back listen finds the two albums of similar quality. Unfortunately, of the six albums put out in the United States during the band’s existence, only two of them were recorded as actual albums. Of course, those are the two aforementioned LPs. Amazingly, the band was given less than a week’s time to record the fabled ROGER THE ENGINEER. Even then, there were significant obstacles to overcome. The band didn’t even have material composed, so they were forced to improvise on the spot, laying down basic tracks as Keith Relf wrote lyrics in the vocal booth! As for LITTLE GAMES, the haphazard circumstances surrounding its difficult delivery were examined in this article. The other four albums were ad hoc single compilations, live recordings and a greatest hits collection. Yet even with this erratic approach, The Yardbirds have garnered a posthumous reputation that any band would envy. In retrospect, it’s mind-boggling that a group could experience so many cataclysmic changes and still revolutionize music as The Yardbirds did. Swapping lead guitarists like socks and losing four members along with enduring three managers in the space of five years would have sunk any other band. In comparison, The Byrds were the epitome of stability compared to their feathered British cousins. Given a stable management situation and a producer with vision, it’s impossible to contemplate what might have been. However, that’s not the way it went down. As for this article, it’s a re-evaluation of the Page-era, not revisionism. “Ha Ha Said The Clown” is still a truly horrendous song. But let’s not forget that the Beck line-up was also capable of producing dreck like “My Girl Sloopy.” The critical reception given LITTLE GAMES upon its initial release was generally favorable. As the years went by, though, its stock fell. By the late 1980s, the Jimmy Page-era Yardbirds were regarded as having squandered a colossal amount of potential. The balance was redressed to a certain extent in 1992. A compilation was issued, joining that configuration’s album with unreleased studio recordings and the singles with their essential ‘B’ sides like “Think About It.” Entitled LITTLE GAMES SESSIONS & MORE, the Page line-up finally reclaimed some of what was due them in the first place. Unfortunately, a complete reassessment of this era rests in the hands of the one man who should care about it the most, Jimmy Page himself. How so? The story stretches back to April 1968. At that time, the group rejected the Anderson Theatre recordings. In 1971, Epic Records decided to sneak the show into the marketplace. The record company obviously hoped to ride on Jimmy Page’s long coattails, what with the massive success Led Zeppelin was experiencing. The New York City gig was issued as an album called LIVE YARDBIRDS! FEATURING JIMMY PAGE. “Dazed And Confused” was erroneously called “I’m Confused” on the release, a title the band never used. Jimmy Page had it suppressed immediately. “The Anderson Theatre show I didn’t think was too bad. Jimmy says Keith had a bad night. I think it was more a case of doing ‘Dazed And Confused’ pre-Zeppelin that made him withdraw it,” Jim McCarty said. Page was also rightfully incensed that crowd noises had been overdubbed on the performance. Instead of brooding silences throughout “Dazed And Confused,” a listener could now hear cocktail glasses clinking. In 1976, the album was released yet again. Once more, Page halted its release. The show has been available in different pirate configurations ever since. Its first official CD release occurred in the summer of 2000 when Mooreland Street Records issued a version. This particular CD also had an afternoon sound check of “Train Kept A-Rollin’” and “Dazed And Confused,” which were taken from an audience member’s recording. Critics instantly hailed the release as a major lost classic. Unfortunately, Jimmy Page had his lawyers issue a “cease and desist” order within weeks. Much has been made of why Page doesn’t want this album out. Funnily enough, he has said he thinks the group’s performance is substandard. Comparing said show to Led Zeppelin’s officially sanctioned mediocre live opus, THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME, begs the question: is he serious? In retrospect, Jim McCarty and Chris Dreja are quite content with the Anderson Theatre performance. Strangely, they insist the band played better gigs. If that’s true, one can’t begin to fathom what The Yardbirds sounded like on a good night. As it is, the performance in question is the best live show caught on tape in rock history. ‘nuff said. Jimmy Page ordered Epic to destroy the masters, parts and lacquers of the Anderson gig in 1977. Things get murky at this point. Files also show that all tapes were “returned to client” (whom the record company believed to be Jimmy Page, not The Yardbirds). Records are inconclusive as to whether this was actually done, though. As for the Columbia sessions recorded by the band in April 1968, that is also a complex story. Four of the songs were released on a compilation in the summer of 2000. Entitled CUMULAR LIMIT, the package of Jimmy Page-era material was issued by NMC. Fans were alternately elated and disappointed. The sessions had been a vague rumor for years. Once issued, copies of the album were snapped up quickly. The four songs satisfied expectations. Further, there was a version of “Dazed And Confused” (properly credited to Jake Holmes as arranged by The Yardbirds) from their appearance on French television in March 1968. As with all things Yardbirds, though, fans were left only half-satisfied. “Knowing That I’m Losing You” was nowhere to be found on CUMULAR LIMIT. Jim McCarty had hinted that it would be included on the compilation in an interview prior to the release. At the last minute, McCarty and Chris Dreja (who had participated in the project) instructed NMC not to include that particular song out of deference to Jimmy Page’s delicate sensibilities. Specifically, they didn’t want to upset their former guitarist by including a song he had made famous with Led Zeppelin. It made no difference. Page issued a legal challenge. The record company is no longer pressing copies of the album. McCarty, Dreja and Keith Relf’s widow, April, would like to see both albums re-released and have attempted to negotiate with The Yardbirds’ former guitarist, but to no avail. Issuing LIVE YARDBIRDS! FEATURING JIMMY PAGE along with all five songs from the last studio sessions would finally give the ’67-‘68 line-up its richly deserved desserts. Page has been unfairly blamed for the apparent shortcomings of the band’s recorded repertoire during his tenure. Let’s not forget that he shouldered the burden of playing sole guitar in a group that was designed for two guitarists. Ironically, Jimmy Page himself has contributed to his tenure’s lack of critical acclaim. By suppressing LIVE YARDBIRDS! FEATURING JIMMY PAGE and the songs from the final Columbia sessions (especially “Knowing That I’m Losing You”), he has kept some of the band’s finest work out of the hands of the public. It behooves Jimmy Page to . . . nay, it’s his responsibility to rehabilitate the reputation of his beloved Yardbirds. This is an open plea to him from fans all over the world to give his consent to releasing the material in dispute. In the meantime, what recordings do you need from the band’s final configuration? Try and track down LITTLE GAMES SESSIONS & MORE, LIVE YARDBIRDS! FEATURING JIMMY PAGE and CUMULAR LIMIT. Indeed, as far as albums go, LIVE YARDBIRDS! FEATURING JIMMY PAGE is the best platter the band ever recorded. Dynamically speaking, that is. While it’s a bit ragged in places, it still packs a potent punch that is matched by few albums in rock n roll history. Unfortunately, that album and CUMULAR LIMIT will be difficult to obtain at this point, what with the scarcity of said product due to legal scuffles. It will be well worth your time and efforts. That’s a promise. Happy hunting and Yardmerizing! All Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty, Jake Holmes and D.C. Cole quotes are from interviews conducted with the author. All Keith Relf quotes are from an interview conducted with William Stout. Stout bootlegged obscure Yardbirds material in the early ‘70s on a compilation called MORE GOLDEN EGGS. Relf agreed to sit for an interview, well aware of what Stout was doing. Consequently, Keith Relf was probably the first, if not the only, major rock star to participate in the packaging of a bootleg of his own material! Jimmy Page quotes are from interviews conducted by Dave Schulps and Nick Kent in the 1970s for various music magazines.