WS: What did you think of The Pretty Things at the time? What did you think of their album S.F. SORROW? JM: I liked The Pretty Things. I saw them play at the Albert Hall and once had a drink with Viv Prince. I’m afraid S.F. SORROW passed me by at the time, but I like it now. WS: Did you feel any competition with the American bands or were they too far behind you at that point? Ever see The Byrds? JM: I remember when they came over on their first tour. I thought they were just copying Bob Dylan and playing 12 strings. No great shakes for me. They made some nice records. WS: At the time, were you aware so many of these American bands were imitating you? JM: Oh, yeah. Often we’d play with these support bands in America and they’d play all our songs! (laughs) That was really frustrating. We’d have to go on and play the same songs. And all those records by bands like The Count V, all these garage bands, they sounded like us. WS: That must have been frustrating. The Count V’s "Psychotic Reaction" came out soon after "Happenings" . . . JM: And it was a big hit! (laughs) WS: And it was actually kind of retro, because it’s what you guys sounded like a year earlier! JM: I know! Really weird. I suppose it was quite nice, very flattering. All these bands were playing like us. WS: These support bands that opened for you, using your material, did you ever take the stage and show them who those songs really belonged to? JM: Yeah. We played with this German band not too long ago. They were these young guys and they had that 60s look. And they played "I Ain’t Done Wrong"! Just like the old days. Our opening band was playing our material! (laughs) WS: Speaking of young bands, there’s this great Swedish band right now that are influenced by you guys. They’re my favorite new band. They’re called The Strollers. They named themselves after your song, "Stroll On"! The more things change, the more they stay the same; you had bands like The Nazz naming themselves after your songs 35 years ago and here it is 2001 and it’s still happening. JM: Funny thing is I was in a band called The Strollers back in school! (laughs) WS: Was there really this Swinging London we’ve been led to believe after the fact? JM: Like in THE SPY THAT SHAGGED ME and that? (laughs) WS: Exactly. JM: I usedto buy stuff in Granny Takes A Trip. It was better than Carnaby Street. Carnaby Street was a bit naff. Granny and Dandy were really good. Dandy had those jackets with the big collars. Sort of an Edwardian jacket. I remember going in there one time and The Beatles came walking in to pick up some jackets. They had just made SERGEANT PEPPER’S. We used to speak to them at this club called the Speakeasy. We’d all hang out, having a drink with Keith Moon and Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon. That was actually a bit psychedelic itself. But we’d stay at home and get stoned before going out around midnight. Then go out to the club and see a band or hang out with people from other bands. Or maybe try and pull a chick! (laughs) And come home at five or six in the morning. WS: Did you have any troubles pulling birds? Especially since you were a Yardbird! JM: I didn’t have much trouble, even though I was a bit modest about telling people I was in a band. I remember I was in Hollywood one time and I went to see a film. I had these really weird shoes on. I’d had them made in Camden Town. They were sort of Indian shoes. They were in this double color, leather two-tone. I was standing and waiting to get the tickets. And this guy came up to me and said "Wow, man. Those are cool shoes. You’re a cool dude. I bet you’re in a band like The Seeds." (laughs) And I said, "No, I’m in The Yardbirds." And he nearly fell down fainting! (laughs loud) I was a bit modest and a bit shy about all that. WS: Chris, tell me about the break-up and the subsequent role you had during Zeppelin’s formation. CD: Basically Jim and Keith left the band. They informed us during the American tour that that was it for them. In fact that was one of our best tours because you knew where you were going. Where you were going was ending the band, so it was a bit of a relief. It took the pressure off. We were able to relax and have a bit more fun. And it showed in our playing. By that time I had been through enough with everybody else that it was nice to be able to wake up and not rely upon anybody else, especially three or four other people who were not necessarily going in the same direction. I made the decision that I was going to move into photography, which had always been a passion of mine. I stayed friends with Jimmy and Peter Grant for some years. I wasn’t intending to carry on playing unless it was with The Yardbirds. But I think they wanted my opinion and wanted me to accompany them to see Bonham and Plant for their first audition. I didn’t have an intention to carry on playing, like I’ve said. I had by that time made the very conscious decision that I was going to wake up in the morning and whatever I did was going to be my own responsibility. WS: Please clear up the confusion over the name Yardbirds and whether Jimmy ended up with the rights to the name. CD: The reality of it was that Jim and Keith informed us they were going to leave The Yardbirds. There were some outstanding contracts to fulfill (ed. note: a Scandinavian tour in September, 1968). After coming back from that American tour there was going to be no more Yardbirds. Jimmy started putting together the players who became Zeppelin. Those dates were available. Jimmy had only been in the band for a year or so. I’d had enough. It seemed unreasonable to try to piece something together again, with all the changes we’d had, to continue as The Yardbirds. I do remember through my own lawyer just reminding Peter (Grant) that I had in no way given up moral rights to the name itself whether I was a photographer or a dentist or whatever. I certainly didn’t hand it over to Jimmy Page. On the other hand, I stayed friends with Jimmy and saw Led Zeppelin play several times. There is no acrimony on that score. I was just concerned at the time about them using the name The New Yardbirds. I thought that was wrong. I wasn’t going to give up any moral rights to my status and what the band was. And through my lawyer I informed them of that. It was nothing heavy, but it’s interesting that they became Led Zeppelin fairly quickly. (laughs) And whether that was coincidence, I don’t know. By this time I’d gone into photography and a completely new life. I had no intention to carry on as a musician after the death of The Yardbirds. But I was obviously concerned and I wasn’t going to hand it over to complete strangers. WS: As always, thanks for your time. I hope these questions were a little bit more interesting to you. JM: Thank you. CD: Thanks, Will. For more information on Jimmy Page’s tenure with The Yardbirds, please visit: http://www.furious.com/perfect/jimmypage.html For readers interested in purchasing Jorgen Angel’s Yardbirds photos, please visit: www.angel.dk
Puncturing A Balloon: The Final Nail In A Myth
By Will Shade
For years, rock critics and fans believed that after the dissolution of The Yardbirds, Jimmy Page’s new group began life as The New Yardbirds. In interviews, Page and Robert Plant still refer to the latter name. However, this isn’t accurate by a long shot. The real Yardbirds were scheduled to gig throughout Scandinavia in the autumn of 1968. However, they broke up in July of said year. Page quickly put together a new unit to take advantage of the bookings. All ads from that tour bill the band as “The Yardbirds” or “The Yardbirds with Jimmy Page.” The group was never called “The New Yardbirds.” “We would not have contracted them under that name,” Uve Hahn said, who was in charge of booking bands at Gröna Lund in Stockholm at the time (he was still working there in the summer of 2001). Page’s counterfeit Yardbirds played that particular venue twice in the fall of 1968. Both times they were billed as “The Yardbirds.” A week after their first appearance in Stockholm, the unit journeyed to Knivsta, Sweden to play at Ängby Park on Saturday, September 14. Ugly Things readers are the first to ever glimpse the accompanying page of a guest book from the Knivsta show. Not only is the band obviously using the moniker “Yardbirds,” they are more than happy to affix their signatures next to the accompanying advertisement and newspaper story. The new unit was such an unknown entity that the writer mistakes Page’s bowing technique for actually playing a violin. Hyperbole comes into play when portraying Plant as a well-known figure in British blues circles when in actuality he was still a nobody. And of course, the journalist has absolutely no idea who the members in the group are as the last line makes apparent. Interestingly, the piece mentions that John Bonham had been playing with Tim Rose. In the early ‘60s, Rose had fronted a trio called Tim Rose & The Thorns. Jake Holmes had been a member of that particular band. Page and his new cohorts would soon make a name for themselves on the back of one of Holmes’ songs. As the story also reveals, the media was quite aware this wasn’t the actual Yardbirds. Local fans knew it, too. “I had seen The Yardbirds a year or two before,” Lennart Olsson of Uppsala said. “I was planning to see them in 1968, but then I heard it wasn’t the actual band. I didn’t bother to see the new group.” Indeed, records from Knivsta are quite telling. Ängby Park’s 1968 season had witnessed several famous bands. Bill Haley & His Comets drew the largest crowd with 2,567 visiting the outdoor park. Paul Jones had drawn an audience of 1,473 while 1,113 saw Traffic. Svensk pop sensation Tages brought out 1,304. Even with the locally popular Kenneth Staags dance band featuring crooner Hayati Kafe opening, Jimmy Page’s faux Yardbirds drew only 692 people for their chilly September performance. Further, the promoters paid their entertainers 11,646.75 kroner, but only made 8,972.54 from entrance fees. Luckily, after selling sausages and lotto tickets, Ängby Park was able to net a grand total of 2670.21 kroner. “The Yardbirds” would not be invited back the following season. An ignoble last gasp for a glorious name, eh? Regardless, Jimmy Page and Co. returned to England and soon changed their name to Led Zeppelin. The rest of that story is well documented and of little interest to Ugly Things readers.
