Description
The Yardbirds recorded several live sessions for the BBC between 1965 and 1968, following Eric Clapton’s departure from the band. These recordings have previously been released on bootlegs and small independent labels but Warner Archives’ The Yardbirds BBC Sessions marks the first big-budget, official release of the material. The disc contains 26 tracks — 20 featuring Jeff Beck, six featuring Jimmy Page — which is slightly less than some editions of this same material, but that won’t matter to anyone but completists since the gist is the same: the Yardbirds were a tough live band that essentially recreated its studio recordings on the BBC stage. There are slight differences in the guitar solos but the songs are so short, neither Beck or Page have the opportunity to completely tear loose. Nevertheless, hardcore Yardbirds fans will relish the few rarities here, which mainly are covers the band never recorded in the studio: “Dust My Broom,” “Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine),” “My Baby” and “The Sun is Shining.”
