Any time you get a chance to see The Yardbirds, it’s a treat. The seminal band from the 1960s, although it has only one original member, drummer Jim McCarty, has support musicians so good you’ll think it’s the original lineup. Their renditions of “Heart Full Of Soul,” “Shapes Of Things,” “I’m A Man,” and their other hits are top-notch.
Over the years, I’ve seen The Yardbirds in various iterations. But what’s different on this tour is that McCarty talks to the audience between songs about the history of the group – and its place in history.
The Yardbirds were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1992 for a reason. Many music critics say they invented the “psychedelic blues” era. After all, Eric Clapton left the band to form Cream, and Jimmy Page left later to form Led Zeppelin (yes both guitarists were in The Yardbirds at various times). And Jeff Beck – he needs no explanation – was a staple in The Yardbirds for years.
McCarty’s stories about these three guitar virtuosos, plus other early-band tidbits, are rare, amusing and enlightening. Following are edited excerpts from some of McCarty’s musings at Rams Head On Stage in Annapolis, Maryland, this past week.
On Eric Clapton Joining/Leaving:
“Eric showed up at rehearsal a bit cocky, sort of a showoff, had the latest Ivy League crewcut, and his clothes were smart. At first, I didn’t really like him. I thought, “He’s a bit of a bighead, this guy.” After awhile, when we got to know each other, it turned out he was a good lad, so we went with him [as replacement guitarist for Top Topham, who had left to pursue art].
“We used to go see The Rolling Stones at the nearby Crawdaddy Club. They were very popular playing blues music – Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf. We’d never heard stuff like that. In England, it wasn’t on the radio, and you could only buy it in a few record shops in London. They had that Beatles song “I Wanna Be Your Man,” which turned out to be a hit, so they went on [to bigger things] and we became the house band at Crawdaddy.
“But we didn’t have a hit. We were looking for a bluesy tune, and nothing seemed to work. Then we came upon a demo song called “For Your Love,” written by this young kid, Graham Gouldman. It was different, moody and in a minor key. We added a harpsichord, unusual at the time, and released it.
“When it became a hit, Eric got unhappy, felt we were selling out as a pop band. At shows, he’d sit in the corner, sulking. When he decided to leave, I was a bit relieved. It was really stressful with him in the group at that point.”
On Jeff Beck Joining:
“So we needed a guitarist, and asked Jimmy Page, a well-known session guy on lots of people’s records – Petula Clark, Gene Pitney. He was getting good money then, and said no. But he suggested his understudy, Jeff Beck [laughter]. We’d never heard of him, so we had him come for an audition.
“Jeff was totally different from Eric. He didn’t care what he looked like, didn’t bother about his clothes. And he had greasy hands, and long greasy hair. He’d been working on his car or something. He had to go get his hair cut and such [laughs]. But he was a great player, did imaginative things that were really out there with all of his electronic gizmos like fuzz boxes. When he joined, we worked well together. He gave the band that way-out, psychedelic thing. Eighty percent of that was Jeff.”
On Jeff Beck Leaving:
“During a tour in America [in the latter stages of the band], Jeff got mad as he didn’t really approve of it. After a show one night in Corpus Christi, Texas, he was really stressed out, lost his temper completely and smashed his Les Paul to bits, then left to be with his girlfriend in California. It was sort of a “Spinal Tap” moment. We were stuck in the middle of Texas on this horrific tour [laughs]. But we carried on, and Jimmy Page [who had finally joined the band when bassist Paul Samwell-Smith left] moved to lead guitar. We got to the end of the tour, did pretty well actually.
“When we went back to England, there was a meeting where we sacked Jeff. He had something to say about it at the [Rock And Roll] Hall of Fame ceremony 26 years later [laughs]. During those 26 years, I’d go to parties with him, and we had lots of laughs, but he never said anything about [losing his job]. Jeff was the sort of guy who kept it inside, and expressed himself in his wonderful guitar playing. We went on as a foursome, but without Jeff and Paul it was hard because they had been very creative.”
As you can see, the recollections of McCarty are priceless. And these are only a small snippets of what he said. Fascinating, too, is how the group morphed into Led Zeppelin with Page after having originally been called The New Yardbirds. Go see these guys. They are on tour now in the U.S. You won’t be disappointed, and you’ll learn a lot about music history from McCarty.