When the Rolling Stones left their residency at Richmond’s Crawdaddy Club their departure opened the door for another hugely influential band to step through.
The Yardbirds are perhaps best remembered for being the band who, despite only being together for five eventful years, could boast three of our major guitar gods as previous members. Not only that, they briefly had two of them in the band at the same time.
If you don’t know the story then this DVD, The Story Of The Yardbirds, has to be for you. However the film, originally released back in 1992, won’t tell die hard fans or admirers anything that they don’t already know but it will give them some valuable historical gems, rare footage, and an impressive list of interviewees to enjoy.
Post Crawdaddy, we all know what happened to The Stones. When The Yardbirds arrived in their place their brand of R & B signaled the start of a meteoric rise. It would take them through the best part of the sixties, hit single upon hit single, line up changes, swinging London, psychedelia, and on into the very foundations of heavy rock morphing, eventually of course, into Led Zeppelin.
The Yardbirds qualify for legendary status by virtue of the fact that Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page were all with the band at various times (they even had Beck and Page together briefly). The band mixed with anyone who was anyone in the pop/rock hierarchy of the sixties. Mickie Most produced their hit singles, Peter Grant managed them, and they even appeared in Michelangelo Antonioni's cult swinging sixties film, Blow Up in 1966.
Inevitably there were departures, disagreements over direction, lows, and probably many highs along the road. This film, lasting little over 52 minutes, explores their history from 1963 to when it all fell apart in 1968.
Much of the story is told through interviews with many of the main players. Instinctively you know that there is a lot more to the story, but the DVD makes for a fascinating historical trip all the same.
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