There is plenty of period footage of the London, and later San Francisco, scenes. There is some grainy film of the band playing live in concert complete with screaming and sometimes naked girl fans. There are plenty of television appearances taken from Belgian, German, French, UK, and US shows. There is even rare film of them playing live at the Richmond Jazz & Blues Festival in 1965.
A 'rocumentary' like this would not be complete, of course, without hearing it from those who lived in the eye of the storm. Chris Dreja tells of how Eric Clapton joined having been approached by Keith Relf. Of how the group struggled to move their live sound onto vinyl. He tells of why Clapton left just as the band broke with their single “For Your Love”. Then he takes us back to, Yardbirds HQ, The Ship pub near London’s legendary Marquee in Oxford Street.
Jim McCarty takes us through Jeff Beck’s arrival and how the band had thought of Jimmy Page at that point only to find that he was such a busy session player they couldn’t get him. He also takes us back to The Crawdaddy where it all effectively began and tells us of the excitement of visiting the alien planet of America at the time.
Eric Clapton provides more insights and his views on his replacement Jeff Beck. Paul Samwell-Smith, who also jumped ship, appears, as does producer Mickie Most, who died in 2003, and first manager Giorgio Gomelski. Jeff Beck chats easily to the camera proving that he would be fascinating and enjoyable company with plenty of stories to tell.
Most revealing are his views on film director Antonioni. Accompanying footage shows Beck being asked to smash his guitar, Pete Townshend style in the film. He also tells of the eventful evening Jimmy Page came to see the band with a view to joining.
Jimmy Page also appears, as does the late Peter Grant who took on the management of The Yardbirds. Separately, and all too briefly, they tell of how it evolved, after the old band fell apart, through the New Yardbirds and on into Led Zeppelin.
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