Over time, Five Live gained stature as one of the few high-quality live recordings of the era and as an historical document of both the British rock and roll boom of the 1960s and Clapton's time in the band. The resulting album of mostly American blues and R&B covers, Five Live Yardbirds, was released by Columbia nine months later, and it failed to enter the UK Albums Chart. Īfter the tours with Williamson, the Yardbirds signed to EMI's Columbia label in February 1964, and recorded more live tracks on 20 March at the legendary Marquee Club in London. The recordings would be released two years later during the height of Yardbird popularity on the album Sonny Boy Williamson and the Yardbirds. Under Gomelsky's guidance the Yardbirds toured Britain as the back-up band for blues legend Sonny Boy Williamson II in December 1963 and early 1964, recording live tracks on 8 December and other dates. Crawdaddy Club impresario Giorgio Gomelsky became their manager and first record producer. Original lead guitarist Topham left and was replaced by Eric Clapton in October 1963. Their repertoire drew from the Chicago blues of Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Williamson II, and Elmore James, including " Smokestack Lightning", " Good Morning Little School Girl", " Boom Boom", " I Wish You Would", " Rollin' and Tumblin'", "Got Love if You Want It", and " I'm a Man". The quintet achieved notice on the burgeoning British rhythm and blues scene when they took over as the house band at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, succeeding the Rolling Stones. He adds that Topham identified it as a nickname for jazz saxophonist Charlie "Yardbird" Parker. McCarty claims that Relf was the first to use the name he may have gotten it from Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road, where it referred to rail yard hobos. Following a couple of gigs in September 1963 as the Blue-Sounds, they changed their name to the Yardbirds. After being joined by Dreja, McCarty, and Top Topham, they performed at Kingston Art School in late May 1963 as a backup band for Cyril Davies. Relf and Samwell-Smith were originally in a band named the Metropolitan Blues Quartet. The band formed in the south-west London suburbs in 1963. History Beginnings and Clapton line-up (1963–1965) They were included at number 89 in Rolling Stone 's list of the " 100 Greatest Artists of All Time" and ranked number 37 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. Dreja left the band in 2012, leaving McCarty as the sole original member of the band in the present lineup. The Yardbirds re-formed in the 1990s, featuring McCarty and Dreja as the only original members. Following the band's split in 1968, Relf and McCarty formed Renaissance and guitarist Jimmy Page formed Led Zeppelin – the latter of which was initially intended as a direct successor to the Yardbirds. Some rock critics and historians also cite their influence on the later punk rock, progressive rock, and heavy metal trends. Originally a blues-based band noted for their signature "rave-up" instrumental breaks, the Yardbirds broadened their range into pop, pioneered psychedelic rock and early hard rock, and contributed to many electric guitar innovations of the mid-1960s. The band had a string of hits throughout the mid-1960s, including " For Your Love", " Heart Full of Soul", " Shapes of Things", and " Over Under Sideways Down". The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, all of whom ranked in the top five of Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 greatest guitarists. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja, and bassist/producer Paul Samwell-Smith. The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963.
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