Yardbirds "Think About It"

When Jeff Beck made his final departure from the Yardbirds, there didn’t seem to be much discussion about the future of the band. They were back in the studio three weeks later and then back to the US for more tour dates. 1967 should have been a big year for the Yardbirds. The West Coast was exploding with music, much of it influenced by the innovative sounds the Yardbirds had produced over the previous two years. Sadly they were eclipsed by these very same bands, and the new crop of British bands like Traffic, Cream, The Who and certainly Jimi Hendrix.

Jimmy Page suggests they bring in bit maker Micky Most to handle production. Most had done well for the Donovan, The Animals and Herman’s Hermits. The band had already attempted to record You Stole My Love with Paul Samwell-Smith at the helm. He wasn’t pleased to learn he’d be rerecording a song he’d already produced for the Mocking Birds. We wouldn’t hear the results until it appeared on the Little Games Sessions and then the short lived Cumular Limits.  

Little Games/Puzzles
Epic 5-19156 April 3, 1967

The Yardbirds first effort with Most was a fair size hit and not a half bad song. Little Games had a lot going for it; an aggressive beat, and interesting arrangement and some meaty guitar. Just months after Happenings Ten Years Time Ago, it seemed a serious step backwards. This was the only one of the last four singles they’d play live when I saw them. Live version can be heard on the BBC Sessions and the Stockholm broadcast. The B-side was a very good original powered by Page on 12 string guitar. It’s a shame Puzzles wasn’t added to the Little Games album. It might have helped.

Ha Ha Said The Clown/Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor
Epic 5-10204 July 17, 1967

Non- stop touring was the order of the day in 1967. Another single was released early in July. The Tony Hazzard tune, Ha Ha Said The Clown had been released as a single by Manfred Mann, who enjoyed chart action in the UK and Europe with it. I suppose Micky Most figured it hadn’t been heard in the US so why not give it to the Yardbirds. This novelty number might have suited Manfred Mann, but it didn’t help the Yardbirds declining stock. This time we didn’t even get a unique killer B-side. Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor would appear on the Little Games album three weeks later.  I do remember hearing Ha Ha Said The Clown as we drove up to SF to see the Yardbirds at the Fillmore. Needless to say, they didn’t play it that night.

Once again, the four piece Yardbirds played a fab show to a large enthusiastic audience. Richie Havens and James Cotton were also on the bill. Cotton with his authentic Chicago blues band made a strong impression. He had Sam Lay and Luther Tucker in his band that night. The real deal. The Yardbirds set was made up of the hits with several songs from Little Games added. The title track, White Summer, Drinking Muddy Water and Smile On Me were performed with plenty of enthusiasm.

Much has been said about the Little Games album good and bad. It’s been repackaged several times now. A mono release is being prepared for release as we speak.  In reality, the album suffered from extreme neglect on the part of the producer and the record labels. There are some good songs to be found. The only real dog is a cover of the old jug band number Stealing, Stealing. Smile On Me and the heavy psych piece Glimpses are standouts. The alternate version of the latter on the Little Games Sessions and More double CD is stunning. The rushed nature of the recording sessions and the brutal rough mixes left the album sounding flat. Not a good thing in a time when the album was the format to display your art. The shoddy cover didn’t help much either. EMI didn’t feel the need to release the album in the UK. Most of the material was remixed for the Sessions album, and a few other bits and pieces were gathered up to fill out two CDs. This rehabilitation has at least given the album a bit better sonic appeal. Serious fans will want to seek out the now out of print Cumular Limits which add a few more fragments from the final sessions. Sadly, no lost gems are to be found, it’s just the last efforts of a band whose time has run out.

Yardbirds - Happenings Ten Years Time Ago Live 1967

Taking a look at the landscape of that famous summer, it’s pretty clear that the Yardbirds are no longer considered the cutting edge. Montery Pop had taken place just a few weeks prior to this Fillmore gig. The only “old school” British Invasion band to perform at that historic event was Eric Burdon’s new Psychedelic Animals. In one weekend Hendrix and The Who had changed the game. Cream had also been invited to perform, but Robert Stigwood didn’t think it that important. There was no doubting Page’s musical abilities, but the Yardbird’s rhythm section was looking a little long in the tooth in the face of Keith Moon, Mitch Mitchell and Jack Cassidy.



Ten Little Indians/Drinking Muddy Water
Epic 5-10248 October 16, 1967



Jimmy Page has said how much he disliked their next single. A song by Harry Nilsson looks like a good idea on paper, but the nursery rhyme lyrics of Ten Little Indians didn’t impress the band. Page made the most of it, layering bowed guitars and backwards echo. EMI didn’t bother releasing this one in the UK either.  The B-side was again taken from the Little Game album.

Goodnight Sweet Josephine/Think About It
Epic 5-10303 April 1, 1968

1968 saw the Yardbirds back in the US for another two and a half months of touring. One more single was recorded before the band hit the road. Another Tony Hazzard tune was selected, Goodnight Sweet Josephine. The results of the first attempt were not satisfactory, so Page went back and cut a new track with session musicians. The song was a lot like Ha Ha Said The Clown, only not as good. It’s the B-side that caused a stir. Think About It was classic Yardbirds and a hint of things to come.

Yardbirds - Think About It Live 1968

Yardbirds Fillmore Auditorium
May 1968

By the time the band left for what would be their last tour, Keith Relf and Jim McCarty had decided they wanted to move on to something different. Page knew exactly what he was going to do next. The show I saw in May 1968 was a blueprint for Led Zeppelin. Sadly the Live At The Anderson Theater album shows you very little of what was heard in the spring of 1968.  Dazed And Confused was a feature as were two long pieces which included Waiting For The Man, Hey Gyp, How Many More Years and Smokestack Lightning. When Page returned with Led Zep seven months later, it was a very similar set, with a version of For Your Love dedicated to Keith Relf.

Historical note:  The Jeff Beck Group made their famous Fillmore debut just a couple of weeks later.

Denny Laine's Electric String Band

I don't remember where I first read about Denny Laine's Electric String Band. It could have been in Rave. The concept was unique at the time. Former Moody Blues singer fronts a group with an amplified string section. Viv Prince was in the band for the first few months. Trevor Burton is often listed as a member, but this doesn’t seem to be the case. You can imagine I was excited to find a Top Gear Session on a friend's tape trade list. The aircheck Roy had is missing Say You Don’t Mind the most famous of the four single tracks. Say You Don’t Mind was featured on Colin Blunstone’s debut, Year One. I’d seen Blunstone on his US tour promoting that album. We were treated to a lovely version of Say You Don’t Mind in that short set.

In 1975 I returned to London, staying in Putney with my tape trading friend, Roy Wilbraham. He was a great host, and guide. I also met up with Andrew Lauder from UA records. Between the two, I was taken around to some of the best record sellers in London. I don't remember if I scored the two Denny Laine singles on this trip or one of the subsequent record buying excursions. It looks like I paid £3 for the 1969 reissue of the 1967 debut release Say You Don’t Mind/Ask The People ( Deram DM 227). I picked up a promo copy of Too Much In Love/Catherine Wheel (Deram DM 171) from the same dealer for another £3.

The penultimate Moody Blues single featuring Denny Laine, Boulavard de la Madelaine/This Is My House hinted at what his solo career might offer. Not surprising Denny Cordell is the producer for both of these projects. Denny’s own version of Say You Don’t Mind is a jaunty affair. The string arrangement is tasteful and sympathetic to the song. A great vocal from Denny, hitting the high notes and his acoustic guitar is right up front. It might seem a little raucous to those familiar with the Colin Blunstone version.

The flip side, Ask The People is just as good. This one wouldn’t have been out of place on the first Move album, another Cordell production.

The second single was released in January 1968. Too Much In Love reminds me of Donovan’s psychedelic sounds. It’s the B-side that really stands out and maybe suggests what the Electric String Band might have sounded like live. Catherine’s Wheel is a powerful rocker with the strings a muscular compliment. One would think Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne were well aware of Denny and his new band, being another Brummie. Apparently the failure of this single was one of the reasons for the band splitting before an album could be attempted.

It seems that they were regulars on the touring circuit. The question is, what happened? Why no album? There was clearly plenty of material. Besides the two singles the band performed six other numbers on their two Peel sessions: Why Did You Come, Guilty Mind, Machine Song, Masks, the folk standard Sally Free And Easy and the Tim Hardin classic Reason To Believe.

A version of Why Did You Come was recorded for release, but it never appeared. One story suggests the tape was lost in the mail. The likely story is that Denny Cordell wasn’t happy with the results. This John Peel session features the lineup which included Andy Leigh on bass and Peter Trout on drums. In the end, the band only lasted for just a little more than a year. The few recordings that exist show a man with a very good idea, and some great songs to back it up.

Denny Laine And The Electric String Band "Why Did You Come"