#355 - The Yardbirds - Having a Rave Up (1965)

MUSIC HISTORY COMPILED BY BEN AUSTIN-DOCAMPO:

From Allmusic

Of the bands that rose from British blues and R&B scene of the 1960s, few were as influential and stylistically adventurous as the Yardbirds. The group started out as blues purists, but with time they blazed trails in experimental pop, psychedelia, and hard rock, as well as introducing three of the most celebrated British guitarists of the era: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. They pioneered what they called the "rave-up," enhancing their songs by adding intense, high-energy instrumental passages with frantic guitar and harmonica soloing, and while their recorded legacy was not especially large, few if any of their peers could match them for both power and originality. 

The powerful and visionary band that would become the Yardbirds started out humbly in the suburbs of London in 1963. Vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf and bassist Paul Samwell-Smith had been playing in a combo called the Metropolis Blues Quartet, and were looking for a more interesting lineup. They began working with lead guitarist Anthony "Top" Topham, rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja, and drummer Jim McCarty, and were soon gigging as a backing band for U.K. blues artist Cyril Davies. 

After breaking off on their own, the group played briefly under the name the Blue-Sounds before Topham suggested calling themselves the Yardbirds, inspired by the nickname given to American jazz icon Charlie Parker. The Yardbirds had started making the rounds of London blues clubs when Topham resigned after his family persuaded him to take a regular job. His replacement, Eric Clapton, knew Relf from art school and had previously played guitar with the Roosters and Casey Jones & the Engineers. With Clapton on lead, the Yardbirds landed a regular gig at the Crawdaddy Club, taking over a spot recently vacated by the Rolling Stones. 

Giorgio Gomelsky, a colorful character who had previously managed the Stones, took over management of the Yardbirds and got them a prime spot as backing band for Sonny Boy Williamson II as the American blues harp master toured the United Kingdom in late 1963 and early 1964. Williamson would famously say of his British accompanists, "These white boys want to play the blues in the worst way -- and they do,” but the tour was a tremendous learning experience for the band, and their live show became more powerful as they grew tighter and their rave-ups honed their instrumental interplay and use of dynamics.

Clapton quit the band when they moved away from their original commitment to Chicago blues. He suggested they hire his friend Jimmy Page, a strong blues player and a successful sessionman; Page turned down the gig, but introduced the Yardbirds to Jeff Beck, then playing with a group called the Tridents, and Beck proved to be the right man for the job, a masterful blues guitarist who also had a taste for experimentation and impressive technical skills. 

Having a Rave Up From Allmusic

In its original U.S. vinyl release, this album, comprised of several singles and B-sides plus excerpts off of Five Live Yardbirds, was one of the best LPs of the entire British Invasion, ranking on a par with the greatest mid-'60s work of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones; it was also just a step away from being a best-of the Yardbirds as well. No collection has ever outdone the sheer compactness and high quality of Having a Rave Up.