Cheap Birdland (Music) (Yardbirds) Price
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| ARTIST: | Yardbirds |
| CATEGORY: | Music |
| MANUFACTURER: | Favored Nations |
| TYPE: | Pop, Rock |
| MEDIA: | Audio CD |
| TRACKS: | I'm Not Talking, Crying Out For Love, The Naz Are Blue, For Your Love, Please Don't Tell Me 'Bout The Newa, Train Kept A Rollin', Mr. Sabotuer, Shapes Of Things, My Blind Life, Over, Under, Sideways, Down, Mr. Your're A Better Man Than I, Mystery Of Being, Dream Within A Dream, Happenings Ten Years Time Ago, An Original Man (A Song For Keith) |
| UPC: | 690897228023 |
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Customer Reviews of Birdland
No Eric, no Jimmy, very little Jeff, get it anyway!!! In the Yardbirds first new disc in 30+ years, fabled guitarists Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page are nowhere to be found, and Jeff Beck only plays on one cut ("My Blind Love"). Still, this is a very worthwhile effort. If you've read Alan Clayson's excellent biography ("The Yardbirds: The Band That Launched Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page."), then you realize that drummer Jim McCarty and bass/guitarist Chris Dreja were far more instrumental to the band's sound that they are usually given credit. They form the nucleus of the new Yardbirds, along with guitarist Gypie Mayo (fine solos throughout), bass player and Keith Relf-sound alike singer John Idan (exceptional on "Mister, You're a Better Man Than I"), and harmonica man Alan Glen (whose delightful solos are an unexpected plus). Throw in a few guest guitarists like Skunk Baxter, Joe Satriani, and Steve Vai and the result is an appealing blend of timeless classics and excellent new material. Standouts of the new songs are McCarty compositons "Please Don't Tell Me 'Bout the News" and "Dream Within a Dream". Finally, those old chestnuts, Mose Allison's "I'm Not Talking," and the Steve-Vai-led "Shapes of Things" sound brighter than ever. Listen, please don't fall into the trap of "Eric-and-Jimmy-and-Keith-aren't-on-this-record-so-it-can't-be-any-good." Give this disc a serious listen or two and I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Box of Frogs Rides Again
Don't get me wrong. This is an enjoyable CD, and one that all Yardbirds fans should own. However, if I have a beef, it is with its marketing.
This isn't the first Yardbirds album in 30 some years. It is, when you get right down to it, the first Box of Frogs album since 1986. Let me explain. 1984 saw the release of "Box of Frogs" on Epic Records - a band that included Yardbirds' drummer Jim McCarty, Yardbirds' rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja and Yardbirds' Bassist Paul Samwell-Smith. Jeff Beck guest-starred as lead guitar on four tracks. It was a solid electric blues album that got little publicity and no airplay. More's the pity. If you don't have it, get it.
A 1986 follow-up album got even less attention.
Cut to 17 years later. McCarty and Dreja had obviously learned their lessons. Ex-Yardbirds minus the group name didn't generate much buzz. So now we have "The Yardbirds" (McCarty and Dreja minus Samwell-Smith) regrouping in a CD that includes remakes of numerous old Yardbird numbers plus seven new songs by Dreja or McCarty. This time out we have Jeff Beck guesting on one song and a mix of other guest stars (including Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Slash.)
The good news is that the remakes are no worse than the originals, and in a couple of cases may out-dazzle the originals. The bad news is that the original Yardbirds were so perfect in their Top 40 rock-blues pop hits that re-recording them is almost pointless.
As for the new numbers by McCarty and Dreja, they are solid rock-blues songs that I'm glad to hear. But they aren't *really* Yardbirds songs - at least not any more than the Box of Frogs' numbers were.
The one and only time I saw the Yardbirds live was in a low-rent suburban Chicago teen club in 1968 on their final U.S. tour. Vocalist Keith Relf had had dental surgery earlier in the day and was out of action. The other band members stood in for him by singing the songs from lyric sheets, and Jimmie Page contributed some blistering guitar-work. Their velvet rockstar shirts were worn thin and the band seemed to be superstars on a sad, diminished final tour. It was a bitter-sweet moment of faded glory.
This CD beats that moment. It rocks. But let's be real. The Yardbirds we loved disappeared after "Little Games" and this CD is the classic Yardbirds rhythm section filled out with some solid players and guest stars. I'm not talking, that's what I got to say, If I said things were splendid, someone might be offended.
Gloriously odd...
So what's this then? Two members of a long defunct group re-recording its back-catalogue without the original lead singer or any of its three "superstar" lead guitarists? Well not quite... rather a glorious re-interpretation of eight classic Yardbirds songs coupled with seven new numbers that are completely in-sync with them. The end result? Well if this was 1968 you'd be listening to what would be the Yardbirds' best album by a long way and one almost certainly destined for "cult" status. But it's 2003 and you're listening to something rather different - a carefully crafted and wholly effective recreation of everything that made the Yardbirds what they were, dropped into some sort of bizarre time-warp. Look on it as a brilliant tribute album and things get a bit easier but... safer to forget any sensible analysis and simply revel in the wonderful music on offer.