The Yardbirds: For Your Love (1965)
Clapton’s out, Beck is in, The Yardbirds rule.
Kronomyth 2: Beck in the saddle.
By the time The Yardbirds released their second album, Eric Clapton had already left the group, replaced by a young session guitarist named Jeff Beck on the recommendation of Jimmy Page. And there, in a nutshell, is the legend of The Yardbirds: a band that attracted not one, not two, but three of the greatest guitarists of its generation. Most of the material on For Your Love, the band’s first studio album, was recorded with Clapton. I mention this because the album doesn’t; there isn’t a single reference to slowhand in the liner notes, while Beck, who only plays on a few tracks, gets credit for the whole thing. That said, Beck makes his mark on I’m Not Talking and I Ain’t Done Wrong, introducing a richer and “dirtier” tone than Clapton that was unique for its time. The band’s second elpee is actually a mix of new material plus their first three singles: I Wish You Would, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (inexplicably referred to in the plural on this album, which makes it even creepier) and For Your Love. That last track, written by Graham Gouldman, proved to be the breaking point for Clapton, who was disillusioned with the band’s move toward psychedelic pop (bongos and harpsichord weren’t his scene). The rest of the record features some of the best English rhythm & blues of its time. The Beatles were artists, the Stones revisionists, and The Yardbirds were the best of the last “pure” R&B bands left standing. The band’s rhythm section was proper solid (Jim McCarty remains one of rock’s more underrated drummers), but it’s Keith Relf who remains the band’s focal point. His vocals, while not as distinctive as Mick Jagger or Van Morrison, are flexible, almost protean, and often embellished with passionate harp playing. Relf’s flexibility suits the band’s musical approach, which shifts convincingly from Chicago blues (I Ain’t Got You) to Motown (Sweet Music). The English R&B scene produced few bands as talented as The Yardbirds and few albums that captured the younger generation’s reverence for rhythm and blues as honestly and clearly as For Your Love. Subsequent albums by The Yardbirds were more ambitious, so you may want to start there. At some point, however, you should give For Your Love a listen, especially if your love of England’s R&B scene is more than passing fancy.
Original elpee version
A1. For Your Love (Graham Gouldman)
A2. I’m Not Talking (Mose Allison)
A3. Putty (In Your Hands) (Kay Rogers/John Patton)
A4. I Ain’t Got You (Calvin Carter)
A5. Got to Hurry (Oscar Rasputin)
A6. I Ain’t Done Wrong (Keith Relf)
B1. I Wish You Would (Billy Boy Arnold)
B2. A Certain Girl (Naomi Neville)
B3. Sweet Music (Major Lance/Otis Leavill Cobb/Walter Bowie)
B4. Good Morning Little Schoolgirls (H.G. Demarais)
B5. My Girl Sloopy (Bert Russell/Wes Farrell)
The Players
Jeff Beck (lead guitar, violin, electric saw), Eric Clapton (lead guitar), Chris Dreja (rhythm guitar, maracas, foot), Jim McCarty (drums, triangle, beer cans and bath stoppers), Keith Relf (vocals, harmonica, tambourine and mike stand), Paul “Sam” Samwell-Smith (bass guitar and baffoon, musical director). Produced by Giorgio Gomelsky except B3 by Manfred Mann.
The Plastic
Released on mono and stereo elpee in June 1965 in the US (Epic, LN 24167/BN 26167). Reached #96 on the US charts.
- Re-issued on elpee in Japan (Seven Seas, K22P-382).
- Re-issued on elpee in 1982 in Germany (Outline, OLLP 5232 AS).
