THE YARDBIRDS: Before There Was A Zeppelin
Probably no other band shaped rock ’n’ roll as-we-know-it in the way the Yardbirds did. The band’s contemporaries—and remember, in 1963, when the Yardbirds formed, “contemporaries” meant the likes of the Beatles, Stones, Who and Kinks—for the most part, they’ve all received the credit due them.
THE YARDBIRDS: Before There Was A Zeppelin
Dave DiMartino
Probably no other band shaped rock ’n’ roll as-we-know-it in the way the Yardbirds did. The band’s contemporaries—and remember, in 1963, when the Yardbirds formed, “contemporaries” meant the likes of the Beatles, Stones, Who and Kinks—for the most part, they’ve all received the credit due them. And the Yardbirds... well, they’ve sort of faded from the picture, these days. Historical artifacts and all that. Nice, but not particularly memorable.
Think about it. Beatle albums? Stones albums? Who albums? You want ’em? Go to the record store and buy ’em, friend, because they’re all still in print, even the ones almost 20 years old. Not all the Kinks albums, true, but then that’s another sad story entirely. Just consider this: in 1980, a measly two Yardbirds albums are available in this country—both reissues, and botched reissues at that. Two albums, and someone at Epic Records even managed to stick the same song (“I’m A Man”) on both of them.
Somehow, it figures.
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