The Yardbirds: The Most Blueswailing Futuristic Way-Out Heavy Beat Sound

Stanfield (Dirty Real: Exile on Hollywood and Vine with the Gin Mill Cowboys) explores the times and career of the British band the Yardbirds (1963–68). Tapping little-used material from dozens of contemporary music magazines, he begins with fascinating chapters about the emergence of American blues in Britain during the ’60s, through British blues aficionados such as Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies and its popularization by young enthusiasts like the Rolling Stones. After providing a context for the British blues explosion, Stanfield concentrates on the Yardbird, which featured singer Keith Relf, bassist Paul Samwell-Smith, rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja, drummer Jim McCarty, and, most notably, guitarist Eric Clapton. Stanfield traces the band’s evolution from a blues-wailing unit to their foray into psychedelia and then to a more experimental sound after the departure of Clapton and the addition of guitarists Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Stanfield also covers other British bands, including the pop-arty Who, the Move, and Pink Floyd, as well as the careers of Clapton with Cream, Jeff Beck with Rod Stewart, and Jimmy Page with Led Zeppelin.