Live Jimmy Page era Yardbirds Question

Outside of the BBC Sessions, Stockholm 67, French TV, and the Anderson Theater, are there any other quality live recordings of the Jimmy Page era Yardbirds available? I have heard some of LA and Santa Monica 68, and they are both fairly dreadful IMHO. I just discovered the Fillmore 68, and what I have heard so far sounds decent.

 

In regards to sound quality, no.

 

The only other pro recording is the 4 songs from German TV in 1967. There are a couple unreleased BBC tracks but they're duplicates of released songs.

 

Thanks for the confirmation, I kind of figured as much, but was not sure. It is a real shame there isn't more of this era of Yardbirds available. It is also too bad the band couldn't stay together for a longer time. They seemed to be going in a very interesting direction, covering Velvet Underground songs on their last tour.

 

The Fillmore '68 show is the best representation of what they sounded like that tour, with the long jam things. I saw them a different night of that stand. You do have to accept, this band was at it's end. Page already had the blueprint for LZ. He just needed new blood to carry it out. Keith Relf and the others were done. They had gone as far as they were going to go in that format. I saw LZ just a few months later when they came over in Jan 69. It was a huge leap, but the thread of continuity was there. I know we were all knocked out when we heard that first chord, knowing it was Train Kepta Rolling..

 

Fillmore '68 TAPE?

please, tell more.

 

Wow, that is great you got to see not only the Page era Yardbirds but very early LZ as well! Do you remember much about the Yardbirds show you saw? Did they cover any Velvet Underground songs?

 

I have a 2 CD release called "Cumular Limit" (NMC Records), which has some great live material from 1967 / 1968 and which basically is "early LZ" in every respect - anybody familiar with that release?

 

I have Cumular Limit. Been a while since I've played it but there's worthwhile stuff here.

From wiki---

Cumular Limit is an album of previously unreleased live and studio recordings by English blues rock band The Yardbirds released in 2000. It features alternate versions of recordings from Little Games (#1, 6-9), live-recordings from Offenbach, 16 March 1967 (#2-5) and France TV ("Bouton Rouge", 9 March 1968[1], #14) and previously unreleased material from New York (#10-13).

[edit] Track listing

CD 1

1. "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor" (Page, McCarty) [Alternate Version]
2. "Shapes of Things" (Samwell-Smith, Relf, McCarty)
3. "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" (Yardbirds)
4. "Over, Under, Sideways, Down" (Dreja, McCarty, Beck, Relf, Samwell-Smith)
5. "I'm a Man" (Ellas McDaniel)
6. "White Summer" (Page)[2] [Alternate Version]
7. "Ten Little Indians" (Harry Nillson)
8. "Glimpses" [Alternate Version]
9. "You Stole My Love" (Graham Gouldman)
10. "Avron Knows" (Relf, Page, McCarty, Dreja)
11. "Spanish Blood" (McCarthy)
12. "My Baby" (Mort Shuman, Jerry Ragovoy)
13. "Taking a Hold On Me" (Relf, McCarty, Dreja, Page)
14. "Dazed and Confused" (Jake Holmes arr. Yardbirds)
15. "De Lane Lea Lee" [hidden bonus track - alternate version]


CD 2

1. Shapes of Things (video)
2. Happenings Ten Years Time Ago (video)
3. I'm a Man (video)
4. Over Under Sideways Down (video)

 

Yes, I have this. It came out almost 10 years ago on the Pilot label and is now out-of-print. It is an interesting collection of unreleased studio material and live material. The unreleased song "Avron Knows" is one of the highlights. Apparently, the Yardbirds version of "Tangerine" was supposed to be on this release too, but it didn't make it on to the disc. I do not think Cumular Limit was a completely legitimate release, which may explain why it went out-of-print rather quickly.

 

It was completely legit, but the label simply folded after about 2 years of activity. They had quite a few other nice "finds" BTW.

YARDBIRDS ...WHERE THE ACTION IS! NMC 10

Is another of their releases with the BBC sessions and the Stockholm 67 sessions.

 

Live Yardbirds Featuring Jimmy Page

For an album that was released and quickly withdrawn, there sure are a lot of them around on Ebay.

 

The Yardbirds version of "Tangerine" has totally different words, and is titled "Knowing That I'm Losing You".

 

Unfortunately, many of those on eBay are pirated releases. I was actually going to start a thread on this. From my knowledge, there were two official releases of the album on vinyl, one on Epic and another on Columbia Special Products. Everything else appears to be pirated, including a recent release from Timeless in Europe.

As for the CD, it was officially released by Mooreland Street Records in 2000. Unfortunately, they were only able to release 1,000 of them before being forced to withdraw it. There are tons of pirated CDs of this floating around.

If ever there was an album in need of an official remaster, it is Live Yardbirds! Sadly, it seems like this will never happen.

 

it's a pity there aren't good recordings of them doing Train live. the few bootlegs I've heard are very poor in quality, still it doesn't hide the fact that they absolutely blitzed it.

 

For those who've never heard it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPh1r32TCMY

 

I saw the Yardbirds three times with Page. 66, 67, and 1968. The first time was one of the first gigs Page played lead, it was when Beck bailed and went back to LA. That was a great show, with a lot of songs from the new album and all the hits. The Stumble was the only odd song they played. The next two times were at the Fillmore. 67 was again heavy on the hits, with a lot of stuff from Little Games. They did play Most Likely You'll Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine. 68 was the most adventurous. Yeah, they play Waiting For The Man and How Many More Years... I remember two long medleys that included Hey Gyp and Smokestack Lightning. Daze And Confused stood out as it was new and so different. The tape from the Fillmore that is around is just one set, half of the show...The two sets the night I saw them in 68 was something like this... I took notes

First Set

1. Train Kepta Rolling
2. Mister Your A Better Man
3. Heart Full Of Soul
4. Dazed
5. Shapes Of Things
6. Smile On Me
7. Medley including Hey Gyp (and maybe I Wish You Would)
8. Over Under

Second Set

1. White Summer
2. Medley: Smokestack Lightning - How Many More Years
3. Waiting For My Man ?
4. My Baby
5. Drinking Muddy Water
6. Happenings Ten Years Time Ago
7. I'm a Man

The crowd was pretty thin at this gig, maybe just half full. It's A Beautiful Day and Cecil Taylor opened. That help at all?

 

And if they ever found the original tape (without the added fake cheering audience) it would be one of those holy-grail moments.

 

I don't think it was recorded very well in the first place. Page always claims they mic'd the wrong amp.

 

Excellent post. Thank you for sharing this detailed information. I certainly envy you being able to see the band undergo its final transformation. The last concert you attended sounds the most interesting. Some say the band had reached its terminal point by that juncture, but it sounds like they were on the verge of something very special. If only they could have kept it together a bit longer...

 

The version released by Mooreland Street Records did not contain the fake cheering. It sounded reasonably good given the limitations of the actual recording. The Mooreland version also featured two rough sounding songs from the sound check.

 

The Yardbirds played our college in April '68 and the setlist is similar to what is on the Live Yardbirds album. It was an incredible but short show. They were six hours late getting to the campus so there were possibly 200 people waiting for them to play. I remember a few of the hits (Shapes of Things, I'm a Man, Smokestack, Mr. You're a Better Man Than I Am) and Page playing his Telecaster with the violin bow during White Summer. Here's a scan of them performing that was from a college yearbook:

 

I saw them two times once at The San Jose Civic in 66 and then again in 68 in Concord Ca, when my band played as the opener for them with The Flamin Groovies & Linn County. I met all the band members. Keith Relf was stoned out of his mind on LSD. Jimmy Page had three women in tow and Dreja & McCarty were walking around strangely holding hands. Page told our lead guitarist he used banjo strings on his telecaster. It was a strange scene for a then 18 year old kid. The set list was as described here. Sadly I have no photos.

 

Yes it does. I'm listening to the Mooreland Street version right now and I can confirm that it has the fake audience noise (i.e., random clapping at 2:36 of Jimmy's bow solo, bullfight cheer at 1:40 of "White Summer", etc.)

 

No they were done... early Led Zep was exactly what Page was working towards. Better musicians, and a desire to be HUGE.