Greatest Hits, Vol. 1: 1964-1966

Though short-lived, The Yardbirds legend and influence loom large, andbrrightfully so- the band was the starting point for three ultimate British guitarbrheroes: Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page. Clapton departed thebrgroup first (to join John Mayall' s Bluesbreakers), while Beck later went on tobrform the Jeff Beck Group and Page would regroup with The NewbrYardbirds an outfit soon renamed LedbrZeppelin. As The Yardbirds, though, theybrdelivered a series of groundbreaking LPs andbrscorching blues-rock singles that are classicbrcornerstones of rock n roll. This powerfulbrcompilation features eighteen of their mostbrimportant early tracks, including the hitsbr For Your Love, Heart Full Of Soul, br The Train Kept A-Rollin , I' m A Man, andbrother guitar-intense tours de force.

While the Yardbirds graduated three of the greatest guitarists in rock history--Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page--during their 1963-68 existence, the group's best work came during Beck's '65-'66 tenure, which produced nearly all their hit singles and virtually everything found here. (Notable exception: their debut hit, "For Your Love," which Clapton was barely audible on anyway.) From the cat scratch fever of "I'm A Man" to the guitar-as-weapon solo in "Mister, You're a Better Man Than I," Beck rewrote the lead guitar textbook, and on one of the few songs recorded when he and Page were in the band together--"Happenings Ten Years Time Ago"--they foreshadowed the sound of '70s rock. i--Billy Altman/i