That's Just One Of My Personal Crusades

Mr. Who Am Us Anyway - you are right, autumn is here and its about time I posted something for the new season.  Today's post really doesn't have anything to do with the fall season but it is such a great song that I could not help myself.   First of all I am a sucker for a rock song that starts out with tubular bells!  Then a groovy bass line kicks in and time starts to fly.  By none other than Todd Rundgren's band The Nazz, this is the first track off of their second album Nazz Nazz.  Forget All About It has an off kilter rhythm that sets it firmly in the late 60s.   Todd finds just the right guitar tone throughout, sometimes jangly, sometimes psychedelic on the solo.  A softer middle section with harpsichord accompaniment is almost a jump forward to his Runt period wherein he became the male version of Carole King.  And a short but great bridge back to the chorus, a few bangs on the chimes and it is sadly over.

I've Been Hurt But I Still Love You

Now that the Yardbird's singles have been covered I am feeling a Zombies mood coming on.  Here is their great August 1965 single that sank like a stone - Whenever You're Ready.   The bridge section -  "you're not teaching me a new thing" - between the verse and the chorus is a thing of beauty.   Rod Argent was such an excellent songsmith, and of course Colin Blunstone was the perfect singer for his songs.  The b-side was the excellent I Love You, which unfortunately was a hit for another band - People.  The Zombies were sadly always in the wrong place at the wrong time.  For me though their music holds up and is nearly equal in quality to the Kinks and the Beatles when it comes to the 60s.

She's Guaranteed Not To Fail You

Well, if the Yardbirds were going to be poured into a "pop" singles band mold, at least their final single was a rip-roaring farewell.  Thanks to Jimmy Page and his fuzzed out guitar work, Goodnight Sweet Josephine rocks and rolls in a very upbeat way.   Maybe the best pop song ever about a hooker!  After the gentle 12 string acoustic picking for the opening riff, on its second pass the electric guitar lets us know Mr. Page was not going to let the band pass away gently.

For the third single in a row neither Jim McCarty  (drummer) or Chris Dreja (bass) participated.  Clem Cattini played drums, John Paul Jones (future Led Zep) on bass, and Nicky Hopkins played piano.

Released in March of 1968 in only the US, the song bubbled up to #127 on the charts.  Such a sad showing for their last bit of official recording.  The B-side Think About It is a wonderful guitar-led workout that is more representative of the band at this late stage in their career.  The failure of the single in the US resulted in no release in the UK.

At Six O'Clock The Moon Came Out

Although the previous single had a very lackluster chart showing, Mickey Most used another tune by an outside writer to try to boost the Yardbirds flailing career.   This time he chose Ten Little Indians by up-and-coming singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson.  Released in October of 1967, what an odd little song this is, and this time around Jimmy Page was allowed to participate.   To a martial snare beat, there are some odd brass parts that pop in from nowhere then disappear into the darkness.  Between "six" and "five" Jimmy adds a strange pulsating guitar figure, then the song just builds and builds until the final verse drops to a scream and whisper (together) then the guitar goes bananas and the ever present drum beat continues until the song collapses.   It was all for naught as the song climbed no higher than #91 in the US charts.  But I find it weirdly intriguing and worth repeated listenings.  Certainly not in the class of their epic Jeff Beck-led guitar freak outs, but seemingly a better direction than their previous attempt at pop.

Is The Knight Being Tight On Romance?

With the Yardbirds previous two singles failing to rise high on the charts, management brought in producer Mickie Most to "rescue" the band.  Three pop oriented tunes would be the next singles, starting with Ha! Ha! Said The Clown, written by Tony Hazzard.   In the UK Manfred Mann had a hit with this tune, so Most hoped to replicate that success in the US with the Yardbirds version.  Rumor has it that the only Yardbird on this record is the singer Keith Relf, and that the backing band was the New York pop outfit Cyrkle.   Apparently Rick Neilsen - the awesome guitarist in Cheap Trick - played keyboards on this track.  Needless to say this enjoyable bit of pop fluff was totally at odds with the guitar-driven sound of the Jimmy Page-led Yardbirds.  It does have some odd time signatures and sprightly organ lines.  The lyric subject jumps from knights of the middle ages to a modern day carnival.  The US-only single climbed to #45 before disappearing from view.

Mixing With Kinky Cats

The last of the Yardbird's great guitar-driven singles was also the first with Jimmy Page as lead guitarist.  Little Games was released in March of 1967, one month after Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane changed the universe of pop music.  The insistent repeated guitar chord telegraphs its message, later taken up by strings.   The lyrics have lost the cosmic philosophy of the previous singles and deal straight out with the free living of a young man in the swinging sixties.  The single bombed in the UK and barely scraped to #51 in the US.   In fact it would be the final UK single for the Yardbirds, though there are three more odd pop-leaning singles to come in the US.

Sinking Deep Into The Well Of Time

In June of 1966 bassist Paul Samwell-Smith left the Yardbirds.  In his place they chose Jimmy Page to take the bass guitar chores until rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja could learn the bass.  By October of that year the change over was complete and Mr. Page was now the second lead guitarist.  For the next single Happenings Ten Years Time Ago both Page and Jeff Beck played guitar resulting in the only Yardbird's single to feature both.  Co-written by the entire band, the song features a chugging downward guitar line that sets off a vaguely Middle Eastern verse melody.  The dual guitar break in the middle is a psychedelic blast, with siren effects and Jeff Beck's spoken dialogue and laughter.  Perhaps a bit too ahead of its time, it reached only #30 in the US charts, and even lower at #43 in the UK.  Amazingly the band then fired Jeff Beck during a US tour stop in Texas due to his temper and tendency to miss gigs.  So from here on out it will be the Jimmy Page show, along with a strange collection of pop songs written by outside songwriters.