Yardbirds Last Hurrah...almost
4
By Raver8/11
This compliation of the Mickie Most era of the band charts the it's erratic attempts to get back in the charts following the relative failure of the "Happening 10 Years Time Ago" single (great as that song was) and the departure of Jeff Beck. Most, who produced everyone from The Animals to Herman's Hermits, was a less than ideal choice to produce the Yardbirds for he imposed on them some truly inappropriate material in an attempt to get them a badly needed hit. Although "Little Games" had a nice rhythm and a tasteful cello as well as a burning Page solo it's lyrics were childish and trite. But it was brilliant compared to the other singles Most produced like "Ha Ha Said the Clown", "Ten Little Indians" and "Goodnight Sweet Josephine" which were sappy and corny as well as, as it turned out, uncommercial. However, the band rocked out righteously on the B-sides "Puzzles" and "Think About It" (probably the acme of the Page era recordings and the most Zeppelin-esque). The LITTLE GAMES album, despite being recorded over roughly three days was a much better representation of what the band was really about. Side one is as solid a selection of songs as any the band ever cut featuring such ravers as "Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor" and "Smile On Me" as well as the hypnotic drone "Glimpses" which is as psychedelic as anything from the Summer of Love. Jimmy Page also contributed the dextrous folk instrumental "White Summer" (a reinterpritation of "She Moves Through the Fair" which he would later perform onstage with the "Birds and Led Zeppelin). Side Two is more erratic, but it kicks off with a hearty reworking of "Rollin and Tumblin" entitled "Drinking Muddy Water" (and featuring Nicky Hopkins on piano). "Stealing Stealing" was an odd inclusion, a goofy jugband song performed with goofball enthusiasm. "No Excess Baggage" was a solid Animals typre rocker (penned by Roger Atkins and Carl D'Errico, who wrote "It's My Life") though it sounds rushed. "Only the Black Rose" is a spooky jewel from Keith Relf complete with delicate acoustic guitar, jingling bells and backwards cymbols. "Little Soldier Boy" closed the album on a low note as this Donovan-like anti-war parable was recorded with drummer Jim McCarty doing a horn impression because Most couldn't be bothered to hire the real thing. The rest of the album's cuts are culled from appearances on BBC radio. The sound quality varies from crystal clear to extremely lo-fi but the band performs with gusto on all of them. "Little Games" and "Drinking Muddy Water" sound more urgent and aggressive live. A cover of Bob Dylan's "Most Likely You Go Your Way" is a curious choice but not bad. The clearest link between the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin is the band's cover of "Dazed and Confused", written by folksinger Jake Holmes with some new lyrics by Relf,. The arrangement provides the blueprint for Zep's take (Page later rewrote the lyrics and secured a copyright in his own name), but it's more forbidding in the Yardbirds' hands---part acid rock, part smoldering blues. A mixed bag, LITTLE GAMES offers a fascinating glimpse of not only a legendary band stuck between a rock and a hard place that was still trying to explore new musical ground but also of Jimmy Page's evolution from psychedelic pop rocker to heavy metal guitar god with Led Zeppelin. A must for any hard core Yardbirds or Zep fan, LITTLE GAMES (along with YARDBIRDS 68) captures the entire Page-era Yardirds recordings in an intelligent and thoughtful manner worthy of one of the truly great rock bands whose catelogue was a mess for far too long. It's hardly perfect but its high points rank with anything the Yardies (or Page) ever recorded whcih is saying something.
