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Greatest Hits Vol.1: 1964 - 1966

YARDBIRDS (Artist) Format: Audio CD
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 245 ratings
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Audio CD, Audiobook, CD, 29 July 2008
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Product description

Though short-lived, The Yardbirds legend and influence loom large, and rightfully sothe band was the starting point for three ultimate British guitar heroes: Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page. Clapton departed the group first (to join John Mayalls Bluesbreakers), while Beck later went on to form the Jeff Beck Group and Page would regroup with the New Yardbirdsan outfit soon renamed Led Zeppelin. As The Yardbirds, though, they delivered a series of groundbreaking LPs and scorching blues-rock singles that are classic cornerstones of rock n roll. This powerful compilation features eighteen of their most important early tracks, including the hits "For Your Love," "Heart Full of Soul," "The Train Kept A-Rollin'," "I'm a Man," and other guitar-intense tours de force.

Product details

  • Is discontinued by manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • Product dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.5 x 14.2 x 1.19 cm; 94.12 Grams
  • Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ RHINO RECORDS
  • Item Model Number ‏ : ‎ 4113902
  • Original Release Date ‏ : ‎ 2008
  • Label ‏ : ‎ RHINO RECORDS
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B001BAWKJC
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 245 ratings

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Eric Jay
5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Sampler of one of the Great Seminal Rock Bands of the 1960s
Reviewed in the United States on 21 March 2023
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The Yardbirds were one of the great rock bands of the middle 1960s. Musically, they synthesized the classic rock and roll that came before them with the countercultural ferment of their times. Their music is always interesting, exploratory and genuine. Some of their greatest tunes, "For Your Love", "Heart Full of Soul" and "Shapes of Things" are among the greatest rock songs of all time. But the less known charts on this album are also great to listen to. The Yardbirds featured some of the most influential guitarists of all time, including Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, as they developed as artists. This album is a fine showcase for their remarkable talents.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on 7 September 2017
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thk you
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Brian P
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Music
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 July 2017
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Great music from an era of great music. The Yardbirds were among the bands who gave value for money with their songs. I love their music. Great CD to own as all the songs sound just as they did upon their release.
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lugar kane
5.0 out of 5 stars CD
Reviewed in the United States on 2 December 2023
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Three of the best rockers
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Bruce Eder
4.0 out of 5 stars A Revelation Back in 1986, and Still Good
Reviewed in the United States on 2 September 2017
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This 18-song compilation first appeaed on vinyl back in 1986, just before the dawn of the CD era -- at that time, there were few even halfway decent-sounding Yardbirds albums out there in print. Ever since their original libraries, on EMI in England and Epic Records in the US, were deleted in the early 1970s, finding anything on the group in print that was worth owning had been problematic. Columbia Records had done an okay if unambitious 10-song hits collection in 1975 and an outstanding reissue of The Yardbirds aka Over Under Sideways Down aka Roger The Engineer in 1983 that was deleted very quickly -- if you blinked, you had an excellent chance of never seeing either of those.

Everything else in print was showing up from outlets such as Springboard International in mostly awful sound and miserable packaging, or directly from Charly Records (who had acquired the group's early library), whose early vinyl issues of this material sounded terrible, and were mostly packaged in sleeves that tended to wear out and fall apart. Those were interspersed with colorfully packaged but unimpressive compilations from companies such as Compleat. (The problem lurking behind all of these re-releases was possession of the master tapes -- apparently ever since EMI relinquished their hold on the group's early library, first-generation studio masters had been an issue for whoever was claiming ownership which was, itself, at issue for several years).

But Rhino Records decided to put out this compilation, and they had Bill Inglot, an engineer whose perfectionist streak dominated his personality, working for them. His philosophy and the company's meshed perfectly -- Inglot and his employers preferred to do their work properly, not just quickly and on some schedule. Oddly enough, they went right to the source for this compilation -- no, not the Yardbirds themselves, who had signed away their rights to the tracks in question in return for getting out of their contract with their original manager, Giorgio Gomelsky, but to Gomelsky himself. (As it turned out, Charly did, indeed, own the rights to the stuff, but whatever Inglot and Rhino did, they got better sources than Charly had ever used up to that time).

And suddenly in 1986 came this actually pretty good sounding, nicely packaged compilation, carefully and generously programmed and priced just right.

In terms of content, Greatest Hits, Vol 1 has held up remarkably well, considering that the producers were limited to about 18 months in the history of the Yardbirds, in terms of the songs and tapes they were allowed to utilize, from the start of Eric Clapton's tenure to just a few months into Jeff Beck's stay with the band. There never was a Greatest Hits, Vol 2 in this catalog, owing to ownership issues with the rest of the group's library. And there are holes here, to be sure, if one is looking for a full overview of their output, as the band did much more ambitious work in the months that followed the period captured here. But back in 1986, this was as good a Yardbirds document as you could get. It's unclear if there's been any upgrade since then, though one suspects that there has been, as better sources for a lot of this material have surfaced (I was even responsible for finding a few of those, in my time working with Sony Music Special Products) -- but as a starter disc for someone unfamiliar with the band, or an overview of their early/middle years, this is still a good collection, of not as essential as it was 30 years ago.
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