Five Live Yardbirds
| Five Live Yardbirds | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Live album by the Yardbirds | ||||
| Released | 31 December 1964 | |||
| Recorded | 20 March 1964 | |||
| Venue | Marquee Club, London | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 42:11 | |||
| Label | Columbia (SX1677) | |||
| Producer | Giorgio Gomelsky | |||
| The Yardbirds' British chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Rolling Stone |  |
| AllMusic | |
Five Live Yardbirds is the live debut album by English rock band the Yardbirds. It features the group's interpretations of ten American blues and rhythm and blues songs, including their most popular live number, Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightning". The album contains some of the earliest recordings with guitarist Eric Clapton.
Recorded at the Marquee Club in London on 20 March 1964, it was released in the United Kingdom by Columbia Records nine months later. Despite several favourable retrospective reviews, the album did not reach the UK album charts. It was not issued in the United States; however, four songs were included on the Yardbirds' second American album, Having a Rave Up.
In October 1963, the Yardbirds took over the Rolling Stones' position at the Crawdaddy Club and had signed a management contract with club owner Giorgio Gomelsky. After touring with Sonny Boy Williamson II, the band signed a contract with Columbia Records. In 1964, they recorded two singles, "I Wish You Would" and "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl". These had limited success and Gomelsky was able to persuade Columbia to release a live album as the Yardbirds' debut album.
The Yardbirds were a popular live attraction at music clubs. Much of their reputation was built on their use of a "rave up" musical arrangement, an instrumental interlude that builds to a climax. Clapton credits the rave up to bassist Paul Samwell-Smith and explains: "While most other bands were playing three-minute songs, we were taking three-minute numbers and stretching them out to five or six minutes, during which time the audience would go crazy". In was at such performances that Clapton often broke a guitar string. While he was putting on a new one, the audience would slowly clap their hands (slow handclapping). This led manager Gomelsky to nickname him "Eric 'Slowhand' Clapton".
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