Search - Eric Clapton, Yardbirds :: Rarities

Great sampler CD

PaulB | Saskatoon, SK Canada | 02/21/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"1. Choker 1:19
2. I Wish You Would 2:15
3. Snake Drive 2:26
4. For Your Love 2:24
5. Draggin' My Tail 3:02
6. A Certain Girl 2:14
7. Freight Loader 2:44
8. Got To Hurry 2:17
9. West Coast Idea 2:16
_________________________
Total length: 20:57The track lengths run anywhere from 1:19 (Choker) to 3:02
(Draggin' My Tail). This CD is essentially live recordings
of material. There are only 3 tracks on this album that
are actual songs, I Wish You Would, For Your Love, and
A Certain Girl. The album is also composed of six
instrumentals, the aforementioned Choker, Snake Drive,
Draggin' My Tail, Freight Loader, Got To Hurry and
West Coast Idea. Out of the tracks, For Your Love is
probably the most well-known track of the group. The
liner notes state it spent an astonishing 12 consecutive
weeks at #3 on the British charts. The three actual
songs are pop-influenced melodies that will get you
singing, but the genius of the album are the instrumentals.
Here we get to see the influence of the blues on tracks
like Freight Loader, West Coast Idea and Got To Hurry.
These gems are a nice close to the album, with the upbeat
tempo Got To Hurry, is followed by the more bluesy
sounding and slower playing West Coast Idea. If you
like blues guitarists, you won't be disappointed by
sampling some of the tracks on this album. The opening
track Choker is a nice hook that gets you interested
enough to listen, while the singing tracks offer a nice
changeup to the blues-influenced instrumentals which
dominate the theme of the album. This is a nice method
to introduce someone to the Yardbirds. The total album
is only around 21 minutes long in terms of listening
time. This album was made in Korea and released in
1998 by Delta Music."

Yardbirds - 'Rarities' (Delta)

Mike Reed | USA | 02/14/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Decent,yet hard-to-find(I've never seen it until here recently)budget priced CD.Actually,by today's standards,this nine track disc is more like an EP.Nine tunes from the Clapton-era Yardbirds.Cuts I liked best were "I Wish You Would"(great harmonica),the instrumental "Draggin' My Tail" and "For Your Love".A good effort,but I would only recommend this title to Yardbirds completists."