By Steve Janowsky 

The Yardbirds, one of the ’60s most influential classic rock bands, played an electric and exhilarating set at B.B. Kings on Wednesday May 26, with opening act The Doughboys on the bill. The current lineup of the Yardbirds includes founding members Chris Dreja (guitar) and Jim McCarty (drums) along with Andy Mitchell (vocals, harmonica and bongos), Ben King (lead guitar) and David Smale (bass). While remaining true to their original sound, the band sounded fresh and had tremendous energy, giving longtime fans and others in attendance a blues based, psychedelic tapestry of good time rock and roll.

The Doughboys,a group which started in 1964 and was the house band at New York rock and roll landmark Café Wha in 1968, were a great choice to open up for the headliners. Their hard-driving, infectious ‘60’s style sound featured singer Myke Scavone’s top notch vocals, Gar Francis’ scintillating guitar work and Richie Heyman’s expert percussion. With great originals like “I’m Not Your Man” and “Twelve Bars and I Still Have the Blues” combined with a unique interpretations of the Moody Blues “Tuesday Afternoon” and The Rolling Stones, “Paint It Black” these rock and roll veterans showed the crowd why Little Steven, host of Q104.3’s Underground Garage radio show, is a big fan.

Hailed by rock historians as a groundbreaking prototype for improvisational bands that followed like Cream and Led Zeppelin, the Yardbirds are a guitar driven band which explored blues, psychedelic music, and Raga featuring brilliant solo passages (“Rave- Ups”) with the help of Eric Clapton (1963-1965) Jeff Beck (June 1966 to November 1966) and Jimmy Page (1966-1968). They have continued this tradition today with their new guitar ace, Ben King. Keith Relf, their original singer, who had gone on to form the original version of the band Renaissance with McCarty after The Yardbirds split, was accidentally electrocuted in 1976, while original bassist Paul Samuel Smith went on to produce recordings by Cat Stevens. Not content to rest on their laurels, the band recorded “Birdland” in 2003 and “Live at B.B. Kings Blues Club” in 2007.

On this night, the Yardbirds quickly showed why they are a rock and roll treasure with their opening song “Train Kept a Rollin,” a “nugget” written by Tiny Bradshaw in 1951, but a song the band has made it’s own. From its opening locomotive guitar sound by King, to its hard-driving rhythm, the performance hit the mark. The song, also covered by Aerosmith on their “Get Your Wings” release, has never sounded better. Another highlight of the early part of the show was “Drinking Muddy Water,” a Yardbirds original, which got the crowd into a blues mood with brilliant harmonica work and strong Muddy Water inspired vocals by Andy Mitchell. Mitchell, who is relative newcomer to the group (2009), shone brightly on this homage to blues greats. The band kicked it into gear with “The Nazz are Blue,” a song originally sung and played by Jeff Beck with the band, which displayed King’s phenomenal dexterity on the guitar and his feel for Beck inspired lead breaks. King has seamlessly fit into the band’s guitar spot which is not an easy task due to the god-like icons who occupied that role at different times in the band’s history.

Next up was one of the Yardbirds songs that have a strong social message, “You’re a Better Man Than I,” with great fuzz tone employed by King. “Mystery of Being,” a tune from the aforementioned “Birdland” that sounds like a classic Yardbirds song from the sixties, was well received by the audience. “Shapes of Things,” a 1966 single of the band, followed with Mitchell’s strong self-assured vocals and King’ brilliant middle section guitar “excursion.” “Crying Out for Love,” another track from their 2003 release showed why this band isn’t an oldies act, but fresh and relevant.

“Rack My Mind,” another Beck era masterpiece, was given stellar treatment with King’s intricate guitar work and musical call and response with Mitchell’s harmonica styling. Dreja, whose rhythm playing was solid throughout, was beaming from ear to ear while watching this version of his legendary band at work. McCarty’s drumming was rock solid and true to the original style he employed in the formative years of his career.

The show was cooking at this point with band upping the ante a little bit with “Over Under Sideways Down,” whose opening refrain is a classic rock guitarist’s rite of passage. Soon after, Chester Burnett’s “Smokestack Lightning” helped transform B.B. Kings into a blues joint with it’s infectious rhythm and wonderful solo showcases for King and Mitchell on Fender Telecaster and harp respectively. Smale’s intricate melodic bass line on this song and his playing on all others during the night was first-rate.

An amazing change of pace followed with “Still I’m Sad”, which features a Gregorian chant and atmospheric musical accompaniment. This is an example of the tremendous breadth of the Yardbird’s musical catalogue and the versatility of the band. A track from the quartet version of the Yardbirds that featured Jimmy Page, “Little Games” was delivered magnificently by Mitchell and as the band left the stage, you knew the crowd would be calling them back for more.

Dreja expressed how much he loves playing in New York City and remembers his years residing there fondly. There also was a touching moment when he introduced the other original Yardbird, McCarty, telling the audience what a great musician and person he is and how they have a dear friendship.

A three-song encore followed and was the high point of a brilliant show. First up was “For Your Love” the band’s 1965 hit single that features a harpsichord and bongos on the recorded version.This also was the song that hastened Eric Clapton’s departure from the band because he thought they were becoming too commercial. He was, and still is, a blues purist. Excellent harmonies and Mitchell’s inspired vocals and bongo playing helped make this version, on this night, dynamic. “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago,” one of two recorded tracks featuring Page and Beck with the Yardbirds, was a rare treat and its late “’60s vibe and unique time signature transported this crowd to the days of lava lamps and free love.

“Dazed and Confused,” a Led Zeppelin staple that Jimmy Page played with the Yardbirds on their last two American tours and later recorded for Zeppelin’s debut release, was preformed expertly with the band cooking on all cylinders. Kings’ guitar work was inspiring and evocative, catching the spirit of the original feel of the song, but taking it to greater heights.

This was truly a great night for rock and roll. The Doughboys,an under-appreciated rock outfit, wowed the crowd with a stellar set and 1992 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Yardbirds showed why they are an iconic band with a musically proficient performance that gave a nod to the past, but had a “now” attitude. Dreja and McCarty have aged like fine wine and King, Mitchell and Smale’s musicianship has given this legendary band a look into the future. They are part of rock and roll history, but wrote a new chapter on this night. Dreja told me B.B. Kings reminds him of his days playing the Marquee Club on 165 Oxford Street in London in the “Swinging Sixties.” Things have come full circle and the crowd at the club this night was treated to a “Rave- Up,” 2010 style.

 

The Yardbirds were doing a show with the Beatles in the mid-'60s when Paul McCartney arrived in their dressing room with a backstage surprise.

"Paul came in with an acoustic guitar and said, 'Hey, lads -- what do you think of this?'" says Chris Dreja, the Yardbirds's bass player at the time. "And he started to play a song called 'Scrambled Eggs.'"

Later, McCartney and producer George Martin would score orchestral parts to the song, a melodic ballad about a man reflecting on his younger years. "Of course, it would become 'Yesterday,'" Dreja says.

While the Yardbirds weren't around long, they made enough of an impression on the Beatles, who invited them to perform a series of shows with them in December of 1964 and January of 1965. "They dug what we were doing," Dreja remembers.

While the Yardbirds were relatively unknown, at the time, the Beatles were already a sensation. so the Yardbirds knew opening for the Liverpool band was a big break. "You couldn't go a day without hearing or seeing something in the press about the Beatles," Dreja says.

While the Yardbirds would eventually become known for having three of the greatest rock guitarists -- Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page -- in the band at one time or another, at the time Clapton was their lone lead guitarist, with Dreja playing rhythm guitar. When the Yardbirds toured with the Beatles that winter, Clapton found a lifelong friend -- George Harrison.

A few years later, Clapton would record a guitar solo for the Harrison-penned 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps.' While that solo is a legendary rock piece, when the Yardbirds opened for the Beatles, Dreja says, Clapton was a blues purist -- one who would dislike the Yardbirds hit 'For Your Love' because it wasn't bluesy enough.

"Eric is a chameleon, both as a character in many ways and as a musician," Dreja says, noting that Clapton would often change his look and musical styles through the years that followed.

Of course, the Beatles famously changed their sound through the years, and during that winter tour, Clapton and Dreja were able to witness the fruits of the Beatles' success. Between performances at the Hamersmith Odeon, Dreja remembers, the Beatles had a local car company drive a small fleet of Rolls Royces to the venue for the Fab Four's inspection.

"They had this line of Rolls Royces to choose from," says Dreja, who reunited with a reformed Yardbirds in the '90s, "and they were test driving them in the lot behind the stage." The Rolls that John Lennon chose -- and later had painted with a psychedelic design -- sold for $2.3 million in 1985.

While Dreja was one of the select few to hear 'Yesterday' in those early stages, it wasn't the only rock 'n' roll classic he'd get a sneak preview of. "I got to hear 'Stairway to Heaven' before it was released as a single -- with a few mistakes in it," he says.

What rock fan wouldn't want to be in those shoes

Yardbird Chris Dreja talks about Led Zeppelin:

Chris Dreja was in one of the most legendary bands of all time – Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Yardbirds. But when the band broke up in 1968, he traded his rock and roll lifestyle for a job as a photographer.

“I got fed up with how my life was being controlled by often half a dozen people who were out of order,” Dreja told Spinner. “I wanted control of my own destiny.”

The Yardbirds bassist was already interested in photography when he was a member of the band, but he made it his full-time passion when singer Keith Relf and drummer Jim McCarty wanted to do more acoustic-based music and Jimmy Page wanted to continue with hard rock, soon forming Led Zeppelin. Because of his friendship with Page, Dreja shot the band photo on the back cover of the group’s debut album.

“They paid me $15,” he said. “I thought Page had a pretty good chance of putting a good band together. Of course, I didn’t know how good they were going to be.”

There were rumors that Dreja was originally going to be the bassist in Zeppelin, but he says that never happened.

“I was never asked,” he says. “John Paul Jones was the best bass player in Europe at that point. He was a perfect match.”

In later years, Dreja became a professional musician again. He recently completed a tour with the current version of The Yardbirds, which also includes original drummer McCarty.

Eric who? A different but true-to-its-roots Yardbirds coming to Akron

By Michael Sangiacomo, The Plain Dealer

May 20, 2010, 11:14PM

The Yardbirds perform Sunday night at Tangiers in Akron.PREVIEW

The Yardbirds

Where: Tangiers, 523 West Market St., Akron.

When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets: $35-$40 by phone at 330-376-7171.

Don't expect to see Yardbirds alums Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page or Jeff Beck onstage at Tangiers on Sunday night, but the 21st-century version of the legendary blues-rock powerhouse band is more than just a nostalgia act. As founding members of the band, drummer Jim McCarty and rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja have earned the right to tour as the Yardbirds.

Even without the famous former members, McCarty said old fans will not be disappointed.

"The Yardbirds has such a rich repertoire of music to choose from," said McCarty in a telephone interview from England. "We do a little of everything. We do old ones like 'Smokestack Lightning,' 'Heartful Of Soul' and 'For Your Love.' We'll also do songs from our 'Birdland' album like 'Mystery of Being'."

In the 1960s, the Yardbirds were right up there with the Rolling Stones as one of rock's bad boy bands. The band was rooted in American rhythm and blues, but is best known for its amazing succession of guitarists.

"We formed out of two local bands," he said. "Our guitarist had to quit because his mother wanted him to concentrate on art school, we knew Eric, so we gave him an audition.** I took an instant dislike to him**, he was so cocky. He really liked himself. We were playing 12-bar blues songs and Eric just came in and did his thing. He was good, but rather flashy."

McCarty said he and Clapton grew to be friends over the years, but soon Clapton went off to seek his fortune with Cream, Blind Faith and so on. He was replaced by another guitarist, Jeff Beck. Meanwhile, Jimmy Page, who would later go on to form Led Zeppelin, desperately wanted to join the band.

"We wanted him to join earlier, but it didn't work out," McCarty said. "Then when he wanted to join, we already had Jeff. So Jimmy came on and played bass, which we all knew was rather stupid."

McCarty said they soon figured out where Page belonged. For a memorable period of time, the band had two lead guitarists. But it didn't always work out.

He said sometimes Beck and Page were incredible together, playing like they had the devil on their tails. But other times, because of personal jealousy, they just hurt each other onstage and the sound was awful.

They didn't have to worry about their excess of riches for too long because Beck walked out suddenly just before the start of a massive U.S. tour in 1966.

"Jeff got ill, he was always very nervous and wound up," McCarty said. "We were about to start this grueling Dick Clark tour and Jeff got stressed out. He smashed his guitar in the dressing room and said he wouldn't go on. He went to see some doctor in California because he thought he was having a nervous breakdown."

The band went on without Beck, with Page filling in nicely.

"Then, months later, Jeff walked in and said he was ready to come back," McCarty said. "We looked at each other and said it had worked better without him and that he was fired. It was a very Spinal Tap-like scene. He's never forgiven us."

The Yardbirds disbanded in 1968. McCarty and Keith Relf went on to form Renaissance while Page and John Paul Jones were joined by Robert Plant and John Bonham and formed The New Yardbirds, who, after a few concerts changed their name to Led Zeppelin.

Dreja became a successful photographer and McCarty bopped around in several new bands.

"Chris and I stayed in touch. After the Yardbirds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, people kept asking us about re-forming," McCarty said. "Then an agent called and asked us if we fancied going back on the road. We talked it over and have been the Yardbirds again ever since."

McCarty said "the road" is so much nicer today than in the 1960s.

"We relied on gigs for our livelihood," he said. "Today it's more relaxed. The sound is much better, the clubs are better. It's a whole new world."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: msangiacomo@plaind.com, 216-999-4890

(TRANSCRIPT) Facebook Interview #13: Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds (May 08, 2010)

Roch Parisien's Rocon Communications THE FACEBOOK INTERVIEW WITH ROCH AND JIM MCCARTY OF THE YARDBIRDS HAPPENS.

Great interview with McCarty done live on Facebook. Check it out.

Album review: Jeff Beck, 'Emotion & Commotion'

  

3 stars (out of 4)

As one of the guitarists who defined British blues-rock in the ‘60s, Jeff Beck has ventured farther afield in subsequent decades than any of his contemporaries (Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Peter Green). He has explored everything from jazz-fusion to rockabilly, Tin Pan Alley standards to techno. What’s more, he releases albums at a leisurely pace, as though utterly unconcerned with the whims of the marketplace or the needs of the music industry. In that time, he has become one of the most distinctive, virtuoso voices ever heard on electric guitar.

And “voice” is the operative word on his first studio album in seven years, “Emotion & Commotion” (ATCO). Though there are a few moments of shredding violence (the dated-sounding riff-rocker “Hammerhead,” the explosive fills on “There’s No Other Me”), Beck mostly focuses on coaxing a languid, liquid, singing expressiveness from his instrument.

New Age Beck? It’s something like that. In emulating great vocalists he has admired, from Jeff Buckley to Judy Garland, the guitarist conjures a serene lyricism. Female vocalists drawn from the worlds of opera (Olivia Safe), swing (Imelda May) and soul (Joss Stone) provide window-dressing, and the symphony orchestra accompaniment is gratuitous. This is mostly a study in melody and melancholy, with Beck’s plaintive tone at its best on the complicated romanticism of “Lilac Wine,” the hymn-like “Corpus Christi Carol” and the sighing “Elegy for Dunkirk.” On these tracks, the guitarist articulates and then savors each note as if it were his last.

greg@gregkot.com

From The N.Y. Daily News:

Guitar dreams don't get more dramatic than this.

Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck -- two of the holy trinity of living axe-men -- performed their first-ever full American concert together at Madison Square Garden Thursday night.

(For the record, the third guitar deity is Jimmy Page.)

All three played in the seminal British blues band the Yardbirds back in the '60s, with Beck having replaced Clapton in '65.

In the years since, Beck has wavered through an erratic career, ducking in and out of the limelight, while Clapton has barely left it for a second.

Their divergent careers may account for some of the difference in attitude and effort displayed by the two legends last night.

Beck, who opened with a 45-minute solo set, played as if he still had something to prove, reeling off solos informed by equal parts technical derring-do and emotional resonance.

Clapton more often held back in his set, letting the songs rule while doling out his runs with dutiful care. Only in the concert's final third did the two stars cross axes at last.

Beck's opening mirrored his changeable career, careening from funky blues to fusion jazz to grand balladry.

In Jeff Buckley's "Corpus Christi," he infused his guitar with all the hurt and variety of a human voice.

His instrumental version of the Beatles "A Day In The Life" recreated the song's entire panoply aided by an orchestral backup.

Even a reach into opera -- a run at "Nossom Dorma" -- sounded both edgy and ravishing.

Clapton's set proved far drowsier, opening with four acoustic shuffles.

Although his solos were immaculate and scholarly, they were also distanced, weighed down further by the star's indifferent backing band.

Unfortunately, Clapton's group backed the tandem section, rather than Beck's more feverish players.

The two stars found common ground in the blues but largely kept out of each other's way, rarely goosing each other and therefore establishing only a polite rapport.

Nowhere did Clapton show the intimacy and emotion he enjoyed in his brilliant Garden show with Steve Winwood last year.

Beck put more muscle in his playing, as well more wit, especially in "Shake Your Money Maker" and a lovely take on "Moon River."

Moments like that gave the show value. But as far as fulfilling a generation's life-long fantasy, let's just say it lived better in our minds.

jfarber@nydailynews.com

Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty is hoping his old job is still open.

Talking to Classic Rock, the man who also co-founded folk rock heroes Renaissance with late Yardbirds singer Keith Relf, said:

“When The Yardbirds started in 1962, we only expected it to last a year or so. At the time I worked in an insurance office, and asked my boss if he’d keep the job open for me. I must find out if he kept his word!”

The Yardbirds will celebrate their 50^th anniversary in 2012 – clearly a much more major important occasion than the Olympic Games. McCarty hopes the band will mark the occasion in a suitable fashion.

“It would be great to have a special event, and get all the living former members involved – especially those three guitarists [Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page]. But who knows whether they’ll be interested.”

McCarty has just released a solo album called Sitting On The Top Of Time, and hopes to do some low key gigs to promote it.

“That depends on The Yardbirds’ touring schedule. We are still active – in fact, the average age of the band has come down now to about 30. Apart from Chris [Dreja, rhythm guitar] and myself everyone else is really young in this band now.”

The next Yardbirds show is on November 30 at Charlotte Street Blues in Central London.

Jeff Beck keeps his tunes tight at MGM Grand show By THOMAS KINTNER | Special to the Hartford Courant

Although the road he has taken since his 18-month stint with the Yardbirds in the mid-1960s has not always been the most mainstream of paths, Jeff Beck has consistently ranked as one of rock music's most influential electric guitarists. His show Saturday night at the MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods Casino in Mashantucket was a showcase for his still-stunning chops, an array of rock and blues instrumentals that were like high mass for those who worship his instrument of choice. A virtuoso without being a showoff, Beck filled his tunes with substantial pyrotechnics that never turned into mere shredding, using his thumb to pluck out decorative licks across the face of the shifty opener "Beck's Bolero." Dressed entirely in white from boots to vest, Beck rarely wasted a note, powering the blues-leaning "The Pump" with a meticulous combination of sheen and technique. With a method that favors the exact over the exploratory, the 64-year-old Englishman kept his tunes tight, always complemented by a three-piece band that knew his every move. Tal Wilkenfeld played a flexible bass throughout the program, including a jazz-tinged counterpoint to Beck's soulful flow as he worked the vibrato bar of his signature model Stratocaster in a simmering rendition of Stevie Wonder's "'Cause We've Ended as Lovers." Jason Rebello kept several tunes in balance with his nimble keyboard work, and filled out "Angel (Footsteps)" as Beck etched high-tone filigree across the deliberate ballad's face. Beck was as sharp in igniting tunes as he was in maintaining a crisp handle on their details, particularly when he ladled sizzle atop the mesh of Wilkenfeld's chunky bass and Vinnie Colaiuta's stout drumming in "Led Boots." With a lone microphone off to the side of the stage that Beck didn't go near until it was time to say goodnight, there were no vocals in the performance, as Beck did all his talking with his fingers. He joined Wilkenfeld on her bass as the pair split its neck to perform a tune together in memorable fashion, and was tack-sharp when he reclaimed his guitar to work out a tasteful, fluid take on the Beatles' "A Day in the Life." More prone to refinement than bombast, Beck closed his set in typically even-keeled fashion and remained much the same for an encore that included some juicy but always controlled rock. He closed with a bit of the unexpected in the "Peter Gunn Theme," which shared with most of his offerings that it was as appealing for its sharp craftsmanship as for the natural energy of its throbbing chug.

From the 'Let It Rock' website:

FROM THE 'BIRDS AND BEASTS There's a new band been bubbling for some time with three Brit rock veterans having a ball. These are THE YARDBIRDS' heavy hitter Jim McCarty, his RENAISSANCE cohort John Hawken, more famous for his work with THE NASHVILLE TEENS and recently THE STRABWS, on keyboards and THE ANIMALS' guitarist Hilton Valentine. They already recorded five songs to be out soon, including Jim's "It All Comes Around" which will be the B-side for the combo's first single, Graham Gouldman's "You Stole My Love". Feels teasin'!

Jane's Renaissance-Jane Relf

(08 November 2008) With all due respect to the band's most well known and prolific vocalist, Annie Haslam, who set the standard for all that were to follow, Jane Relf was actually the first woman of the British progressive band Renaissance. The inexperienced sister of the band's founder Keith Relf was called from Cornwall to sing with the all male band in London. She grew to become an astute and well established professional although the initial Mark I version of the band fell apart.

Jane continued to sing with Illusion, a progressive band built from the ashes of the original Renaissance, who released Out Of The Mist, Illusion, additional singles and finally the long lost recordings on Enchanted Caress. She recorded singles, sang for commercials and provided backing vocals to other projects, including Stairway, by the original Renaissance band members after her brother's untimely death.

Jane Relf Appreciation Society president Brian Williams has lovingly assembled an absolutely-packed, two-CD, 33-track compilation of her recordings, including the best possible production of a number of extremely rare tracks, demos and material from vinyl first time transcribed to compact disc. Entitled Jane's Renaissance 1969-1995 (Renaissance Records (USA) RMED 384, 2008). The album also chronicles origins of "Carpet Of The Sun" with two demo versions revealed first time in this compilation.

The first disc in the collection takes the listener through the very earliest days of Renaissance beginning with "Wanderer," "Island" and "Roads To Freedom." Songs are taken from the 'Mark I' Renaissance albums Renaissance (1969) and Illusion (1971). Three medleys, arranged by Brian Williams, bring further rarities to light. The disc includes tracks by Renaissance, Illusion and Jane Relf's solo work.

For many this first disc will be the first time that Jane Relf's solo tracks have been heard. These include the well arranged and accessible numbers "Gone Fishing," "My My Time Pass By," the medley of "There'll Be No Going Back" and "Carpet of the Sun," and "Without a Song For You." The medley that closes the disc is comprices exerpts from "Golden Thread," "Madonna Blue," "Isadora," "The Revolutionary," and "Candles are Burning."

The second disc begins with many of Jane's backing vocal or vocalise contributions to Louis Cennamo's Stairway album. It then continues to explore her work with Illusion. The final track is a denoised and unedited version of the "Carpet Of The Sun" demo that Jane sang. The six Stairway songs are in an early new age style and therefore contrast the balance of the material distinctly.

Inclusion of the second batch of Illusion material alongside early Renaissance in this collection clearly demonstrates how Illusion moved on from the Mark I and the Mark II band and also continues to demonstrate Jane Relf's vocal prowess. Illusion clearly made music more in line with the Britich sounds of the day. Rock songs, torch ballads and traditional pieces all work together on the disc and have been sequenced to demonstrate the producers' dedication to Jane Relf's work. Listeners will again learn to appreciate the occasional very close similarity of Illusion to Renaissance in the song "Face of Yesterday" (1977) and "Wings Across The Sea."

The compact discs are accompanied by a photo filled booklet and very thorough Jane Relf biography. While the artist has no official website or MySpace, there is a discussion group for appreciation society members. Click on the album cover above for further information. Jane's Renaissance is indeed a fanstastic two CD collection that commemorates the fine vocal work of the stunning Jane Relf. With a wide vocal range, excellent power, crystalline tone and demonstrated ability to sing pop, rock, progressive and new age, she has had an incredible career.

Jeff Beck speaks about his induction for the 2nd time into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Twenty-one years ago Jeff Beck was involuntary dragged onstage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to play “Satisfaction” and “Like A Rolling Stone” alongside the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, George Harrison, the Beach Boys and countless other A-listers. “It was one of the worse cacophonies I’ve ever heard in my entire life,” Beck says on the phone from Western Australia, where he’s rehearing for a tour. “Just horrendous.” On April, 4th Beck will have the stage all to himself when he’s inducted as a solo artist, 17 years after he was honored as part of the Yardbirds. “I couldn’t believe I was even nominated,” Beck says. “I thought the Yardbirds was as close as I’d get to getting in. I’ve gone on long after that and gone through different musical changes. It’s very nice to hear that people have been listening.” He plans to perform at the ceremony with his band, and is currently looking at booking American shows around the event. The induction comes at a busy time for the 64-year-old guitar virtuoso. At the tail end of his Australia/Japan tour he has two shows booked in Saitama-shi, Japan, with the man he replaced in the Yardbirds: Eric Clapton. “It was unthinkable we’d ever play together other than the [1983] Arms charity concert,” Beck says. “He came to play on a couple of numbers I did at Ronnie Scott’s last year and it was really good fun. There was no sort of ‘I’m better than you’ thing going on.” What will the shows be like? “We’ll do two separate sets and we’ll link arms in the end,” says Beck. “Each night will end with a collaboration. How long, I won’t know. We’re working on suitable material, neutral material.” Might they break out some Yardbirds gems?*** “Eric doesn’t like the Yardbirds,” says Beck. “I don’t think he’ll go back that far.”*** Beck is willing to consider more shows with Clapton, but fans of the original Jeff Beck Group shouldn’t hold their breath for a reunion. In 2004 Rod Stewart told Rolling Stone about rehearsal sessions he had with Beck and Ron Wood for a charity concert at the Royal Albert Hall: “Woody was playing bass and I was singing and it sounded fucking brilliant,” Stewart said. “We did ‘Rock My Plimsoul’ and ‘I Ain’t Superstitious,’ and everybody was glued to it. But Jeff phoned me up two days before the show and said he didn’t want to do it. He canceled. I’ve given up trying to reunite the Jeff Beck Group.” When told about Rod’s desire for a Jeff Beck Group reunion, Beck starts laughing. “That’s what Rod said?” he chuckles. “They’re still full of shit after all these years. I saw Rod recently at Kenny Jones’ birthday party. He made a mockery of people asking if we’d reform, though I guess I’m not sure if he was talking about us or the Faces. Reformation of bands is never my idea of a good idea. Leave well enough alone, especially 35 years after it happened. It usually indicates there isn’t anything else happening in someone else’s career, otherwise you wouldn’t entertain it — let’s face it. We weren’t together in the heyday of money. We were playing small clubs and dives and broke up just before Woodstock, so we never had any big money gigs. It would be fun if we did it in private to see if it would sound any good, but leave it well enough alone and remember it for being groundbreaking at the time.”

In the October issue of Record Collector, one Nick Lambert of Newcastle-On-Tyne wrote:

Five Live Yardbirds

It was great to read the interview with Chris Dreja (RC353) but it's a shame that you only asked Chris to look back, and not tell us some more about the current marvelous incarnation of the legendary Yardbirds. Although I've been a fan of the band since the 1960's, I was never able to see the original band playing live. The nearest I got was seeing the New Yardbirds playing at the Mayfair in Newcastle......but that's the start of another story!

I was fortunate enough to see the latest incarnation of the Yardbirds at the Sage in Gateshead on their recent tour with the Zombies, and they were astonishingly good. Not only did the current line-up storm through all the old favourites with terrific energy and vitality, they also played a brace of newer songs which certainly stood up to their classic numbers, such as Crying Out For Love, Mystery of Being, Mr. Saboteur and Dream Within A Dream.

The current bands looks great too - bass player John Idan remarkably manages to look like Jeff Beck and sound like Keith Relf; young Ben King handles lead guitar duties with great aplomb and harp player Billy Boy Misskimmin rounds out the sound to great effect. Add Chris Dreja's driving rhythm guitar and Jim McCarty's assured drumming - a stunning live band! So next time, ask Chris to bring the story up to date - the current band is a great credit to the famous name.

A review of Yardbirds vocalist John Idan's new solo album:

The Folly- (Garden Of Idan)
As well as serving the present-day Yardbirds as singing bass player, Idan, a natural-born heart-throb, is the outfit's principal source of sex appeal. Commensurate with this, it's feasible that this first solo album, if exhaling from a late-night music-centre, might facilitate the winning of maidenly favours by smitten young executives in penthouses the world over.

It's almost the music at any given moment that matters more than individual items. Yet every one of them would stand tall if reduced to the acid test of just voice and piano or guitar. Indeed, if some soppy boy-band or singing Britain's Got Talent finalist was looking for material far above and beyond the usual drivel, they might find it in, say, 'That's You And Me', 'I Began To Realise' or 'No Other' - though the raunchier and more lyrically erudite 'The Kali Yoga's Gettin' Hot' occupies an area between these and compositions that are too autobiographical and peculiar to Idan alone for any attempted syndication.

Finally, John parades his exceptional talents both vocally and in an instinctive command of virtually every instrument heard on a confident and extensive breadth of artistic expression that doesn't need association with a famous group to enhance its intrinsic worth.
Alan Clayson

Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty tells us about life as a music legend... and why he's fitter than David Beckham.

JIM McCarty sounds relaxed and happy when he answers the phone for our interview.

Which isn't surprising really when you consider he's been hanging out at home, a French village in Provence, basking in the 35 degree sunshine, while over in Blighty it's a typically grey cloudy day.

“The lifestyle over here suits me," he says.

“I like the sunshine and it's very inspiring. I still write music and I've got a little set-up here. It's a nice place to write.”

Jim will join the rest of the Yardbirds to headline the International stage at the Great British R&B Festival in Colne on Saturday, August 23 and he's looking forward to it.

“It'll be great actually," he says. "I always like coming back to the UK. We've done the festival before but that was a long time ago now so it'll be nice to come back.”

The Yardbirds had a string of innovative hits in the ’60s, including Shapes Of Things, Heart Full of Soul and For Your Love. And, of course, they are credited with pioneering almost every guitar innovation of the ’60s: fuzztone, feedback, distortion, backwards echo. They were one of the first bands to put emphasis on complex lead guitar parts and launched the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.

“That's the thing people remember us for,” says Jim. “We're like an academy for young guitarists.

“The thing about The Yardbirds is that it was great background for all these guitarists. We were playing the sort of music that guitar players love and thrive on. The rest of us played a very basic role in that.”

But Jim admits he's proud of the fact that almost all modern guitar bands attribute their success to The Yardbirds' influence.

“That's really great actually,” he says.

“We did an album a few years back called Birdland 2003 and we had all these great guitar players guesting on it. We had Slash, Jeff Beck came back for a track, Jeff Baxter, Steve Vai, all these great guitarists who had played Yardbirds covers when they were starting out.”

What Jim is most proud of, though, is when the band were inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.

“It was great. Really gratifying.

“Over the years we did some great gigs. We played with The Beatles a few times and the Rolling Stones. We had some crazy times. When we started out it was all really mad. We were part of the British Invasion going over to America with our long hair. They didn't quite understand us at first. We had lots of laughs.”

But he's not ready for hanging up his drumsticks just yet.

“Funnily enough, I just read an article about a study they'd done on drummers," he says.

“This team from Gloucester University had done tests on the drummer from Blondie and they'd found out that drummers were actually fitter than professional footballers because of the level of work and exercise they do in their act.”

So is he trying to tell us he's fitter than David Beckham?

“I guess I am,” he laughs.

* See The Yardbirds at The Great British R&B Festival, Colne, headlining the International Stage on Saturday, August 23. For tickets to the festival, running over the August Bank Holiday weekend (22 to 25) call ticket hotline on 01282 661234 or visit www.bluesfestival.co.uk

ICONIC British rock band The Yardbirds are embarking on their first UK tour since the launch of their last album Birdland four years ago being accompanied by The Zombies.

The Yardbirds laid much of the groundwork for rock guitar as we know it today with legendary members including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and most recently Gypie Mayo. Together with rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja and drummer Jim McCarthy they created driving rock from a blues-based background.

Chris Dreja said: “I think the bill is very interesting with The Zombies and The Yardbirds who are both electric bands, but of different styles. I’d known Rod Argent (of The Zombies) for some years and we talked a couple of years ago about touring, but it just didn’t happen but I’m very happy to be working with them now.”

Having taken a sabbatical during most of the 80’s and 90’s The Yardbirds have reformed with new members and collecting a whole new legion of fans.

Chris said: “Obviously being originally a 60’s band there are a lot of people who were interested in us who are still around and will come, which is very flattering. But we are also getting a lot of newer fans, I guess it’s a real mixed bag - it is very nice gathering new fans at this stage in our careers. After shows we meet the audiences and it’s amazing that we have more people coming now than in the 60’s.”

In recent years the Yardbirds have played a variety of smaller summer festivals but now hope that with their upcoming tour they will be back at the front of people’s minds and will find a new fan base.

Chris said: “Judging by the festivals that we’ve played in recent years we get a fairly equal balance of fans, we played The Wicker Man festival (a large independent music festival in Scotland) and that was a whole new audience for us. We are one of the only large scale bands left and I think that gets across to a new generation of listeners. It is great to have teenagers come up to you after a show saying that you’re the best live band they ever seen.”

Chris added that he was surprised that their legacy had lasted so long because when the band ended in the late 1960’s they thought that the band would only be remembered for a few weeks rather than touring again some 40 years later.

Back when the Yardbirds were touring regularly life on the road was not as luxurious as it is now and bands were forced to do many more shows to make it, all of which were a lot more basic than the shows we see today.

Chris said: “Actually we got burned out in the 60’s with too many shows - it was very primitive then, but maybe more glamorous. Technically, in those days all of the sound came from the stage, the PA system was ineffective, now there are very advances PA desks so you can control sound and now there are much better lighting rigs, so you can put on a better show.”

Unlike other bands, the Yardbirds don’t go for over the top flashy shows and would rather let their legendary sound do the talking for them.

Chris added: “We don’t rely on pyrotechnics of anything like that, we rely on our music and the energy of the show more than others - it’s a very electric show, but there are no explosions - keeping it real is what the Yardbirds are about.”

The Zombies/Yardbirds, Sands Centre, Carlisle, Friday, May 16...
DESPITE the billing this was not a Zombies gig. Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone performed just a few numbers from that band’s back catalogue.

There was She’s Not There and a couple of tracks from the 1967 album Odessey and Oracle, which has been cited by artists from Weller to Slash as their all time favourite. But that was more or less it.

What we got instead, however, was not disappointing. There were Argent’s hits from his eponymous set up of the early Seventies, Blunstone’s solo numbers and another from the Alan Parsons Project. It’s easy to forget just how much they’ve contributed to popular music over the past 40 years.

Blunstone’s distinctive vocals haven’t diminished over time either. Sometimes there’s a sense of lost glory when artists reunite after a gap of decades. Argent and Blunstone were great then and they are now.

As are the Yardbirds. There’s no Clapton, Page or Beck on lead guitar these days, of course, but they do have a magnificent successor in the form of Ben King. Like The Zombies there are just two of the original line up left. Jim McCarty on drums and rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja.

The band’s hit singles led the way yet this is a group that’s still very much on the blues scene – they’ve just released an album of a recent performance at BB King’s in the United States.

Two bands with roots in the Sixties – but still with something to say in their Sixties.

WILL CONCHIE

Steve Winwood and former Yardbird Eric Clapton rocked the Garden Monday night.

They didn't actually bill themselves as Blind Faith.

But the band that played the Garden Monday night boasted the two most esteemed players from that sanctified '60s act, and they featured its signature material.

While the classic-rock pair in question - Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood - teased the world with a quickie warmup set at the Crossroads guitar festival in Chicago last July, they had not shared a stage for an entire evening since the dying days of Blind Faith in 1969.

The two appear again tonight and Thursday with their unnamed band at the Garden. No other dates are scheduled.

As such, the Garden shows have as much importance by definition as Cream's reunion concerts from two years ago, if not quite the earth-shattering resonance of the Led Zeppelin reunion from December.

So did the night live up to the epic expectations? In places, definitely.

Especially the Blind Faith songs. The rub is, there aren't many of them. The band produced only six in all (one a jam). Last night, the band offered four, adding a fifth piece left off the original LP (the rote "Sleeping in the Ground," instead of the far more revelatory "Sea of Joy.")

They opened the nearly 2-1/2-hour show with "Had to Cry Today" with both stars taking fierce leads.

Throughout the night, Winwood offered the more trenchant guitar work, hewing closer to the tune, while Clapton spun fancifully around it.

Winwood's voice showed no loss of its choirboy purity. The range of his vocals - the wind he can whip up - still dazzles.

On the Faith material, the players - which also included bassist Willie Weeks, keyboardist Chris Stainton and drummer Ian Thomas - cohered as an organic band. But in much of the rest, it seemed more like stars sitting in on each other's songs.

That quibble didn't hinder a rash of highlights. Winwood's highflying vocals added soul to Clapton's "Tell the Truth." The latter's solos brought Traffic's "Pearly Queen" to fuller fruition. And for Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing," they both fell utterly into sync.

Peaks that stellar allowed the show's more workmanlike moments to be forgiven, and made one hope we don't have to wait another 40 years to see these two hook up again.

Live At BB Kings-The Yardbirds

I was lucky enough to attend a Show at the very end of the same Tour that this Recording is from. South Lake Tahoe, is one of the current Band's favorite stops, and I'll be there when this Great Group returns here.

The Yardbirds are BACK, and they meen business. This Combination of Players {Two Seasoned Veterans and Three Exciting New Players} is a Full on Force of: Blues/Rock,Pop Greatness!

With Ben King following in the steps of Clapton/Beck and Page, the Band is at a Peak, not seen in Concert since 1966. And this CD is the Document of just what they now do every night on Stages around the World.
This is NO Tribute Band, it's The Real Deal...The Yardbirds are back, and they DO put on a Great Show!

From the Opener: "Train Kept a Rollin' thro to; "Happenings 10 Years Time Ago", the Great Classics are mixed with New Tunes. And here are 19 reasons of why anyone who has seen the Current Band is Raving about these Guys.

No, this isn't the Full Concert (That would take 2 CD's) but it is more than a Sampler of their Show. And it is the best Blues and Rock played with absolute Fire, that I have heard in years. Rock is Dead they say, Long Live Rock...Great Band, Great CD !!!

Yardbirds, Live at B.B. King's Blues Club (released 3/07): Revived bands are a tricky proposition, especially when, as in The Yardbirds' case, the original members are (with all respect) not the iconic players and singers the band was best known for. The Yardbirds defy the odds by a) boasting a singer who sounds uncannily like the late Keith Relf, only maybe even a bit more versatile; b) continuing to employ hotshot guitarists who, if they don't completely measure up to the standards of Clapton, Beck and Page, certainly don't disgrace it; and c) playing with a solid approximation of the fire and desire of the original band. The old material eclipses the newer stuff, as is nearly inevitable, but there's plenty to enjoy here. (USA Today)

The Yardbirds Reunion Jam Vol II


When Chris Dreja jumped up on stage with the Jim McCarty Band, at London's 100 Club in 1992, it was just a couple of old bandmates having a blow for Auld Lang Syne. No one, the two musicians least of all, could have imagined that, 14 years later, they would still be playing together, and driving that most sainted of all 60s icons, the Yardbirds, into the hearts of an entire new generation. That decision came later, although listening back to tapes of the show, it's hard to see how they could have arrived at any other conclusion.



The lion's share of this momentous show was released back in 1999, and quickly sold out. Volume Two, as its title might suggest, wraps up the remainder of the concert, the bits that didnt fit on last time around. But before you groan into your British Invasion teacup, there's not a track on here that didnt deserve inclusion last time around Indeed, with Shapes Of Things and Over Under Sideways Down kicking off the disc, and For Your Love and I'm A Man wrapping it up, Volume Two is arguably the stronger of the two discs.



In between times, the album powers through a frenzied snapshot of all that made the Yardbirds slice of the Sixties so memorable , a pounding 10 minute romp through Gloria, a speeding Route 66, an electrifying Talkin Bout You, and a positively spellbinding Hey Joe, caught somewhere between Jimi Hendrix's blueprint and Roy Buchanan's reinvention, and sounding just as fresh as either.



The spirit of the Yardbirds is one of those elusive beasts that almost every past member of the band has tried, at some point, to capture it primarily because, they tried too hard. McCarty and Dreja were not trying this particular night; they were just having fun. And that turned out to be the missing formula. Reunion Jam Volume Two, like the Reunion Jam that preceded it, is fun. And it sounds so much like the Yardbirds that it became them.

Jeff Beck at
Ronnie Scott's


Perhaps the greatest living guitar virtuoso, and certainly one of the most mercurial, Jeff Beck stepped back into the spotlight at the start of a brief residency at Ronnie Scott’s. The first of six shows in five nights found him revisiting the most jazz-influenced areas of his back catalogue in an unusually intimate environment. And while he directed the great majority of his efforts towards the audience seated on the left hand side of the stage, even those of us who were required to contemplate the great man’s backside for most of the evening were left in little doubt of his continuing mastery of his instrument.

With his thatch of implausibly dark hair making him look more than ever like Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap (for whom Beck was said to have provided the template), the 63-year-old guitarist began with Beck’s Bolero, his calling card from the 1960s, when it was released as the B-side to his evergreen (but long disowned) hit Hi Ho Silver Lining.

From there he navigated his way round the sinuous riffing of Billy Cobham’s Stratus, followed by a deliciously bluesy reading of Stevie Wonder’s Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers from Blow By Blow, the 1975 album that first sent Beck travelling in this jazz-rock direction. Combining astonishing technique with a blissful feel for nuance, he exercised an almost supernatural control of his fretboard and pickup controls. Playing with the fingers and thumb of his right hand, not a plectrum, he was able to vary tone and texture in the twinkling of an eye while turning the most complex of sequences around on the head of a pin.

During the course of an entirely instrumental set but for two numbers featuring the guest vocalist Imogen Heap, Beck was accompanied by Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, Jason Rebello on keyboards and the bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, who looked as if she should have been at home doing her homework for school the next day, but played like a monster. It proved to be one of the best bands even Beck has assembled. The collective pièce de résistance came when Colaiuta set up the super-fast double bass drum rhythm of Space Boogie and they all piled into the number with such supreme skill and exuberance that even the excruciatingly awkward time signature couldn’t prevent it from swinging. There was a standing ovation as the show ended with a version of the Beatles’ A Day in the Life, which rolled the pleasure dial all the way up to 11.

Clapton's new autobiography is getting some interesting reviews. Here's one from New York Newsday



"Clapton: The Autobiography" is a shuffling, apologetic book, the kind you'd expect from a 60-ish rock star now faced with telling the story of how his decades-long drug and alcohol dependency helped wreck numerous personal relationships. The book ends on a cheerful, triumphant note: Clapton has finally found domestic contentment with a young woman, Melia McEnery, who has borne him three daughters; for the first time, he's participating in the raising of his own children. He's clearly enjoying it immensely, and you can't begrudge him that kind of happiness. (With other women, Clapton had previously - and somewhat casually - fathered two children, one of whom, Conor, died tragically at age 4.)

But what if, despite all the confessional self-revelation here - Clapton sobered up some 20 years ago, and also founded the Crossroads Centre, a treatment center for drug and alcohol addiction - Clapton still comes off as a guy who cares more about music than he does about people? That's the sense his book leaves you with.

Clapton skims through his '50s childhood and early teenage years, explaining the pain he felt upon figuring out, around age 7, that the "parents" who were raising him were actually his grandparents. A Canadian airman had fathered him and then disappeared. His mother, Pat, 15 at the time, left baby Eric in the care of her own parents; her reappearance later in his life, after she'd begun a new family, caused him a great deal of resentment and confusion, even though he admits that his grandparents, Rose and Jack, adored him and did everything they could to make his childhood a happy one.

Clapton concedes that he was a loner as a child and a young teenager. He spent a great deal of time listening to the blues and developing a performing style that honored its tradition, going on to play in bands like The Yardbirds, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, and Derek and the Dominoes. He describes how he felt when, in the mid-1960s, graffiti proclaiming "Clapton Is God" began to spring up around London. He admits he was mystified and a little bit scared by it. But he also admits that the acclaim boosted his ego - he'd just left The Yardbirds after the band recorded "For Your Love," a song whose irresistible pop hooks offended his blues-purist sensibilities. "There's something about word-of-mouth that you cannot undo. ... After all, you can't muck around with graffiti. It comes from the street."

But "Clapton" suggests that Clapton may have taken the god stuff a bit too seriously, at least in terms of his human relationships. His most famous liaison was with Pattie Boyd, at one time the wife of his best friend, George Harrison. He pined for her for years - and wrote what is perhaps his best-known song, "Layla," about her - although when she finally left Harrison for him, he often treated her, he admits, as a "slave cum partner." (Boyd tells her side of the story in her own recent autobiography, the much more enjoyable, and more modest, "Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me.") Clapton will casually introduce a character - generally a woman - on one page and drop her on the next, leaving us to wonder, for long stretches of the book, what might have happened to her. After he'd first started pursuing Boyd and been rejected, he took up with Alice Ormsby-Gore, a young woman from an aristocratic family; he got her hooked on heroin, and the two were together on-and-off for years. But after a few pages of rather indistinct prose about the relationship, Ormsby-Gore disappears from the book. We learn, much later, that she died of a heroin overdose in 1994, and although Clapton made some efforts to help her, there's still something a little callous about the way he assesses his advantages in the situation. Ormsby-Gore's suffering "only emphasized to me how fortunate I was in that, through all my years of drinking and drugging, I still had music." Nice work if you can get it.

That's characteristic of the backpedaling, dissembling and feeble mea culpas Clapton has to offer. He brushes off a remark he made during a 1976 concert in Birmingham, England in support of Enoch Powell, a Conservative MP whose stance on British immigration policy was clearly racist. Clapton was drunk at the time, natch; he was also, apparently, ticked off because a member of the Saudi royal family had recently tried to grope Boyd - a bit of logic that's both feeble and baffling.

Clapton clearly regrets the remark, but he doesn't completely disown it, either. "Clapton: The Autobiography" is filled with similar explanations, excuses and half-hearted apologies. It reveals Clapton as a gifted, dedicated performer and a preternaturally bummed-out guy who, admittedly, has done some real suffering in his life. But that doesn't mean he's not also a self-absorbed jerk. He can't write his way out of that.

Rockin' riffs

The riffs and melodies of "Heart Full of Soul" and "I'm A Man," among all the other hits The Yardbirds played at Monday night's Moe's Alley concert, dwell in perpetuity in my baby boomer head.

I consider myself lucky to have been listening when this musical revolution was going round the world.

The incredibly tight and intense musical dialogue the Brits were kicking back across the pond to the original American blues masters claimed many impressionable young ears and hearts back then.

To hear the music played live, even though there were only two of the original members (rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja and drummer Jim McCarty), was a very cool and fun experience.

John Idan, a very good bassist and lead singer with the group since it reformed in 1995, is young enough and tough enough looking to resemble Jeff Beck as I remember him from the late '60s.

Even though the Detroit-born frontman does not have the same role in the band as Beck did back in the day, his vocals hit the mark for the bluesy rock band's tunes.

Guitarist Ben King, youthful and strong, could play some of the same riffs as Beck, but I still wasn't convinced that he was the next big guitar guy on the block.

He hesitated a bit when it came time to express his own sound in solos. But one must remember it's a tough slot to fill following the legendary guitar holy trinity of Clapton, Beck and Page in The Yardbirds, much like subsequent guitarists in John Mayall's group after Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor left.

Billy Boy Miskimmon wailed appropriately hard on harmonica while the band, with an additional percussionist, held together well through the hit-filled, one-set rave-up it played.

A couple of encore tunes, including a second Led Zeppelin song snippet following a decent sounding "Dazed and Confused" performed just prior, kept the healthy yet not sold-out crowd happy until it was time to file out into the night.