THE YARDBIRDS - The Yardbirds Roger The Engineer (mono & stereo) MP3@320

THE YARDBIRDS - The Yardbirds Roger The Engineer (mono & stereo)

If you have The Yardbirds Story 2002 4CD Boxset then Roger The Engineer is the next logical step. The Yardbirds Story had some rehearsal takes of songs from Roger The Engineer but Georgio Gomelsky didn’t have rights to the album, which are held by the Yardbirds themselves. So Here ‘Tis…



The Yardbirds Roger The Engineer

By 1966 the Yardbirds had the respect of every young guitar-slinger in London due to their main axeman, Jeff Beck. Having replaced the more puritanical Eric Clapton in 1965, Beck had to both contend with an audience who missed the bluesman’s authentic tones and also management who couldn’t decide whether the band would be an out and out pop combo or retain their earlier R’n’B credibility that had made Five Live Yardbirds such a hit during the Blues boom.



Luckily for Beck, the nascent strains of psychedelia were just around the corner, fitting nicely with his disregard for anything approaching the straight playing of six strings. Even in his days before the Yardbirds with bands like the Tridents, Beck had demonstrated a stinging attack and ability to coax weird sounds from his guitar. Now with ballads like "Heart Full Of Soul" and "Shapes Of Things" he was given license to unleash the full fuzz terror of his proto metal stylings.



On Roger…the band approached something like the only proper studio album of this classic mid-period line-up. While Keith Relf’s rather anaemic blues yelps were never going to make them the rivals to the Stones or Beatles, the well-oiled rhythm section were perfectly suited to support some of Beck’s wildest sounds to date. From The gloomy chant of "Hot House of Omagarashid" to the cod-Arabian whirlings of “Over Under Sideways Down” these are songs that sit midway between Eel Pie Island and the UFO club. While they still clung to the 12-bar shapes that had seen them through the lean years (“The Nazz Are Blue”) they now had a stunning weapon in Beck’s filigree fills. Just listen to his amazing showboating on “Jeff’s Boogie”.



The Yardbirds Roger The Engineer



Single

01 - Happenings Ten Years Time Ago (mono)

02 - Psycho Daisies (mono)



The Mono album

03 - Lost Women

04 - Over Under Sideways Down

05 - The Nazz Are Blue

06 - I Can't Make Your Way

07 - Rack My Mind

08 - Farewell

09 - Hot House of Omagararshid

10 - Jeff's Boogie

11 - He's Always There

12 - Turn Into Earth

13 - What Do You Want

14 - Ever Since the World Began



The Stereo Album

15 - Lost Women

16 - Over Under Sideways Down

17 - The Nazz Are Blue

18 - I Can't Make Your Way

19 - Rack My Mind

20 – Farewell

21 - Hot House of Omagararshid

22 - Jeff's Boogie

23 - He's Always There

24 - Turn Into Earth

25 - What Do You Want

26 - Ever Since the World Began



Bonus Tracks: Singles By Keith Relf

27 - Mr. Zero

28 - Knowing

29 - Shapes in My Mind #1

30 - Shapes in My Mind #2

31 - Blue Sands (excerpt)



Total Time = 79:35