The Yardbirds
FIRST-CLASS FLIGHT
Reconvened After Three Decades, the Yardbirds Soar on Birdland
They weren't the best-known act of their generation, but in terms of influence, family tree, and output, it's hard to trump the Yardbirds. Founded in the early '60s by guitarist Chris Dreja and drummer Jim McCarty, the band ran through a who's who of guitarists -- Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page among them -- over the course of their run. In shifting from moody pop to potent psychedelia to proto-heavy metal, the Yardbirds set the tone for countless streams of rock to come. Now, after a hiatus of more than three decades, Dreja and McCarty are back for another go with the bracingly potent Birdland. Joined by a host of contemporary guitar heroes -- including Slash, Steve Vai, Brian May, and Joe Satriani -- they've crafted a nifty blend of updated classics and newly penned material that covers as much ground as the band did in their heyday. Chris Dreja gave Barnes & Noble.com's David Sprague a bird's-eye view of Birdland.
Barnes & Noble.com: Did you have any reservations about revisiting the older material on the album?
Chris Dreja : It's never an easy thing to do, since it can be dangerous to mess with the past. Although we wanted it to be 21st century sonically, we wanted to make sure that we maintained the integrity and dignity of those songs in the process. We worked with a great producer, and between us, we were able to cut that balance.
B&N.com: Were you looking to make "updated" versions of the songs in question?
CD: Only really in terms of the sound. We didn't want to tamper too much with original arrangements, because we were happy with the way they were done originally. We'd done that with the Box of Frogs project a few years back, rearranging a song called "Heart Full of Soul," and while it was interesting, in retrospect, it didn't work as well.
B&N.com: Were your guest stars given a script to follow, or did you let them wing it?
CD: A bit of both, actually. Some of it was organic and some...well...when we heard that Brian May was keen to play on the album, and that "Mr. You're a Better Man than I" was a favorite track of his, we thought that would be a perfect fit. We'd spoken to Steve Vai early on, and we knew he was interested in working on "Shapes of Things" -- and knew he'd do something quite different than the original. So it was a little bit of placing and a little bit organic.
B&N.com: Was it difficult to find the right group of people for the rest of the band?
CD: As you know, the Yardbirds is sort of a finishing school for guitar gods, but at the time they all joined, they weren't "gods." They were just very good players who wanted to be in the band, and the "god" part came later. But sure, the Yardbirds aren't the kind of band you can just go to the Yellow Pages and say, send me a great guitar player. The members have to have great simpatico both as individuals and as it regards the music. Obviously, it's a challenge, but I think we got it right.
B&N.com: You talked about guitar gods, but Keith Relf [the Yardbirds' late frontman] was probably equally hard to replace.
CD: Yes, very. John [Idan] is interesting. He actually comes from Detroit and he's not of our generation, but he knows the music quite well. He came over to Britain in the early '80s and met [the Yardbirds'] very, very first guitar player, a fellow named Top Topham, and we became friends through that. What John does, especially on the original material, is show a great grace, a great deference to the material, and he visually is so interesting to look at -- like us but a generation before. I like to say he's a sperm bank job we tucked away until necessary. [laughs]
B&N.com: How did you come to write "An Original Man," the tribute to Keith that ends the record?
CD: I was sitting at home one gloomy Sunday and I was looking at some photographs of Keith from a book that I was reading. We miss him tremendously. He wrote wonderful lyrics, he was a sensitive guy, and I think he may have been a bit overshadowed by the guitar players in the band. But I've seen so many people take his look, his mannerism, in recent years, with Brit-pop and all. He was a true original. It's a tremendous shame that he died so young, and so tragically.
B&N.com: Was there any difficulty -- emotionally, or from the other surviving members -- in using the name Yardbirds?
CD: All our former colleagues have come down to shows and given us the thumbs-up. Jimmy Page rang me up and said, "You're keeping the legend well alive," so there's not even a blip on the radar in terms of trouble. It's been a true pleasure.
April 18, 2003
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