• Track Listing

Successors to The Rolling Stones at the legendary Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, Surrey, THE YARDBIRDS - with Eric Clapton on lead guitar - were initially viewed as regular white Blues/R&B band. Their initial inspiration and repertoire drew from "the usual suspects", i.e. men like Howlin' Wolf, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, Elmore James, and of course Sonny Boy Williamson II, with whom they toured. However, from the outset they were different to their peers and played long, extended, free-form improvisations - which they called "Rave-Ups" - long before anyone else in the UK. This unique compilation presents the original versions of many of the numbers that they either recorded, or became staple elements of their live sets. The "Most Blueswailing Yardbirds" would go on to become influential way beyond their expectations.