Do You Remember the British Invasion ? (Pt. 1)

When the Beatles appeared in America on Ed Sullivan's TV show on February 9, 1964, watched by 73.7 million viewers, what would come to be called "the British Invasion" had its official start. In the wake of the rock 'n' roll foursome from Liverpool would come such bestselling bands as the Dave Clark Five, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Herman's Hermits, and the Rolling Stones.

One of the most significant of these follow-on bands, though it didn't sell as many records as the Beatles or the Stones, began as a founding father to the emerging British blues scene. Going through several lineup changes in a few short years during the 1960s, it became the launching pad for three of the legendary blues-rock guitarists of the day: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. Page went on to found one of the more successful rock bands ever, Led Zeppelin.

Here they are in a clip from the American rock 'n' roll TV show "Shindig," doing their hit "For Your Love" ... the Yardbirds!



The Yardbirds performed "For Your Love" twice on episodes of "Shindig." The clip above comes from the first one, the September 23, 1965, episode. Later, they reprised "For Your Love" on "Shindig Goes To London, Part 2" filmed at the Richmond-On-Thames Jazz Festival, August 6 – 8, 1965, to be aired on December 9, 1965. (Information about the Yardbirds' TV appearances can be found here at the TV.com website.)

By this time, Eric Clapton had already left the group, citing a lack of blues purity. He had played on the decidedly non-blues "For Your Love" — on the original record, that is — but by the time the Yardbirds started to go places in the transatlantic rock world he had been replaced as lead guitarist by Jeff Beck, who plays 12-string acoustic in the clip above.

In the clip, the lead singer is Keith Relf, the rhythm guitarist is Chris Dreja, the bassist is Paul Samwell-Smith, and the drummer is Jim McCarty.

From that same "Shindig," here is the Yardbirds' "Heart Full of Soul":



It is not easy to find TV clips with Clapton as a Yardbird. Here is one that apparently aired in spring 1964 on the British television program "Go Tell It On the Mountain." The band performs the John Lee Hooker blues classic "Louise":



With Beck on lead guitar the Yardbirds appeared on the American TV show "Hullabaloo" on December 6, 1965, performing the Bo Diddley blues classic "I'm a Man":



Jeff Beck was fired from the group in late 1966, but in June of that year Jimmy Page joined, replacing Samwell-Smith, with Dreja moving from rhythm guitar to bass. For about half a year, the Yardbirds had two of the all-time-great lead guitarists!

With that lineup they appeared on American TV, on the Milton Berle Show on November, 11, 1966, performing "Happenings Ten Years' Time Ago":



While Page and Beck were both Yardbirds, the group was featured in the 1966 movie Blow Up performing "Stroll On":



With the departure of Beck the Yardbirds became — and stayed — a foursome until July 1968, when they technically disbanded ... only to evolve into Led Zeppelin. While a foursome they appeared on the German TV show "BEAT BEAT BEAT" on March 16, 1967, playing (among other songs) "Shapes of Things," with a guitar solo by Page:



From that same TV gig, here's their earlier hit "Over Under Sideways Down," originally recorded while Beck (along with Page) was still with the group: