The Yardbirds Pictures

Beck and Clapton Trade Epic Licks as Co-Headlining Tour Launches

Photo: Mazur/WireImage As the final notes of “Cocaine” rang through Madison Square Garden last night, Jeff Beck quietly walked onto the stage next to Eric Clapton, sarcastically saluted his fellow guitar legend and launched into a jaw-dropping cover of Elmore James’ “Shake Your Money Maker.” For the next 40 minutes the former Yardbirds guitarists traded licks on songs by everyone from Willie Dixon to Sly Stone to Henry Mancini as the sold-out crowd reached a state of air guitar nirvana rarely ne

Published: 2010-02-19 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Live Shows, Rock News

Readers’ Rock List: Animal Bands

Rock Daily is amped to be hitting the SXSW festival later this week, where we’ll surely be encountering dozens of bands named after animals. So we dedicated the Weekend Rock List to all the Animal Bands that looked to wildlife for inspiration. To avoid a landslide, bugs — and thus the Beatles — were banned. With the Fab Four out, our readers voted Animal Collective as the king of the rock jungle, thanks to their new Merriweather Post Pavilion. The Collective edged out Eagles, Animals and many more furry and feathered bands. To see if your favorite Animal Band made it, check the Readers’ List below: 1. Animal Collective 2. Eagles 3. The Animals 4. Fleet Foxes 5. Grizzly Bear 6. Modest Mouse 7. Super Furry Animals 8. Cat Power 9. Panda Bear 10. Wolfmother 11. The Monkees 12. Def Leppard 13. Steppenwolf 14. Wolf Parade 15. Phish 16. The Byrds 17. Gorillaz 18. The Turtles 19. The Yardbirds 20. Dr. Dog

Published: 2009-03-16 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock Lists

Jimmy Page Testifies in Bootlegging Trial, Alice in Chains Announce Acoustic Gigs, Sebastian Bach Gets a New Deal

Led Zeppelin/Yardbirds/Black Crowes guitarist Jimmy Page has a new gig … as a prosecution witness in a Scottish bootlegging trial being held this week. Page has been recruited to provide evidence against Robert Langley, a businessman accused of trying to sell over 2,400 pirated CDs and DVDs, many of which were of Led Zeppelin. Sharon Osbourne’s father Don Arden, who helped foster the careers of Black Sabbath, Small Faces and ELO, has passed away at the age of 81. Now that there are no more episodes of the Gilmore Girls to star in, Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach is spending his free time working on a new album and record label. Alice in Chains will play four acoustic-only shows during the off days of their upcoming tour with Velvet Revolver. Check out the trailer for Wes Anderson’s new film The Darjeeling Limited. It’s like Rushmore, but in India. Photo: Wilson/Getty

Published: 2007-07-25 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Afternoon News Roundup

Watch Jeff Beck and Alice Cooper Explore the Yardbirds’ Impact

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Jeff Beck will release his new album Emotion & Commotion next Tuesday, April 13th, and as an extra incentive to purchase Beck’s first studio album in seven years on iTunes, the digital music service is offering up an exclusive 30-minute interview between Beck and Alice Cooper. The two rock icons talk about a wide range of topics from cars to guitars, but in this RS exclusive excerpt from the chat, they explore the influence of Beck’s other Rock Hall band, the

Published: 2010-04-09 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Jeff Beck, Rock News, Videos

Tour Tracker: Chickenfoot, Miley Cyrus and Zombies/Yardbirds

Photo: Harrison/Getty Rock supergroup Chickenfoot and that bassist who Eddie Van Halen may or may not have fired will embark on tour of bigger venues after their inaugural trek completely sold out. Plus, Miley Cyrus looks avoid more scalper controversy as her massive 45-date autumn tour goes the paperless ticket route and the British Invasion once again sweeps America as the Zombies, Yardbirds and Spencer Davis Group plot a joint jaunt. All the dates, after the jump. Chickenfoot August 2 - Hal

Published: 2009-06-03 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, On Tour

Metallica, Run-DMC, Jeff Beck Join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at Wild Induction Ceremony

Metallica, Run-DMC, Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony & The Imperials and Bobby Womack were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a star-packed ceremony in Cleveland last night and Rolling Stone was on hand to witness all the action onstage and behind the scenes. Read our full report for details on Eminem’s speech honoring Run-DMC, Metallica’s two-bassist set and the guitar orgy that kicked off when Jimmy Page took the stage to pay tribute to his onetime Yardbirds bandmate Jeff

Published: 2009-04-05 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Fricke’s Picks: UFO

In June 1973, the British hard-rock quartet UFO landed in Germany for a tour — as a trio, because their guitarist suddenly quit. UFO had already gone through two other guitarists since forming in 1969. But it was fourth time lucky when singer Phil Mogg, bassist Pete Way and drummer Andy Parker borrowed local teenage dynamo Michael Schenker, then in Scorpions, for the German dates. Schenker soon joined UFO full time, flanking Mogg’s tough-glam bray with meaty, melodic riffing, and charging the band’s boogie locomotion with lethal, articulate soloing on a run of albums — 1974’s Phenomenon, 1975’s Force It and 1976’s No Heavy Petting, all reissued with bonus tracks (Chrysalis/EMI) — that became holy text for the spandex boys just around the bend, including Def Leppard, Iron Maiden and Guns n’ Roses. UFO were, at the start, better jammers than composers (ballads were essentially breathers between cannonballs), and Phenomenon opens tentatively: “Oh My” sounds like it reads. But that album’s heavy-Yardbirds assaults, “Doctor Doctor” and “Rock Bottom,” are two of UFO’s — and Schenker’s — best moments on record. By Force It, the writing was sharper (”Let It Roll,” “Shoot Shoot”) and bolder (”Out in the Street”). No Heavy Petting came with keyboards and a poised mix of crunch and radio-wise pop that paid off in later FM hits like “Lights Out” and “Only You Can Rock Me.” Those two songs are on The Best of UFO (1974-1983) (Capitol), out soon to coincide with a U.S. tour by the current lineup of UFO (which will not include Schenker, who has been in and out of the band a few times since 1979). That set has everything for the novice, but the reissues — with seventeen extra tracks spread over them, including period demos, outtakes and hot, live juice — are the real phenomenon.

Published: 2008-04-09 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Fricke's Picks

“Anji” Guitarist Davy Graham Dead at 68

Photo: Mills/Redferns/Retna Folk guitarist Davy Graham, a major influence on artists like Led Zeppelin and Simon & Garfunkel, passed away on December 15th at the age of 68. According to Graham’s manager, the fingerstyle guitar great was diagnosed with lung cancer only a few weeks ago and suffered a seizure. With his 1962 debut EP 3/4 AD, Graham introduced his most famous composition, the instrumental “Anji,” a song that was later covered by Simon & Garfunkel for their Sounds of Silence album. Graham’s “She Moved Thru the Fair” also reportedly heavily influenced Jimmy Page on the Yardbirds’ (and later Led Zeppelin’s) “White Summer,” even though Graham didn’t receive a song credit. A private service for Graham will be held this week, with a public memorial planned for January.

Published: 2008-12-17 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Vintage Rock T-Shirt Phenomenon Appears to Top Out

While the market for CDs is steadily declining, the market for moth-bitten, sweat-drenched vintage concert T-shirts may be hitting its peak. Christie’s, the famed auction house, will auction about thirty rock T-shirts from yesteryear with prices averaging at the bargain bin-friendly price of $2,000. On the block is a plain yellow Yardbirds T-shirt, worn by journalist Greg Shaw at the 1967 Monterey Pop festival, which is noted as “one of the earliest known rock T-shirts.” That shirt will likely receive bids in the $4,000 range, despite the fact that, for less than 1% of that price, anyone can go to Cafepress.com and make their own knock-off. A burgundy Led Zeppelin tour shirt from 1973 is expected to claim about $1,500. Also in the lot of thirty vintage T-shirts, all of which were featured in the Johan Kugelberg’s photo book What Comes Around Goes Around: Vintage Rock T-Shirts, is a David Bowie Ziggy-era tour shirt and a pretty cool shirt that asks simply, “Who The Fuck Are The Rolling Stones Anyway?” Bids on the rock apparel will begin on November 30th. Until then, while you’re not rummaging through Salvation Armys and attics or cashing in on your life savings, check out our gallery of some of the coolest vintage T-shirts in rock history.

Published: 2007-11-20 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Jeff Beck Opens Up About Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Gigs With Clapton, Jeff Beck Group Reunion

Photo: Shamin/Wireimage 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 Sto

Published: 2009-01-16 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Fricke’s Picks: Lobby Loyde

When Australian guitarist Lobby Loyde died of lung cancer on April 21st at age sixty-five, that country lost its first homegrown guitar hero. Born John Baslington Lyde in Queensland in 1941, he was a founding architect and guardian spirit of Aussie garage rock and heavy music for more than three decades. Loyde’s playing — direct, muscular, frenzied — on Sixties hand-grenade singles by the Purple Hearts and the Wild Cherries and his bruising early-Seventies LPs with Coloured Balls also made him a long-distance inspiration to American fans such as Henry Rollins and Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus. None of those records were originally issued here, and Loyde never performed in the U.S. A recent series of deluxe import reissues will leave you wondering why. The ‘65-’67 singles and woodshed-fidelity demos on Benzedrine Beat! (Half a Cow) are everything Loyde cut with the Purple Hearts, a furious mod-R&B band modeled on the Yardbirds and the Pretty Things. But the Hearts’ distinguishing intensity was Loyde’s combination of terse, rhythmic attack and dynamic-swordplay leads, like Eric Clapton dogfighting with Jimmy Page. Loyde’s driving strum and flourishes, heightened with high-speed tremolo, is a big reason why the Hearts’ ‘66 single “Of Hopes and Dreams and Tombstones” is an Aussie-garage landmark. Loyde is on only eight tracks of a new Wild Cherries anthology, That’s Life (Half a Cow). But those ‘67 and ‘68 A and B sides are all explosive, freak-beat soul. Loyde doesn’t solo at length, but the dirty boom of his outbursts in “That’s Life” and his echo-drenched screams in “Krome Plated Yabby” blow through the lumpy production with psychedelic vengeance. (The rest of That’s Life is demos, etc., by earlier lineups — and no minor rave-up.) Loyde disciples AC/DC took Aussie power boogie to the world in the Seventies — but onl

Published: 2007-06-03 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Fricke's Picks

Eric Clapton

From his early days in the Yardbirds and Cream to his current status as guitar icon and bluesman extraordinaire, Eric Clapton has released more than 40 albums over the course of his 40-year career. Here, the legendary rocker pauses to reflect on fishing, his wife and children, and Rupert Murdoch.

Published: 2009-10-21 Provider: Vanity Fair