The 500 - #355 - Having A Rave Up - The Yardbirds

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: # 355

Album Title: Having A Rave Up

Artist: The Yardbirds

Genre: Blues Rock, Experimental Pop

Recorded: March, 1964 (Live), Summer, 1965 (Studio)

Released: November, 1965

My age at release: 3 months

How familiar was I with it before this week: A little

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Smokestack Lightning Selected by my Twitter chum & 500 fan, @teajaygee

There is a tiresome formula used in creating crime stories for many films and television programs. A detective, usually one struggling with strong personal issues such as alcohol, divorce or childhood demons has become obsessed with an unsolved crime, typically murder. The stakes are raised when the police chief shuts down the case without explanation, which compels the suffering protagonist to take a leave of absence to "get his damn life together!"

The detective's partner, a genuinely concerned friend, visits the beleaguered cop’s home to give support and comfort. The house is a shambles. A living-room wall has been painstakingly bestrewn into chaotic, patchwork of evidence from the case, each article, map and clue connected by a web-work of yarn.

A typical example of an investigation wall

As I looked into the history of The Yardbirds for this week's record, 1965's Having A Rave Up,  I felt as if I was at the center of a rich investigation into music history. The "yarn-strings" of my research symbolically stretched back to the Chicago and Mississippi-Delta blues (the birth of rock-and-roll) and forward through three of the biggest rock guitarists of my generation, and beyond -- Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. The trio are ranked second, third and fifth respectively on Rolling Stone Magazine’s article on the 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time.

(l-r) Clapton, Page & Beck

There are too many historical connections to this record to cover in this forum, but I will touch on a few. For example, this record features one of the earliest studio uses of the “fuzz-box” guitar pedal. The fuzz-box is an audio signal distortion device that alters the sound of amplified instruments (typically guitar) to create a growling, "fuzzy" tone that became a staple of the hard rock, psychedelia, heavy metal and punk that dominated the music of the late-sixties and early-seventies.

The Gibson Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz Pedal (First Generation)

The Yardbirds formed in London, England, in 1963 as a blues-based group well known for their live performances. In fact, side two of Having A Rave Up was recorded at The Marquee Club in March, 1964, with Clapton on lead guitar. The material was taken from their debut record Five Live Yardbirds, an album that had a limited, U.K.-only, release.

Five Live Yardbirds - U.K. only debut release by The Yardbirds

In March, 1965, Clapton left the group to join John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers. Beck joined the group shortly after and The Yardbirds went to the studio to record the music that would appear on side one of Having A Rave Up.

The Yardbirds 1965, (l-r) Beck, Page, Chris Dreja (bass), 
Keith Reif (vocals/harmonica) & Jim McCarty (drums)

A signature element of The Yardbirds' sound is the "rave up" -- a music idea borrowed from the world of jazz. A rave up is an extended instrumental jam (improvisation) in the middle of a song. The beat of the song increases over a few bars until it is in double-time. The guitar-driven melody is forced to build in energy to a climax before the band returns to the normal beat and concludes the song. In his book, Sixties Rock: Garage, Psychedelic And Other Satisfactions (2000), music historian Michael Hicks described it thusly:

"Wherever it occurred, the rave-up made a small narrative curve that introduced a basic conflict (backbeat vs. off-beats), drove that conflict to a climax (by getting more and more raucous), then resolved it (by returning it to a 'normal' beat). Through this technique the Yardbirds created a rock mannerism; sometimes the rave-up seemed the whole point of the song." 

I love a rave up. As a fan of improvisational jams in rock music, it scratches an itch. The growing energy is intense and thrilling. Anticipating the climax can give me cranberry-sized goosebumps. It may be one of my favourite parts of live music -- when the band goes "off-script" and finds a “groove-pocket” to play in. As a hobby player, I envy that level of musicianship.

Roger The Engineers - Yardbirds (1965)

We'll be back to The Yardbirds in five weeks when I check out their next release, Roger The Engineer. Until then, let your hair down. Enjoy a Rave Up!