For Your Love (album)
For Your Love is the first American album by English rock band the Yardbirds. Released in July 1965,[lower-alpha 2] it contains new studio recordings along with previously released singles.[3] The album features some of the earliest recordings by guitarists Eric Clapton and his replacement Jeff Beck.
| For Your Love | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 1965 | |||
| Recorded | March 1964 – April 1965 | |||
| Studio | Olympic, IBC and Advision, London | |||
| Genre | Blues rock | |||
| Length | 31:04 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Producer | Giorgio Gomelsky[lower-alpha 1] | |||
| The Yardbirds US album chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Yardbirds' manager, Giorgio Gomelsky, who selected the songs, planned to capitalise on the group's hit "For Your Love". The album, released as the Yardbirds were preparing for their first American tour, reached number 96 in Billboard's Top LPs chart. It was unissued in the UK, although the songs with Beck were released in August 1965 on the Five Yardbirds EP.
Recording and composition
For Your Love features three songs from Jeff Beck's first recording sessions with the Yardbirds: "I'm Not Talking", "I Ain't Done Wrong", and "My Girl Sloopy".[4] Eric Clapton provided the guitar for the remainder of the tracks, that include the three Yardbirds singles (with B-sides) released up to that time and two demos which were not released in the UK until the 1980s (see discography for singles information).[5]
"I Ain't Done Wrong" was solely credited as a Keith Relf composition, as part of the group's desire to emulate the Beatles and other some other British groups that were doing their own songwriting.[6] In reality, though, "I Ain't Done Wrong" was largely a rewrite of Eddie Kirkland's "I Must Have Done Somebody Wrong",[7] by way of Elmore James' own rewrite, "Done Somebody Wrong".[6]
Clapton, who had left the band four months earlier, is not pictured on the album cover nor mentioned in the liner notes.[8] Group chronicler Gregg Russo notes, "The cover was somewhat of a joke, as Jeff Beck was humorously seated in front of a keyboard that he did not play on the album."[8]
Charts and reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [9] |
The album reached number 96 in Billboard's Top LPs chart.[10] It was the Yardbirds' first charting album; their British debut, Five Live Yardbirds, did not reach the UK Albums Chart and was not issued in the US.
In a retrospective review, AllMusic writer Bruce Eder gave the album three out of five stars, who notes the inconsistency of the Gomelsky-selected material.[9] He describes the songs with Beck as "hard, loud, blazing showcases ... show[ing] where the band was really heading" and although the material with Clapton is "primitive" compared to his later efforts, it "was some of the best blues-based rock & roll of its era [1964]."[9]
Track listing
Original album
Songwriter credits are taken from the original Epic LP.[1] However, since the running times are not given, those from The Yardbirds Story (2002), produced by Gomelsky, are used instead.[11]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead guitar/ recording date(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "For Your Love" | Graham Gouldman | Eric Clapton, 1/2/65 | 2:28 |
| 2. | "I'm Not Talking" | Mose Allison | Jeff Beck, 13/4/65 | 2:31 |
| 3. | "Putty (In Your Hands)" | Kay Rogers, John Patton | Clapton, 11/64 | 2:11 |
| 4. | "I Ain't Got You" | Calvin Carter | Clapton, 19/9/64 | 1:59 |
| 5. | "Got to Hurry" (take 3) | Oscar Rasputin a.k.a. Giorgio Gomelsky[lower-alpha 3] | Clapton, 6/8/64 | 2:34 |
| 6. | "I Ain't Done Wrong" | Keith Relf | Beck, 15/3/65 | 3:37 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead guitar/ recording date(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Wish You Would" | Billy Boy Arnold | Clapton, 3/64 | 2:18 |
| 2. | "A Certain Girl" | Naomi Neville a.k.a. Allen Toussaint | Clapton, 3/64 | 2:16 |
| 3. | "Sweet Music" (stereo, take 3) | Major Lance, Otis Leavill Cobb, Walter Bowie | Uncertain, 11/64 | 2:29 |
| 4. | "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" | H.G. Demarais[lower-alpha 4] | Clapton, 8–9/64 | 2:52 |
| 5. | "My Girl Sloopy" | Bert Russell, Wes Farrell | Beck, 13/4/65 | 5:36 |
Album reissues
The Yardbirds' 2001 compilation album Ultimate! contains eight of the eleven tracks from the original album.[17] For Your Love has been reissued by several record labels, including JVC, Castle, and Repertoire.[9] In addition to the eleven tracks from the original album, the Repertoire reissue includes 13 non-album single and demo tracks.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Baby, What's Wrong" (demo) | Sonny Boy Williamson II | 2:38 |
| 13. | "Boom Boom" (A-side of German/Dutch "Honey in Your Hips") | John Lee Hooker | 2:25 |
| 14. | "Honey in Your Hips" (B-side of "Boom Boom") | Relf | 2:19 |
| 15. | "Talkin' About You" (demo) | Chuck Berry | 1:56 |
| 16. | "I Wish You Would" (demo) | Arnold | 4:17 |
| 17. | "A Certain Girl" (demo) | Neville | 2:21 |
| 18. | "Got to Hurry" (demo, take 4) | Gomelsky | 2:35 |
| 19. | "Sweet Music" (demo, take 4) | Lance | 2:28 |
| 20. | "Heart Full of Soul" (demo, sitar version) | Gouldman | 1:54 |
| 21. | "Steeled Blues" (B-side of "Heart Full of Soul") | Jeff Beck | 2:38 |
| 22. | "Paff...Bum" (shorter version, B-side of German "Shapes of Things") | Sergio Bardotti, Gianfranco Reverberi, Paul Samwell-Smith | 2:27 |
| 23. | "Questa Volta" (A-side of Italian "Paff...Bum") | Mogol Audio 2, Johnny Dinamo, Roberto Satti | 2:33 |
| 24. | "Paff...Bum" (longer version, B-side of "Questa Volta") | Bardotti, Reverberi, Samwell-Smith | 2:36 |
Personnel
The Yardbirds[19]
- Keith Relf – lead vocals, harmonica, acoustic guitar on "Heart Full of Soul"
- Eric Clapton – lead guitar on all tracks, except those with Beck and "Questa Volta"[lower-alpha 5]
- Jeff Beck – lead guitar on "I'm Not Talking", "I Ain't Done Wrong", "My Girl Sloopy", "Steeled Blues" and "Paff...Bum"
- Chris Dreja – rhythm guitar, lead guitar on "Questa Volta"
- Paul Samwell-Smith – bass guitar, backing vocals, musical director
- Jim McCarty – drums, backing vocals
Additional musicians[19]
- Giorgio Gomelsky – backing vocals on "A Certain Girl"
- Brian Auger – harpsichord on "For Your Love"
- Denny Pierce – bongos on "For Your Love"
- Ron Prentice – bowed bass on "For Your Love", bass on "Heart Full of Soul"
- Manfred Mann – keyboard and backing vocals on "Sweet Music"
- Paul Jones – backing vocals on "Sweet Music"
- Mike Hugg – vibes on "Sweet Music"
- Tom McGuinness – guitar on "Sweet Music"
- Mike Vickers – guitar on "Sweet Music"
- unidentified – sitar on "Heart Full of Soul"
- unidentified – tabla on "Heart Full of Soul"
- unidentified – keyboards on "Paff...Bum" and "Questa Volta"
Notes
- Manfred Mann produced the "Sweet Music" track only.[1]
- Group chronicler Greg Russo also gives a secondary "street" release date of 5 July 1965.[2]
- In his 2007 autobiography, Eric Clapton writes "'Got to Hurry' which was based on a tune hummed by Giorgio [Gomelsky], who gave himself the writing credit under the pseudonym O. Rasputin."[12] Clapton biographer Marc Roberty calls it "the first song Clapton ever wrote, although credited to Gomelsky".[13] Cub Koda and Gregg Russo describe it as "cobbled together out of a group jam".[14]
- H.G. Demarais (or Dee Marais), a Shreveport, Louisiana record label owner/distributor, was credited on the original LP. Roberty lists the songwriters as Don Level and Bob Love,[15] who first recorded the song in 1961 as the R&B duo Don and Bob. Some reissues list Sonny Boy Williamson, who recorded a different "Good Morning, School Girl" in 1937.[16]
- On "Sweet Music", it is not clear if Clapton plays guitar.
References
-
For Your Love (Album notes). The Yardbirds. LP label: Epic Records. 1965. OCLC 29310757. BN 26167.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - Russo 2016, p. 213
- Russo 2016, pp. 37, 40.
- Russo 2016, pp. 36–40.
- Russo 2016, pp. 37–40, 212.
- McCarty, Jim; Thompson, Dave (2018). Nobody Told Me: My Life with the Yardbirds, Renaissance and Other Stories. Self-published. pp. 112, 115. ISBN 978-0-244-96650-8.
- Merchant, Stuart (7 July 2000). "Make a Note of these... Little Eddie Kirkland". Birmingham Evening Mail – via ProQuest.
- Russo 2016, p. 37.
- Eder, Bruce. "The Yardbirds: For Your Love – Album Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
- Koda & Russo 2001, p. 50.
- Gomelsky & Cohen 2002, pp. 11, 21.
- Clapton 2007, p. 53.
- Roberty 1993, p. 18.
- Koda & Russo 2001, p. 27.
- Roberty 1993, p. 19.
- Koda & Russo 2001, p. 9.
- Koda & Russo 2001, pp. 44–45.
- Eder, Bruce. "The Yardbirds: For Your Love [Germany Bonus Tracks] (CD - Repertoire #REP 4757)". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- Koda & Russo 2001, p. 48.
Sources
- Clapton, Eric (2007). Clapton: The Autobiography. New York City: Broadway Books. ISBN 978-0-7679-2536-5.
- Clayson, Alan (2002). The Yardbirds. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. ISBN 0-87930-724-2.
- Gomelsky, Giorgio; Cohen, Phil (2002). The Yardbirds Story (Boxed set booklet). The Yardbirds. United Kingdom: Charly Records. OCLC 62367983. SNAD 905 CD.
- Koda, Cub; Russo, Gregg (2001). Ultimate! (Boxed set booklet). The Yardbirds. Los Angeles: Rhino Records. OCLC 781357622. R2 79825.
- Roberty, Mark (1993). Slowhand: The Complete Life and Times of Eric Clapton. New York City: Crown Trade Paperbacks. ISBN 0-517-88118-7.
- Russo, Greg (2016). Yardbirds: The Ultimate Rave-Up (6th. ed.). Crossfire Publications. ISBN 978-0-9791845-7-4.