OVER UNDER SIDEWAYS DOWN
“Over Under Sideways Down” is a single by The Yardbirds released on Columbia in the UK and Epic in the U.S. It charted in the UK at No. 10, and in the US at No. 13. It was the title song to the album Over Under Sideways Down (US, German and French title), or Yardbirds (UK title) which is more commonly referred to as Roger the Engineer. The song was inspired by Bill Haley and the Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock” with Jeff Beck on lead guitar and bass guitar. “Over Under Sideways Down” was rated No. 23 in Rolling Stone Magazine’s list The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time. (More from Wikipedia)
The frequent hit songs by the Yardbirds – “I’m a Man”, “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago”, “For Your Love”, “Heart Full of Soul”, “Shapes of Things”, “Over Under Sideways Down”, etc. – hit my eardrums with at least as powerful an impact as the greatest Rolling Stones songs, like “Brown Sugar”, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”, “Paint it Black”, “Get off of My Cloud”, “Sympathy for the Devil”, “Street Fighting Man”, etc. To me though, these songs sound every bit as fresh to me today, probably because they haven’t been played to death on oldies’ radio as much as anything else.
(May 2014)
