The Yardbirds Greatest Hits is the first compilation album of songs recorded by the Yardbirds. It was released in the United States in March 1967 by Epic Records and included all six of the Yardbirds' American A-side singles up to that time, plus three B-sides and the live "Smokestack Lightning" from Having a Rave Up. The album was their highest charting LP record in the US, peaking at number 28 on the Billboard 200 album chart. (More from Wikipedia)
It wasn't just the hits though; their album tracks also sound terrific, but it is as a live band that the Yardbirds truly cook. On my first Yardbirds album, The Yardbirds' Greatest Hits, one live track was included, a scorching cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightning"; as much as I loved the hit songs that made up most of the tracks, it quickly became one of my favorite songs on the album. "Smokestack Lightning" was taken from the band's first (British) album, Five Live Yardbirds, described by Allmusic as "the first important – indeed, essential – live album to come out of the 1960's British rock & roll boom." And how many rock bands have the guts to put out a concert album as their debut release? Five Live Yardbirds wasn't released in the U.S. until a CD finally came out in the 1980's, although one side of Having a Rave up with the Yardbirds was composed of four songs from the album.
(May 2014)
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