[.ca] Roger The Engineer

From Amazon.com:
England's Yardbirds were often overlooked in favor of other bands during the heyday of the British Invasion, but their legacy has loomed large for decades after their demise. After all, they fostered the careers of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page, and bands such as Renaissance, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Blind Faith, and the Jeff Beck Group. After cutting their teeth as faithful, if energetic, blues revivalists on live albums and a handful of singles, they cut this, their first real studio album, in 1966. Taking their cue from previous singles like the Gregorian-influenced "Still I'm Sad" and the future-shocker "Shapes of Things," the 'Birds produced what remains one of blues-rock's most progressive and distinctive albums--and one that, remarkably, was never initially released in the U.S. in its original form. Veering sharply from Beck's classic riffing on the rollicking "Over Under Sideways Down," the band explores broad palettes of style and hue, be it the more traditional blues of "Lost Woman," neomedieval turns ("Ever Since the World Began," "Turn Into Earth"), strange psychedelia ("Hot House of Omagarashid"), or showcases for Beck's playful, pioneering fret work ("Jeff's Boogie"). As an added bonus, the CD includes both sides of the band's sonically apocalyptic single "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago"/"Psycho Daisies" (with the rare twin-lead guitar lineup of Beck and Jimmy Page) and a handful of extremely rare solo tracks vocalist Keith Relf cut during the same period. An album as enjoyable as it is historically influential. --Jerry McCulley

And They Yardmorize Some More:
So much has been said about The Yardbirds classic album ROGER THE ENGINEER, and with good reason--it was their only chance to get into the studio and make an LP the way they wanted to make it. Sure, it has its share of filler. "Jeff's Boogie" is a pleasant-but-inessential instrumental workout by Jeff Beck, and "Ever Since the World Began" is good only for a few laughs. But the LP has so many classic sides to offer, like "Over Under Sideways Down," "Lost Woman," "He's Always There," "Turn Into Earth," and so many others. The group modernizes its original blues style on some tracks, goes into straight rock on others, delivers haunting and eerie choral pieces on others, and even knocks out an avant garde number in the shape of "Hot House of Omagararshid." Though the LP was recorded very quickly and they copy off not only their blues heros (as usual) but also their own previous efforts, it is still obvious that they put a lot into this album. Jeff Beck's guitar playing is first rate, as is Paul Samwell-Smith's bass (or Mick's bass--they used some dude named Mick when Paul preferred to just produce). Jim McCarty beats the hell out of those drums, and Chris Dreja handles rhythm guitar, piano, and wobble-board. Keith Relf's nasal voice and blues harp are in top form. The instrumental and vocal arrangements are superb, and the lyrics to many of these songs are among the group's most personal. CD reissues tend to include the rockin' psych masterpiece "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" and its UK B-side "Psycho Daisies," both of which make up the only Yardbirds single recorded with both Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. The 1998 Diablo reissue includes both the mono and stereo versions of the album, which is helpful because the mono versions of "Hot House," "He's Always There" and "Turn Into Earth" differ markedly from their stereo counterparts (though the sound quality on the mono versions could stand improvement). The Diablo CD also adds on solo tracks by Keith Relf, which are first-rate Anglo-pop, including a version of Bob Lind's "Mr. Zero," which is considerably more concise than the original.

A 1966 Milestone:
"Over, Under, Sideways, Down" or "The Yardbirds" or "Roger the Engineer" was the Yardbirds' first real album released in 1966. They had released two albums in America in 1965 "For Your Love" and "Having a Rave Up", but they were merely compilations of singles, EP's , live-recordings or obscure recording which were included to fill up the albums to reach an acceptable playing-time. For the first time they were given the opportunity to record a real album. The were not given unlimited studio-time; on the contrary; the album was recorded during a very short time-period; I believe it was about 2 weeks. This makes the result even more impressive. It's no exaggeration to call this album one a the greatest of the mid-sixties. Very tight playing by everyone, impressive and innovative guitar-work from Jeff Beck, solid vocals and great songs. In my opinion there is no doubt that it's Jeff Beck who makes the difference. I love the sounds he can get out of his guitar. It's not difficult to imagine who stunned people would we when listening to his guitar back in 66. The great mixture of traditional blues and the new psychedelic sounds has never been surpassed. Even classic 12 bar blues tracks like "Lost Woman","Over, Under, Sideways, Down", "The Nazz Are Blue", "Rack My Mind", "Jeff's Boogie" and "What Do You Want" sounded (sounds) new; and these recordings still sound uplifting and full of energy today. On songs like "Ever Since The World Began", "Turn Into Earth", "Hot House" and "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" showed a purer progressive side of the band. In fact "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" was not originally included on the album, as it was recorded shortly after, at a time when Jimmy Page had also joined the group. "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" was released as a single with "Psycho Daisies" as the b-side. These two songs have been featured on most re-releases of the album, and can almost be considered as originals. The moving "Farewell" is a another favourite; makes you think of the sad destiny of Keith Relf who died electrocuted in 1976 by his own guitar while practising at his home. Unfortunately this 2 lead-guitarist period would last very short, as Jeff Beck soon left. As far as I know, they only recorded 3 songs; with "Stroll On" from the movie "Blow Up" as the third. The bonus tracks make the CD an even better buy. The Keith Relf solo tracks a all solid; in fact they are really the Yardbirds backing singer Relf. "Mr Zero" is not far from later Yardbirds recordings like "Little Soldier Boy". If you're even the least interested in the music that came out of the 1960's this milestone is a must buy!

A 1966 Milestone:
"Over, Under, Sideways, Down" or "The Yardbirds" or "Roger the Engineer" was the Yardbirds' first real album released in 1966. They had released two albums in America in 1965 "For Your Love" and "Having a Rave Up", but they were merely a compilations of singles, EP's , live-recordings or obscure recording which were included to fill up the albums to reach an acceptable playing-time. For the first time they were given the opportunity to record a real album. The were not given unlimited studio-time; on the contrary; the album was recorded during a very short time-period; I believe it was about 2 weeks. This makes the result even more impressive. It's no exaggeration to call this album one a the greatest of the mid-sixties. Very tight playing by everyone, impressive and innovative guitar-work from Jeff Beck, solid vocals and great songs. In my opinion there is no doubt that it's Jeff Beck who makes the difference. I love the sounds he can get out of his guitar. It's not difficult to imagine who stunned people would we when listening to his guitar back in 66. The great mixture of traditional blues and the new psychedelic sounds has never been surpassed. Even classic 12 bar blues tracks like "Lost Woman","Over, Under, Sideways, Down", "The Nazz Are Blue", "Rack My Mind", "Jeff's Boogie" and "What Do You Want" sounded (sounds) new; and these recordings still sound uplifting and full of energy today. On songs like "Ever Since The World Began", "Turn Into Earth", "Hot House" and "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" showed a purer progressive side of the band. In fact "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" was not originally included on the album, as it was recorded shortly after, at a time when Jimmy Page had also joined the group. "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" was released as a single with "Psycho Daisies" as the b-side. These two songs have been featured on most re-releases of the album, and can almost be considered as originals. The moving "Farewell" is a another favourite; makes you think of the sad destiny of Keith Relf who died electrocuted in 1976 by his own guitar while practising at his home. Unfortunately this 2 lead-guitarist period would last very short, as Jeff Beck soon left. As far as I know, they only recorded 3 songs; with "Stroll On" from the movie "Blow Up" as the third. The bonus tracks make the CD an even better buy. The Keith Relf solo tracks a all solid; in fact they are really the Yardbirds backing singer Relf. "Mr Zero" is not far from later Yardbirds recordings like "Little Soldier Boy". If you're even the least interested in the music that came out of the 1960's this milestone is a must buy!

• Happenings Ten Years Time Ago \oMono\c
• Psycho Daisies \oMono\c
• Lost Woman \oMono\c
• Over, Under, Sideways, Down \oMono\c
• Nazz Are Blue \oMono\c
• I Can't Make Your Way \oMono\c
• Rack My Mind \oMono\c
• Farewell \oMono\c
• Hot House of Omagarashid \oMono\c
• Jeff's Boogie \oMono\c
• He's Always There \oMono\c
• Turn into Earth \oMono\c
• What Do You Want \oMono\c
• Ever Since the World Began \oMono\c
• Lost Woman \oMono\c
• Over, Under, Sideways, Down \oStereo\c
• Nazz Are Blue \oStereo\c
• I Can't Make Your Way \oStereo\c
• Rack My Mind \oStereo\c
• Farewell \oStereo\c
• Hot House of Omagarashid \oStereo\c
• Jeff's Boogie \oStereo\c
• He's Always There \oStereo\c
• Turn into Earth \oStereo\c
• What Do You Want \oStereo\c
• Ever Since the World Began \oStereo\c
• Mr. Zero \o*\c
• Knowing \o*\c
• Shapes in My Mind \oVersion 1\c\o*\c
• Shapes in My Mind \oVersion 2\c\o*\c
• Blue Sands \oExcerpt\c\o*\c