The Yardbirds’ ‘Yardbirds ’68’: Jimmy Page Remix

The Yardbirds rank among the top ’60s British bands, having first boasted guitar god Eric Clapton, followed by Jeff Beck and finally Jimmy Page as its virtuoso axmen. By 1968, Page was front and center in moving the group in a more experimental, heavy, and psychedelic direction — along with its founding members, vocalist Keith Relf, dynamo drummer Jim McCarty, and ace bassist Chris Dreja. This double album has Page’s remixed recording of the band live at the Anderson Theater in New York, plus studio sketches. Shapes of things to come can be heard in The Yardies’ embryonic versions of “Dazed and Confused” and “White Summer,” which Page would revisit to huge success with Led Zeppelin. Fifty years on, Yardbirds ’68 is still epic.