M- UK YARDBIRDS ROGER THE ENGINEER Hard Psych BECK

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***  ATTENTION!

UK COLUMBIA ***STEREO***                                                             

1966 HARD BLUES PSYCH CLASSIC WITH JEFF BECK                                                    

MINT STILL IN ORIGINAL FACTORY WRAPPER!                                                        

           THE YARDBIRDS

         Roger The Engineer

                        UK - Columbia Records (silver & black)  SCX 6063

Older vintage UK 2ndpress of the classic British 1966 Yardbirds album, arguably their best with a fiery mix of bluesy psych and hardrock...Much different from the USA version (which contained less songs and different cover art.) Here the superior issue with striking vibrant sound ... and MINT in original factory wrapper that was designated for USA export sales...

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 Oddly enough, Roger came out before the Beatles Revolver, and in certain moments matches that record's experimentalism, and at times ... especially when it comes to Jeff Beck displaying his state-of-the-art pre-Hendrix guitar pyrotechnics ... may even surpasses it.  Funny, and oddly, when Roger also came out in the same month as The Byrds' Fifth Dimension, effectively robbing the band's namesake American partners of the singular claim to fame of "psychedelia inventors".

While the songwriting quality here is quite up to par with the songwriting of the Yardbirds' classic singles of 1965, they seem to be running in all directions at once, shifting from style to style, tackling just about everything from blues, to jazz, folk, Gregorian chorales, and psychedelia.  And to their credit, they do it in a fresh and exciting, if not always professional manner. The actual songs aren't all that rich with memorable hooks, but the tracks aren't all forgettable either ...  almost every number has something to offer, and something to be explored.

Contrary to rumors, Jimmy Page does not play on the album itself, at the time of recording, he wasn't yet an official band member. However, some of the editions of Roger have pumped up the track listing with two tracks from a single that was released later and did feature the twin-guitar line-up. “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” is the most notorious, and one of the Yardbirds' most frantic psycho rave-ups, based on a powerful three-chord riff and features some awesome solos, together with all kinds of obligatory psycho overdubbing [traffic noises, tripped-out dialogue and such].  “Psycho Daisies” is slightly less interesting, but it does present a curious twist on a traditional R'n'B melody ... sounding like some off the wall, perhaps heard through the wall, version of “Johnny B. Goode.”

Essentially, The Yardbirds are still firmly rooted in the blues ... though the odd thing is, the further you immerse yourself into the record, the more vague, and transitory those blues traces become. Songs such as “Lost Women” and “The Nazz Are Blue” [from which Todd Rundgren's second band took their name, with the first being Woody’s Tuckstop] are certainly blues, but no one who played the blues like this in 1966.  Just take John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton, even with their innovative approach, they sounds conventional next to those tracks ... Though John Mayall, being many years older, and many years wiser, was totally enamored by traditional blues.   “Lost Women” prominently features noise and feedback with Beck taking his cue from Townshend's traits, and while the melody of “Nazz Are Blue” is obviously lifted from the “Dust My Broom” style, Beck rips into those generic blues chords with an evil ferocity, not expected from a conventional blues player.

Between these two songs is sandwiched the experimental boogie “Over Under Sideways Down.”  Most importantly, what stands out, is the weird guitar tone. He seems to be playing some Eastern motive on it, but how does he achieve that sound? It’s simply wonderful.  And then there's “I Can't Make Your Way,” with another a different, even more curious guitar tone, and a fairly standard catchy pop melody that has nothing to do with the blues whatsoever, but works magically.

Every now and then the highlights are interrupted by a bit of filler, but even the filler can often sound interesting. Take “Rack My Mind” which has a great minimalistic solo by Beck, and “Hot House Of Omagararshid” with its Latin motive, which may sound pretty silly today, but how often did you encounter Latin motives on a mid-Sixties British rock album? At least the Beatles never did that kind of stuff.  And these were experimental times, where artist were figuring out just what could be done when combining the studio along with their musical abilities.

Yes, it is a 1966 band that wasn't The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, and a band who were struggling to find the essence of something new, and a fresh way of expressing it.  The stand out material doesn't sound dated one single bit, every song is still as fresh as yesterday, and if you're really bothered by the bad material ... well, no one asked you to go searching for obscure Yardbirds albums in the first place.  This was done all on your own initiative. The Yardbirds were a seminal band, one from which sprang waters that are still flowing over us today.
         

Side one

1. "Lost Woman" – 3:16
2. "Over, Under, Sideways, Down" – 2:24
3. "The Nazz Are Blue" – 3:04
4. "I Can't Make Your Way" – 2:26
5. "Rack My Mind" – 3:15
6. "Farewell" – 1:29

1. "Hot House of Omagarashid" – 2:39
2. "Jeff's Boogie" – 2:25
3. "He's Always There" – 2:15
4. "Turn into Earth" – 3:06
5. "What Do You Want" – 3:22
6. "Ever Since the World Began" – 2:09

CONDITION: The cover = clean "M-" STILL IN ORIGINAL FACTORY WRAP! very solid seams and white cover is TOP CLEAN which usually is found dirty or soiled after MANY years...

The vinyl is glossy both sides, ***CLEAN*** M- BRIGHT & SHINY smooth =  plays TOP Level easily !

       A cool addition to anyone's music library!

SEE: SELLERS OTher items for similar cool sounds for "head" people...

EFFICIENT/CAREFUL GRADING

All imperfections are noted both cover & record