Product: The Story of the Yardbirds (2008)
Rating: 4.0
Superb Documentary on the Band that brought us Clapton, Beck and Page!
This DVD on the HiQ label is a quirky release. It's a UK produced DVD distributed by Voiceprint - which has been releasing the Tony Palmer films in the US this year. The DVD feature is a reissue of a 1992 Documentary on the Yardbirds produced by Delilah productions for Atlantic Records and released on VHS in 1993 by Warner Strategic Marketing (It still has the copyright notice at the end). The 53-minute film features new interviews (at the time it was produced) with all the then living members. Vocalist and harmonica player Keith Reif died in the 1970s. The story of the short span of five years that the band was together is laid out with interviews combined with rare archival footage of performances in the US (Hullabaloo), French and Belgian TV and the BBC. There are many full numbers (though I wish they had indexed these as separate chapters for repeated viewing). The interviews are insightful, particularly the comments from Jeff Beck.There is also a "Bonus Feature" which consists of a FABULOUS performance of four numbers from the German TV show "Beat Beat Beat" from 1967, with a seven-minute version of "I'm A Man" that's worth the price of the DVD alone. (There are more "Beat Beat Beat" shows coming early next year from HiQ and I, for one, am excited to see these. The crisp print and great camera close-ups are perfect.The DVD comes with a booklet of, supposedly, liner note but most of the 20-page booklet is devoted to an essay and liner notes for a new Yardbirds album "Birdland" recorded in 2003v with new members. These notes have nothing at all to do with the story here.I would give this DVD five stars for what's on the disc - but dropped a star because of this strange packaging, which makes no sense.Steve Ramm"Anything Phonographic"