Greatest Hits, Vol. 1: 1964-1966
While the Yardbirds graduated three of the greatest guitarists in rock history--Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page--during their 1963-68 existence, the group's best work came during Beck's '65-'66 tenure, which produced nearly all their hit singles and virtually everything found here. (Notable exception: their debut hit, "For Your Love," which Clapton was barely audible on anyway.) From the cat scratch fever of "I'm A Man" to the guitar-as-weapon solo in "Mister, You're a Better Man Than I," Beck rewrote the lead guitar textbook, and on one of the few songs recorded when he and Page were in the band together--"Happenings Ten Years Time Ago"--they foreshadowed the sound of '70s rock.--Billy Altman