The 1960s band Steven Tyler called a musical “gold mine”
Not every rock band is meant to see the prime time. For every great rock group that can play circles around everyone else in their field, there are just as many who strive to become the biggest band of all time and come up short. While they may have fans among musicians, Steven Tyler thought that one blues rock band never got their just due.
Then again, everything Tyler ever did usually circled back to the blues. Forming Aerosmith after hooking up with guitarist Joe Perry, many of the band’s early songs would be informed by the same blues-infused traditions as British acts like The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, the former of which the band would get relentlessly compared to every time they put out a new record.
While Tyler was a student of the British invasion, there was much more going on than what Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were putting together. Amid the various bands populating the London club scene, every blues enthusiast knew everything came from what The Yardbirds had been doing.
Featuring a young Eric Clapton before he achieved his rock and roll sainthood, The Yardbirds were responsible for taking the basis of American blues and putting a mountain of attitude behind it. As Keith Relf spat out the lyrics of songs like ‘Train Kept A’Rollin’, the band would cut loose onstage just like their heroes did, injecting the plodding blues numbers with a healthy dose of boogie.
While Clapton would tire of the band fairly quickly after the release of the pop-leaning single ‘For Your Love’, the band wouldn’t suffer for much longer. Drafting in session guitarist Jimmy Page and guitar legend Jeff Beck, the band’s next phase would see them transforming into a psychedelic blues outfit until Page and Beck left to form their legendary bands.
Before Page realised his dreams with Led Zeppelin, Tyler was already a major fan of The Yardbirds, seeing them at every opportunity when they came to the US. During one infamous gig, Tyler would be opening for the band with his upstart band Chain Reaction when they needed help loading their gear into the hall, starting a persistent rumour that Tyler had become a roadie for the band before Aerosmith started.
Regardless of the rumours, Tyler still had the utmost respect for what the band could do, even admitting to pinching most of their sound for the song ‘Somebody’ off Aerosmith’s first album. Even though Tyler was proud to be a Yardbirds fan, he didn’t think their legacy had been spread enough.
When discussing the band’s impact, Tyler thought they remained extremely underrated, telling Rolling Stone, “The shame is, I know how great the Yardbirds were. But I don’t think everyone else knows it. The Yardbirds’ music is a gold mine waiting to be stumbled upon. Aerosmith did because we grew up in that era. What the Yardbirds did is something you don’t hear in today’s blue-plate-special, cookie-cutter music”.
Even though the band might not be known by name, Tyler would continue to sing the praises of his favourite band, eventually turning their version of ‘Train Kept A’Rollin’ into one of Aerosmith’s most celebrated live songs. The Yardbirds may be considered a fine piece of rock history, but without them, there’s a good chance that the concept of hard rock wouldn’t exist today.
