The classic Yardbirds song that was never intended for them
The Yardbirds had made a career out of being master interpreters. As the British blues boom was getting underway, these young lads were mining the same lowdown and dirty songs that Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon had made so famous and turning them into their own angst-ridden songs, with guitar superstars like Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page coming through their ranks. Despite being able to lay down a blues jam like nobody’s business, it would be a pop song that crossed them to the mainstream.
Instead of the slinky sounds of ‘Train Kept A-Rollin’, Keith Relf’s bitter bark singing ‘For Your Love’ caught the ear of the public, becoming one of the group’s biggest hits. This is strange because it’s not exactly a blues song in the traditional sense. Stepping away from the world of rock and roll, the descending chord progression could be commonly found in the world of pop at the time. While the title may have had the ‘Yardbirds’ name on it, the song could have been much different if it had stayed in the hands of Graham Gouldman.
Years before he became one of the prominent members of 10cc, Gouldman was cutting his teeth with his early band, The Mockingbirds, and used ‘For Your Love’ as one of their potential singles. When discussing the tune’s construction, Gouldman compared the structure to The Animals’ ‘House of The Rising Sun’, telling Songfacts: “It starts on a minor and goes to the relative major instead of the other way around, and I responded to that. It resonated with me. I became so enamoured with the sequence I used it on the first two chords of ‘For Your Love.’”
Despite having a hit on his hands, Gouldman’s label didn’t go for it, relegating the tune to an album track, thinking it was too dreary to catch anyone’s attention. Then again, almost any song could capture a rock fan’s attention if someone like Eric Clapton is behind the fretboard.
After revamping the original tune with Keith Relf’s vocal and a harpsichord, The Yardbirds got one of their first massive hits, sending the song to number one on the charts throughout Europe. Although the song may have been one of the biggest opportunities for the group, it also became the straw that broke the camel’s back.
As the tour began, Clapton grew to loathe the song, having to double the harpsichord line on a 12-string guitar and not getting to flex his blues chops that much. After one too many times playing the track, Clapton left the group, eventually forming the supergroup Cream and making his psychedelic version of what the blues could be.
That didn’t stop Gouldman from continuing work with The Yardbirds, later penning ‘Heart Full of Soul’ for them, which came alive thanks to Jimmy Page’s insane guitar effects playing the opening guitar riff. Despite years of session work, Gouldman eventually tried his hand at the big time again, working with 10cc on their biggest hits like ‘I’m Not in Love’. The raw sound of ‘For Your Love’ may not have been about blues, but only a band like The Yardbirds can put their signature swagger onto a pop tune.
