The Yardbirds song Jimmy Page dismissed as “extremely silly”
Although Jimmy Page is most lauded for his work with Led Zeppelin, he enjoyed a career that most would have been more than content with before he formed the band in 1968.
As fans of Zeppelin are aware, their original working title was ‘The New Yardbirds’, as the guitarist founded the group out of the ashes of his old outfit. They were psychedelic pioneers who helped take rock down a much more expansive and darker route, with the guitar at the forefront of such innovation. Famously, the quintet was so important that it helped launch the careers of three of the era’s most vital guitarists, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.
The Yardbirds also wanted Page to replace Clapton, but he wasn’t ready, as he was loyal to his friend, the outgoing axeman, and enjoyed the trappings of being one of London’s most sought-after session musicians too much. Instead, he suggested his other good friend, Jeff Beck, for the job. However, following the surprise departure of Paul Samwell-Smith, it wouldn’t be long before the pair formed the era’s most formidable twin guitar assault. It took The Yardbirds and rock music to new heights. The single ‘Happenings Ten Years Time Ago’ is one of the most distilled examples of their potency.
Yet, according to Page, his time in The Yardbirds wasn’t brimming only with quality. As it was such a formative period for him, he concedes that he also made some artistic misfires, and to him, the most egregious is their 1967 version of the Harry Nilsson song, ‘Ten Little Indians’. Speaking to Uncut in 2009, the guitarist dubbed the single “terrible”, explaining: “I don’t need to tell you what it was like, you can tell just by the title. And it had brass on it!”
He also revealed that in an attempt to save what he derides as an “extremely silly song”, he conceived the idea of employing a reverse echo. This technique makes the listener hear the echo before the main sound, in an inversion of the standard form of echo. A success, despite what Page deems as the flawed quality of the track, he would use this effect heavily in Led Zeppelin, including on 1969’s early staples ‘You Shook Me’ and ‘Whole Lotta Love’ as well as the indomitable ‘When The Levee Breaks’ from 1971’s masterpiece, Led Zeppelin IV.
Recalling how this idea materialised, he told Guitar Magazine in 1993: “I hit upon an idea. I said, ‘Look, turn the tape over and employ the echo for the brass on a spare track. Then turn it back over and we’ll get the echo preceding the signal.’ The result was very interesting – it made the track sound like it was going backwards.”
Listen to ‘Ten Little Indians’ by The Yardbirds below.
