The Yardbirds song that Jeff Beck called “awful”
Jeff Beck‘s career didn’t contain many missteps, and as a result of his immense talent, most things he touched typically turned to gold. However, the late English guitarist would have done certain things differently if he had the opportunity to do things again.
Just like Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, Beck cut his teeth in The Yardbirds, which provided him a platform to prove himself to the world before graduating on to bigger things. While he was only with the band for 18 months, it was the perfect platform to hone his craft and further enhance his reputation as one of his generation’s finest.
That being said, he’d already established himself as one of London’s most prestigious guitarists, which had earned him the call-up in the first place. Although Beck wasn’t the band’s first choice for the role, employing him proved to be a masterstroke, and as a result, he put The Yardbirds on the map.
During his tenure with the band, The Yardbirds reached the height of their commercial success, and it was a period that spawned the majority of their hit singles. The sample size from his time as a Yardbird may be small, but the classic songs, including ‘Happenings Ten Years Time Ago’ and ‘Heart Full of Soul’, are aplenty.
For many, the high point is ‘The Train Kept A-Rollin’. Although it was never released as a standalone single, it is now one of the most beloved creations from the Beck era and brought the obscure blues track into the wider public consciousness, as well as capturing the freewheeling chemistry of him and Page duelling on the guitar.
The decision to take the song into the studio came after Beck introduced his bandmates to Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio’s rockabilly version of ‘The Train Kept A-Rollin’. Strangely, The Yardbirds chose against releasing their cover in the United Kingdom until the 1970s, and it was exclusively available in the United States for many years. Nevertheless, it was a staple at their concerts and always sent the crowd into a frenzy.
While Beck’s adoration for Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio’s take on the song never waned, he was less complimentary about The Yardbirds’ version. Although the late guitarist held fond memories of the recording session that spawned the creation, Beck, a perfectionist, felt differently about the final product.
“We did that with Sam Phillips at Sun Studios in Memphis on our first tour of America,” he recalled to Louder Sound in 2008. “Giorgio Gomelsky, who was in charge of the band at that time, phoned him up and Sam said: ‘It’s Sunday. We’re closed’. Giorgio told him he was missing a great opportunity to record a happening band, and eventually persuaded him. So we went down and recorded a couple of tracks”.
He added, “To be honest, our version of Train Kept A Rollin’ was pretty awful, but it was different. I’ve studied the Johnny Burnette Trio version since and it’s still the most amazing track ever.”
Thanks to The Yardbirds, the song, once an obscure blues track, was covered by Led Zeppelin, as well as Aerosmith, which Beck found amusing, sharing, “It’s also kept Aerosmith going for quite a while. In fact, it backfired for me when I put it back in the set, and people would come up and say: ‘I loved that Aerosmith track you played’.”
Despite his comments, ‘The Train Kept A-Rollin’ is a prime example of Beck’s influence on The Yardbirds and how he opened their eyes to a broader scope of music that pushed them to new heights. His time with the band may have been limited, but handing ‘The Train Kept A-Rollin’ to the wider world is just one of the many gifts that Beck delivered with the blues legends.
