The one fact every rock fan knows about The Yardbirds is that Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page all played guitar in the band. Is it difficult trying to sell the current version of the group with none of those three present?
When the band reformed [in 1992] we knew that was gonna come up, but we’ve worked very hard to re-establish the band in many areas, and it hasn’t come up as much as I thought it might. I thought we would have to sort of explain ourselves, but it hasn’t happened, really. As far as the fans are concerned they’re so delighted to see the guitar players we work with, and some may even say they prefer the guitar players we work with under the present circumstances.
Did you sense any intimidation on the part of [current guitarist] Ben King when he took over the seat once occupied by Clapton, Beck and Page?
He’s done some pretty major work with us, and I’ve never noticed anything. He’s 22, completely new generation, and youth is indestructible. I’ve worked with some wonderful players, and also some also-rans, but Ben for me has that very special something that I recognized with the big three. Yet again, we seem to have found a star in the making.
Is there a song you still play that feels the most quintessentially Yardbirds?
Probably “Shapes of Things,” because it was the first song we got down on record that had balls behind it, all of what we were about, which we were never able to do in the early days. They could never record us very well in England, but “Shapes of Things” was recorded at Chess in Chicago, where they knew about guitars and drum kits. It wasn’t a man in white overalls saying, “Don’t go into the red.”
April 6, 8 p.m., $9.95-$20.95.
The Cannery, 617-5585.