Eric Clapton And The Yardbirds Feat. Sonny Boy Williamson
Diamonds Are Forever
Perhaps we’ve been spoilt by heritage labels like Ace and Acrobat, but the first impression of this Yardbirds set is a lack of substance: no scholarly sleevenotes, no personnel details, no archive photos, just 36 studio and live tracks that most fans will already own. No points for added value, then, but that shouldn’t take the shine off the music.
True, the studio material is sometimes hobbled by the production of the time: Baby What’s Wrong and Honey In
Your Hips are mannered, puny and polite. But Jimmy Pagebolstered moments like Choker and Draggin’ My Tail are brilliantly brutish, while the live tracks catch the band in full flight, with Too Much Monkey Business and Good Morning Little Schoolgirl loosening the Marquee’s ceiling plaster.
Considering his name is on the tin, Sonny Boy Williamson turns up late in the running order, and frankly kills the momentum on the opening Crawdaddy Clubrecorded tracks. On Take It Easy the band sound hesitant and scared to commit, probably wary of a bollocking from the irascible American bluesman. But by the time Williamson’s locomotive harp kicks off Pontiac Blues they unclench and the magic happens.
henry yates