(* as part of the Yardbirds )
Chart entered : 17 June 1965
Chart peak : 2
Number of hits : 11 ( 5 with The Yardbirds )
Yardbirds time again as we cover the second of their superstar guitarists.
As is generally known Eric Clapton, self-regarding arsehole that he is, felt that "For Your Love", their previous hit written by teenaged songsmith Graham Gouldman. was beneath his dignity as a bluesman and balked at recording another song by the wunderkind so left the group in March 1965. The band's first choice as replacement was Jimmy Page but, unwilling to drop his burgeoning career in session work at that point, he recommended his friend Jeff Beck.
Jeff was born in Wallington in 1944 and became obsessed with the guitar as a teenager, trying to build his own. He had been to Wimbledon College of Art but became a commercial painter afterwards. He joined a Croydon covers band The Rumbles in 1963 displaying a talent for mimicry that helped him get session work. He was less experienced than Page, appearing on just a couple of singles , one of them Dracula's Daughter by Screaming Lord Sutch, before joining the band.
"Heart Full Of Soul" was originally a straightforward pop song lamenting a lover's departure but bassist Paul Samwell-Smith wanted to spice it up by using Indian scales and a sitar. They borrowed a guy from a local Indian restaurant but weren't happy with the results and asked Jeff to try and reproduce the sitar part which he did with a fuzz tone and the result was their biggest hit. Jeff was also allowed to play a solo in lieu of a second verse and the unusual arrangement and the echoing backing harmonies compensate for Keith Relf's rather stiff vocal.
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