five live yardbirds

i hadn't listened to this thing in ages, longer in fact than the dead sexy disc, but back when i was a snotnose, around the time import rekkids started to be a big deal, this was the holy grail of yardbirds albs and it took me a long time to hunt it down. when i finally did, i was kinda perplexed by what the big deal was. it was thin-sounding and herky-jerky and eric "god" clapton's teeny-tiny gtr tone couldn't hold a candle to jeff beck's fuzztone 'n' feedback pullulations with the same band. in the fullness of time, however, i've come to realize that _it ain't all about the fuckin' gtr player_. what makes this an essential live alb (in the platonic sense) is its innocence, energy, and immediacy -- you can hear these beered-up brit lads connecting with their audience in the same way as dylan & the hawks at the albert hall, the who at leeds university, or the stooges at the michigan palace (albeit in a more positive manner than the last example; no breaking glass here). that's when 'n' where the goodness happens -- in the locus where performer's intention meets audience's expectation, and accidental, unplanned events can carry the performance to a level that transcends both (or take it right down the shitter).