The Intro

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The Yardbirds were very popular in Canada between 1965 and 1967, mostly due to the records they issued here in Canada on Capitol. On the radio, they rocked ... between June 1965 and May 1967 they charted six singles on the CHUM chart in Toronto. Their unique guitar sound was pretty much heard by teens everywhere in Canada on AM radio and this sound was a huge influence on Canadian 60s garage groups like The Haunted in Montreal (Trans-World), The Ugly Ducklings in Toronto (Yortown / Yorkville), The Painted Ship in Vancouver (London).

Looking back now, it just seems that The Yardbirds were totally caught up in touring the USA and that left little time for any touring of Canada. However, Capitol of Canada issued a total of five albums between September 1965 and October 1967, and all but the first of these were issued in both mono and stereo formats.

Concert dates in Canada in the 1960s

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The Yardbirds never did a cross Canada tour per se, in fact they only ever played five or six concert dates in Canada ... and all but one of these scheduled live dates were in1967. If you look at the Yardbirds concert dates for North America in the 1965 through 1967 period, they pretty much played every part of the USA in a very random sequence ... they spent huge amounts of time traveling back and forth between gigs.

Very late 1966

Tuesday, 12 27 66	Montréal, Québec	The Montreal Forum

Probably the most important date in Canadian Yardbirds history is Tuesday, December 27th., 1966 .. not so much because they played a concert at the Montreal Forum but because they cancelled that show. Alex Taylor of Montreal has generously provided here some very cool images from the Montreal "Underground" magazine "Pot" from December 15th.,1966. "Pot" was a very cool magazine published by a couple of enterprising hippies from Lachine, Quebec who also hung out with Montreal's uber-cool garage band "The Haunted" .. a group heavily influenced by The Yardbirds and led by Jurgen Peter. Phew ! Imagine seeing the Haunted open for The Yardbirds ? That would have matched The Ugly Ducklings opening for The Rolling Stones in Toronto earlier that same year. The coolest part of the Montreal show would have been to see both Beck and Page on twin lead guitars. According to "Pot", the "home talent " support groups that had been lined up for The Yardbirds Montreal appearance included The Jaybees, Our Generation, Haunted, The Rabble, and The Staccatos (who were from Ottawa).

The other two "headline" acts for the bill alongside The Yardbirds included Question Mark And The Mysterians and Tommy Roe. These three headliners had all scored chart toppers in 1966. Tommy Roe had hit with "Sweet Pea" (July) and "Hooray For Hazel" (October) while Question Mark And The Mysterians had scored with the massive "96 Tears" (October). TheYardbirds were enjoying their BEST YEAR EVER in 1966 with three blistering punk / garage hits; "I'm A Man", "Shapes Of Things", and "Over Under Sideways Down" .. all on Capitol. Their two 1966 Capitol Lps "Having A Rave Up" and "Over, Under, Sideways Down" were the "textbooks" for Canadian garage bands of that time.

The show's cancellation was attributed to the owners of the Montreal Forum who were most likely fearful of "Montreal's savage fans". There is little evidence of this show remaining now, and according to Montreal historian Alex Taylor,

"Most shows of this type were not reported in the major newspapers, or advertised beyond the radio stations/charts. Montreal was not a poster city so I doubt any was made. I know the two guys that ran Pot and they were hipsters and pals of The Haunted, who all hung out at the El Paso Club in Lachine (where Our Generation of "I'm A Man" fame was from). Other than the big Beatles show in 1964, The Forum did not usually print and sell advance tickets... it was mostly "just pay at the box-office" so tickets are not likely to exist - I've never seen any others."

Anyway, you and I just have to assume that The Yardbirds would have been very popular with the Montreal fans and one can only imagine Mssrs. Relf, Beck, Page, McCarty and Dreja hitting the Montreal "scene" after the show. Below is a picture of The Forum as it looked like before it was totally re-modeled and renovated in 1969.

The Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec circa late 1950s or possibly early 1960s

NOTE: Doug Hinman (USA-based Kinks and Yardbirds historian) writes that following the cancellation of the Montreal Forum concert in December 1966 " They did end up playing in Ann Arbor Michigan that night instead at the Fifth Dimension Club.". ( Note: Doug Hinman is the author of "Jeff's Book", Rock'N'Roll reasearch Press, 2000 and his book chronicles the Yardbirds tour dates of 1966 with Jeff Beck. He writes in hos book that Jeff Beck left the Yardbirds after a concert date in Dallas at the end of October 1966 .. so Jeff Beck would not have played the Montreal date in any event.)

And then 1967

The rest of The Yardbirds Canadian dates were in 1967. None of these dates featured the Jeff Beck lineup ... just the post-Beck Jimmy Page line up with Keith Relf, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja, and Jimmy Page. Oddly, The Yardbirds played all but one of these 1967 Canadian dates in Vancouver.

Kerrisdale Arena, Vancouver BC 1960s

The Yardbirds appeared in concert in Vancouver for at least two tour stopovers during 1967; once during July and once during November. According to Rob Frith at Neptoon Records in Vancouver, during one of their visits in that Centennial year Keith Relf was interviewed by CBC Television, possibly at the Kerrisdale Arena where they played. Most probably this short black and white interview was shown on the CBC show "Take Thirty". More information please ! Rob Frith also mentions that one of his customers told him that while they were there in 1967, The Yardbirds showed up for an appearance at a record store at a shopping mall in Surrey (see the entry for November 10th., 1967). Now I wonder if anyone there got them to sign a Capitol 6000 Yardbirds Lp ? That would be pretty cool.

Rob also states that it was rumoured that The Yardbirds played a live concert at a Vancouver High School but perhaps this was just a place booked to practice or try out some new material. Jimmy page would use R & D Studios 8 track recording facilities for vocals on some Led Zeppelin II tracks when they were there in 1969. R & D were located at 452 West Broadway in Vancouver.

There is some confusion between the July 7 and July 8 dates and the July 31 and August 1 dates. NOTE: Doug Hinman (USA-based Kinks and Yardbirds historian) wrote on January 22nd., 2011 " I don't think those early July 67 dates happened." which calls into question the July 7th., 1967 and July 8th., 1967 Vancouver dates. This is consistent with the view that The Yardbirds visited Vancouver only twice in 1967 (eg July 31st./August 1st. and November 10th.). Any further information would be appreciated.

Monday, 07 31 67	Vancouver, British Columbia	Vancouver, British Columbia - Kerrisdale Arena (Ice Rink)
Billed with Magic Fern, Painted Ship, Family Tree and Tom Northcott (pm) Note: Two performances (Afternoon and Evening). Source - Larry MacDonald who attended all 4 of the Yardbirds concerts in 1967 in Vancouver Original 1967 psychedelic colour poster by courtesy of original artist Bob Masse (www.bmasse.com).
Saturday, 08 26 67	Huntsville Ontario	Hidden Valley Ski Resort
The support act was The Staccatos, another Canadian Capitol group. I have spoken with a couple of people who were at this show. An end of summer concert for teens in "cottage country"! The Yardbirds travelled by bus from New York City to Huntsville, Ontario and then travelled by bus back to Warwick, Rhode Island the next day ... sheesh ! Legend has it that Peter Grant had some friends in Ontario's cottage country that he wanted to visit... they must have been some friends to drive 14 hours in a bus each way! Anyway, this concert was held on the side of the Hidden Valley ski hill with a cool portable stage that allowed two levels of concert-goers to look down upon the group while they played, very hip at that time.
Source: The Toronto Telegram August 1967
An advert for Hidden Valley from The Toronto Telegram AFTER FOUR, August 4th., 1966
Friday, 11 10 67	Vancouver British Columbia	PNE Garden Auditorium
The November 10th., 1967 show was added at the end of their brief October-November US tour before they headed back to England. What we do know is that the group played The Village Theatre in New York City on Friday, November 3rd., 1967 as an opener for Vanilla Fudge and they may have played a few more dates in that area before heading off to Vancouver. This additional show was probably added as a result of their successful concert in Vancouver on July 31st. since this later show was also booked and promoted by "White Rabbit Productions". You can see the text for "White Rabbit Productions" on both Vancouver tickets show here. It also appears that there was no print advertising in the Vancouver Sun for the November 10th. show which means that they may have relied purely on radio spots to advertise both the concert and the early evening appearance at the record store at the Guildford Town Centre shopping mall. Before their evening show at the PNE, The Yardbirds were booked to do an appearance at a Vancouver record shop at the Guildford, Surrey, BC shopping mall in the early evening of November 10th. In one of the small black and white photos (taken there that evening) below you can see Jim McCarty sitting in front of a poster advertising the date of their appearance (FRIDAY NOV. 10) and also showing the Canadian Over, Under, Sideways, Down Lp on Capitol which had been so popular in Canada (not sure why they were not promoting the Little Games Lp but perhaps that cover was also in the poster behind Jim but is no tcaught in the photo). You can also see keith relf, Jimmy Page, and Chris Dreja in the other photos. They were clearly seated and were most probably signing records as well ! The Guildford shopping centre had opened in north Surrey in 1966 so was just over a year old when The Yardbirds landed there !It is now called Guildford Town Centre.
Saturday, 11 11 67	Vancouver British Columbia	PNE Garden Auditorium
They played two nights in a row. Source - Larry MacDonald who attended all 4 of the Yardbirds concerts in 1967 in Vancouver
First picture: Photo of The Guildford Town Centre shopping mall in north Surrey, BC circa 1967. Other picture: A Canadian Yardbirds fan took these photos at a record shop in Guildford, Surrey, BC early in the evening on Friday, November 10th., 1967. How cool is this ?
here is a "used" ticket to their show later that evening at the PNE Garden Auditorium. If anyone can provide a set list from that show that would be greatly appreciated.
Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) Gardens Auditorium, Vancouver, British Columbia
A very cool CKLG chart from November 11, 1967 which shows that The Yardbirds 45 "Ten Little Indians" is doing well - up to number 13 from number 27. CKLG had in fact co-promoted The Yardbirds show in Vancouver on July 31st., 1967

Research Notes

The following link provides a whole lot of information on The Yardbirds concert dates in the 1960s that was compiled by Duncan Watson in New Zealand:

www.inthelight.co.nz/ledzep/ccyardbirds.htm



Anyone remotely interested in The Yardbirds history should get a hold of The Trouser Press publication Trouser Press Press 1 The Complete Yardbirds by Ben Richardson. I bought a copy for a whopping 50 cents back in 1975 (eg to read during classes at University!) and learned so much from that. Thanks Ben !

This is highly recommended!

Original 45 RPM releases in Canada during the 1960s

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While their records were released by Epic in the US, Capitol did very well with the Yardbirds here in Canada.

Serial	Artist	Title
Capitol 72243	The Yardbirds	For Your Love / Got To Hurry
June 1965 reached number 32 on the CHUM chart in June 1965 - charted for 5 weeks - source Ron Hall
Capitol 72274	The Yardbirds	Heart Full Of Soul / Steeled Blues
September 1965, reached number 18 on the CHUM chart in September 1965 - charted for 9 weeks - source Ron Hall
Capitol 72308	The Yardbirds	I’m A Man / Still I’m Sad
January 1966, reached number 16 on the CHUM chart in January 1966 - charted for 10 weeks - source Ron Hall
Capitol 72349	The Yardbirds	Shapes Of Things / I’m Not Talking
May 1966, reached number 4 on the CHUM chart in May 1966 - charted for 9 weeks - source Ron Hall
Capitol 72382	The Yardbirds	Over Under Sideways Down / Jeff’s Boogie
August 1966, reached number 14 on the CHUM chart in August 1966 - charted for 8 weeks - source Ron Hall
Capitol 72423	The Yardbirds	Happenings Ten Years Time Ago / Psycho Daisies
Note that the Canadian coupling was the same as the UK and was different to the US where Epic placed “The Nazz Are Blue” on the B-side
Capitol 72440	Keith Relf	Shapes In My Mind / Blue Sands
January 7, 1967, this record sank without trace in Canada and is very rare.
Capitol 72467	The Yardbirds	Little Games / Puzzles
May 1967
Capitol 72498	The Yardbirds	Ha Ha Said The Clown / Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor
Capitol 72518	The Yardbirds	Ten Little Indians / Drinking Muddy Water
November 10, 1967. (45 image courtesy of Ted Wendland)

Orignal 33 RPM LP releases in Canada during the 1960s

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The Yardbirds' Capitol 6000 Series albums were very high quality pressings with unique artwork, making them very highly collectable nowadays. The pressings are superior to the US Epic pressings.

Serial	Artist	Title
T-6139	The Yardbirds	Heart Full Of Soul
Sleeve date: September 1965 / EMI Vault date: September 6, 1965 - Later Yardbirds LP sleeves show a stereo number for this but the vault records only show a mono release; no stereo copies have surfaced to date. Capitol’s vault records use the title «For Your Love» This LP features the first 4 UK singles as well as the tracks from the Yardbirds first UK EP as well as the North America-only track “Putty In Your Arms”. I have never seen a Stereo copy. Even the mono copy is scarce. The cover has a bright yellow background with a unique picture of the Beck Line-up with Keith Relf doing a bird imitation with his arms ! The rear of the Sleeve has similar (stupid math) notes from the back of the UK Columbia EP sleeve.
(S)T-6166	The Yardbirds	Having A Rave Up
EMI Vault date: March 7, 1966 - Very different cover than the USA Epic release with same track order.Same track listing as the Epic LP in the US but a superior pressing. The rear sleeve is the same as the US but the Canadian front cover features a shot of the Beck group under an old wooden archway in England (possibly a pub ?). I have a Stereo copy bought from the Capitol record club and some tracks are true stereo rather than re-processed.
(S)T-6202	The Yardbirds	Over, Under, Sideways, Down
Sleeve date: September 1966. Different tracks & sleeve to USA Epic LP. Great colour cover shot of the brief Beck Page line-up with Page in full US Civil War garb. Rumour was that Linda Eastman (McCartney) took the cover photo but that is unlikely since her first encounter with the group was in October 1966 after this Lp was issued. This time Capitol deviated from the US release by going with the full UK track listing but with the following changes: Shapes Of Things added but Jeff’s Boogie dropped Lost Women renamed to Lost Woman Track order altered substantially Stereo copies were re-pressed in the late 1970s to look like the originals but the colour cover is “blurred” compared to the original and the label ring is different
QUALITY/MGM SE 4447(D)	The Yardbirds	Blow Up
1967, Both mono and stereo copies were pressed in Canada by Quality. The Yardbirds track Stroll On was only recorded in mono and differs from what was actually used in the film. One of the very best soundtrack LPs from the 1960s!
(S)T-6207	The Yardbirds	Little Games
Sleeve date: September 1967 / EMI Vault date: September 4, 1967 - Same cover as USA Epic. This is essentially the same LP that came out in the US with similar artwork. Most copies have a hole in the sleeve because it didn’t sell at all and it was deleted almost as soon as it was released. I bought my deleted copy at a grocery store in Ottawa for 49 cents ... just because I really liked the front cover ! Oddly the early mono and stereo copies have the word "MAMUFACTURED" on the back cover. This was changed to the corrected "MANUFACTURED" later on. So there are four cover variations for this LP!
(D)T-6229	The Yardbirds	The Hits Of The Yardbirds
Sleeve date: October 1967 / EMI Vault date: October 2, 1967 - First pressings of mono and stereo are on the black / rainbow label, a re-issue of DT-6229 appeared in late 1969 or early 1970 on the Olive green label This LP has a different selection from the US Hits LP; there are 11 tracks with most of the Canadian singles A-sides plus tracks like Smokestack Lightning and My Girl Sloopy. The cover features the work of an artist named “Oakie” and is a colour painting of a bird laying an egg with the Yardbirds in letters across it. The rear cover shows T-6139 with a stereo banner which was odd as no stereo copies have ever been seen. Stereo copies were re-issued in late 1969 or early1970 with the olive green Capitol label. The rear cover was modified to omit the mono reference and they also added Paul White's production credit. Also the picture of the T-6139 was shown as mono not stereo
MERCURY MG 21071	SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON & THE YARDBIRDS	SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON & THE YARDBIRDS
1970, Distributed by London Records Of Canada. Solid black label with silver print. Note that this LP had been issued by Mercury in the USA during 1966 with the same MG 21071 catalogue number but with a different cover as shown above right but there is no evidence that this LP received a Canadian issue in 1966 - more information would be apreciated.
EPIC BN 30615	The Yardbirds	LIVE YARDBIRDS
September 1971, I have a Canadian copy and it is the only one I’ve ever seen. All other I’ve seen are US.This has the full colour “Grashow” woodcut cover and is a full stock copy, not a demo. Solid yellow label. Jacket made by Shorewood Packaging. My guess is that most of the Canadian copies were withdrawn immediately after Jimmy Page's legal action was taken.
T-6198	Various Artists	Sounds Great Volume One
The Yardbirds also appeared on this unique Canadian Capitol 6000 Series compilation that featured British invasion artists/groups. Featuring the songs Heart Full Of Soul and I’m A Man. Sleeve date: April 1967.
Sire SAS 3701	Various Artists	History Of British Blues
In 1973, an early "previously un-issued" Yardbirds track was released in Canada on: this LP. It includes "baby What's Wrong" from 1963 with Eric Clapton; discs made in Canada by Polydor. Covers also made in Canada by Shorewood.
Bomb 104.5	The Yardbirds	Shape Of Things
In 1977, Bomb records issued a 2Lp set on green vinyl or clear vinyl or black wax . This double album pulled together some of the Crawdaddy live material (eg from the Five Live Yardbirds Lp from 1964 on UK Columbia) and the Roger The Engineer out-takes. Some of the tracks, like New York City Blues had not been issued in Canada before. The songs included: Too Much Monkey Business, I Wish You Would, Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl, For Your Love, A Certain Girl, Got to Hurry, Smokestack Lightning,  Evil-Hearted You, Still I'm Sad, Steeled Blues, Train Kept A-Rollin', Here 'Tis, What Do You Want, New York City Blues, For R.S.G., Mr., You're a Better Man Than I, Jeff's Blues, I Ain't Got You, I Ain't Done Wrong, Someone to Love, My Gal Sloopy, Shapes of Things. The overall quality of the recordings is very good and the set rounds off their canon of Canadian records.

Any further information on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
Please email piers@capitol6000.com with any updates or feedback.