Jimmy Page was an accomplished studio guy in the '60's. He played with the likes of The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Donavan, Petula Clark and Johnny Hallyday.
In 1968 he joined The Yardbirds which then featured Jeff Beck on lead guitar. The two guitar lineup was brief. Beck left the band leaving Page as the sole guitarist. The Page only output was limited to one album (Little Games) and a tour. After the tour, Page was the only remaining member of the band and recruited Plant, Jones and Bonham to fill in for some gig obligations. The rest, as they say, is history.
After Led Zeppelin was firmly established, Epic records decided to release a live album of the 1968 tour.
The Yardbirds - Live Yardbirds Featuring Jimmy Page (Epic 1971)
The record was quickly deleted as Page and Zeppelin's management took exception to the prominent featuring of Page in the title. It was released again in 1976 by Columbia Special Products and faced swift legal threats. I found my CSP pressing long ago in a cutout bin (shrink wrap still intact).
In my humble opinion, they were probably more upset by the inclusion of the track I'm Confused which is an early take on Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused. Although it's painfully obvious singer Keith Relf is no Robert Plant. A few years later he would die in true Spinal Tap fashion while playing electric guitar in the bathtub.
Liner notes by Lenny Kaye - of the Patti Smith Group.
The recording itself is OK for a 1968 live album and has some stunning moments that scream Led Zeppelin. It's marred, however, by the obtrusive audience noise dubbed in from other sources. During the quieter moments the audience is just yacking. Pay attention people, this is history.
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