Blue Eyed Blues: Charly Blues Masterworks, Vol. 20

AMG Review of Blue Eyed Blues: Charly Blues Masterworks, Vol. 20

Cub Koda
All Music Guide

A hodgepodge of tracks, mostly pulled from the Yardbirds' catalog. Over half the disc is devoted to Clapton, bringing together two songs of the band backing up Sonny Boy Williamson, "Five Long Years" and "I'm a Man" from the Five Live Yardbirds album, two studio tracks from their first album, and three tracks from the Howlin' Wolf London Sessions. Jeff Beck is represented with "New York City Blues," "Steeled Blues," "The Train Kept A Rollin'," and a band-track-only outtake of "The Nazz Are Blue," under its original working title of "Jeff's Blues." The final two tracks with Page are taken from a London studio session backing Sonny Boy Williamson. If you have a decent Yardbirds collection, you probably have most of these elsewhere.