Roger the Engineer (1966)

Roger the Engineer (originally released in the UK as Yardbirds and in the US, West Germany, France and Italy as Over Under Sideways Down) is the only UK studio album and the third US album by the English rock band the Yardbirds. Recorded and released in 1966, it contains all original material and is the only Yardbirds album with guitarist Jeff Beck on all tracks. It was produced by bassist Paul Samwell-Smith and manager Simon Napier-Bell.

Although the British edition is still officially titled Yardbirds by authoritative chart sources, such as Official Charts Company, it has since been referred to, first colloquially, then semi-officially, as Roger the Engineer, a title stemming from the cover drawing of the record's audio engineer Roger Cameron by band member Chris Dreja.

Background

The Yardbirds' debut album in December 1964 had been a live release appropriately titled Five Live Yardbirds. With the arrival of Jeff Beck in the group in March 1965, a series of popular and innovative hit singles established the group as a major British Invasion act, with extensive touring in the United States. Anticipation for the group's first studio LP was high, although it wasn't until March 1966 that they entered Advision Studios in London to attempt initial recordings. Ten instrumental tracks were laid down with working titles like "Someone To Love" (renamed "Lost Women"), "Pounds and Stomps" (an early "He's Always There"), "Jeff's Blues" (renamed "The Nazz Are Blue"), "Like Jimmy Reed Again", "Chris' Number", "Crimson Curtain", and "What Do You Want" with the provisional album title An Eye View of Beat. Before vocals and other overdubs could be added, the sessions were scrapped when the group switched managers from Giorgio Gomelsky to Simon Napier-Bell. Most of these aborted tracks would be released on later Gomelsky archival compilations.

Recording

The first product produced under the aegis of Napier-Bell was the single "Over Under Sideways Down" along with its B-side "Jeff's Boogie", which were recorded at Advision from 19–20 April 1966. The single was released on 27 May and performed well, charting at number 10 in the UK and number 13 in the US. It continued in the pioneering psychedelic vein of the previous "Shapes of Things", with Beck conjuring a distorted Eastern-inspired fuzz guitar hook that contrasted with the 1950s boogie-style walking bass line he also came up with. The flip side, "Jeff's Boogie", was based on Chuck Berry's "Guitar Boogie" and allowed Beck to show off his considerable guitar prowess; it would become a live favorite with The Jeff Beck Group.

The bulk of the album was recorded at Advision from 31 May to 4 June 1966 with bassist Paul Samwell-Smith and Napier-Bell co-producing. Roger Cameron was the engineer, although the final session at IBC on 14 June which produced "I Can't Make Your Way" saw Glyn Johns take his place. Although Samwell-Smith played bass on about half the album's tracks, the group hired Mick Fitzpatrick to play on the rest. The band reworked four tracks from the aborted March Gomelsky sessions ("Lost Women", "The Nazz Are Blue", "He's Always There" and "What Do You Want") and added six more, most of which were quickly written in the studio. Samwell-Smith later complained that the group only had five days to complete the album, and wondered how great it might have been if they had been given one month. The typical method of working in the studio was to have the band members work out the basic backing tracks and then, after many hours had passed, allow Beck the freedom to add guitar overdubs as he saw fit. According to Beck: "I would sit around twiddling my fingers in anger waiting for my chance to get in and rip it in half. And they used to watch the flame build and build until I really couldn't take it. And then we'd all laugh and have a drink afterwards."

Musically, the album continued in the vein of their recent run of hit singles including blues-based numbers ("The Nazz Are Blue", "Rack My Mind"), riff-driven hard rock ("He's Always There", "What Do You Want"), lysergic rave-ups ("Lost Woman") Gregorian chant ("Turn Into Earth"), and exotic psychedelia (the instrumental "Hot House of Omagararshid"). In addition, Keith Relf contributed the sensitive piano ballad "Farewell" with accompanying social commentary on modern life. Beck's guitar solos experimented with fuzz, feedback, reverb and Eastern modes, played on a recently purchased Gibson Les Paul Sunburst that he had seen Eric Clapton using with the Bluesbreakers.

Release

Yardbirds was released by the Columbia Gramophone Company in the UK on 15 July 1966 and by Epic Records in the US on 18 July 1966. It is the only Yardbirds album to appear in the UK Albums Chart, where it reached number 20. In the US, it reached number 52 on the Billboard 200 album chart, making it the band's highest-charting studio album in that country. It reached number 8 in Finland.