Little Games Sessions & More

• Artist: The Yardbirds
• Rating:
• Release Date: August 25, 1992
• Total Time: 90:50
• Type: Compilation (best of), Box set
• Genre: Rock

Review

This two-CD set assembles the complete Little Games album and all of the usable rehearsals, unmixed backing tracks, and alternate takes associated with it in one place, along with a few Yardbirds-related holdings in the EMI vaults. For a variety of reasons (not all the fault of the band), Little Games was the Yardbirds' least successful album, but it was also their only full-length studio recording featuring guitarist Jimmy Page, who seems to have hung back here in exerting his musical inclinations, in keeping with the desires of producer Mickie Most's quest for a pop/rock tone to the album. The odd B-sides, outtakes, alternate takes, and bonus tracks reveal a high level of virtuosity that Most failed to exploit -- the unanthologized B-sides "Puzzles" and "Think About It," the acoustic version of "White Summer," and the punchier mono mixes of "Little Games" and "Drinking Muddy Water" are superior to much on the finished album; other tracks like the instrumental backing track for "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor" and an alternate version of "Glimpses" merely fill in holes for Page completists. Keith Relf and Jim McCarty's post-Yardbirds acoustic duo, Together, which evolved into the original Renaissance, is also represented on three tracks, doing the brand of folkish soft rock that they favored, even as Page had moved on to setting the rock music world on fire with Led Zeppelin. Fans of the Yardbirds, and anyone who could appreciate the original album, will prefer this pricier alternative for the bonus tracks, Led Zeppelin fans will love large parts of this set, and British psychedelic enthusiasts will consider it essential. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

Tracks

CD 1

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Little Games [Stereo Mix]	Phil Wainman, Harold Spiro	The Yardbirds	(2:37)
Smile on Me	Jimmy Page, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja, Keith Relf	The Yardbirds	(3:15)
White Summer	Jimmy Page	The Yardbirds	(3:57)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor [Vocal Version]	Jimmy Page, Jim McCarty	The Yardbirds	(2:51)
Glimpses [Version 1]	Jimmy Page, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja, Keith Relf	The Yardbirds	(4:21)
Drinking Muddy Water [Stereo Mix]	Jimmy Page, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja, Keith Relf	The Yardbirds	(2:51)
No Excess Baggage	Roger Atkins	The Yardbirds	(2:36)
Stealing Stealing	Jimmy Page, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja, Keith Relf	The Yardbirds	(2:33)
Only the Black Rose	Keith Relf	The Yardbirds	(2:48)
Little Soldier Boy	Jimmy Page, Jim McCarty, Keith Relf	The Yardbirds	(2:41)
Puzzles	Jimmy Page, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja, Keith Relf	The Yardbirds	(2:08)
I Remember the Night [*]	Anthony Pirollo	The Yardbirds	(3:01)
Ha! Ha! Said the Clown	Tony Hazzard	The Yardbirds	(2:26)
Ten Little Indians [Vocal Version]	Harry Nilsson	The Yardbirds	(2:13)
Goodnight Sweet Josephine [Version 1]	Tony Hazzard	The Yardbirds	(2:43)
Think About It	Jimmy Page, Jim McCarty, Keith Relf	The Yardbirds	(3:46)

CD 2

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Little Games [Mono Mix]	Phil Wainman, Harold Spiro	The Yardbirds	(2:22)
You Stole My Love [*]	Graham Gouldman	The Yardbirds	(2:55)
White Summer [Acoustic Version][*]	Jimmy Page	The Yardbirds	(3:51)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor [*][Instrumental]	Jimmy Page, Jim McCarty	The Yardbirds	(2:51)
L.S.D. [*]	Jimmy Page, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja	The Yardbirds	(1:00)
Drinking Muddy Water [Mono Mix]	Jimmy Page, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja, Keith Relf	The Yardbirds	(2:50)
De Lane Lea Lee [*]	Jimmy Page, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja	The Yardbirds	(2:33)
Glimpses [Version 2][*]	Jimmy Page, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja, Keith Relf	The Yardbirds	(4:18)
Never Mind	Jimmy Page, Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja	The Yardbirds	(2:46)
Ten Little Indians [*][Instrumental]	Harry Nilsson	The Yardbirds	(2:15)
Goodnight Sweet Josephine [Version 2][*]	Tony Hazzard	The Yardbirds	(2:42)
Henry's Coming Home (By Together) [*]	Jim McCarty, Keith Relf	The Yardbirds	(2:57)
Love Mum and Dad (By Together) [*]	Jim McCarty, Keith Relf	The Yardbirds	(3:48)
Together Now (By Together)	Jim McCarty, Keith Relf	The Yardbirds	(3:02)
Shining Where the Sun Has Been [*]	Jim McCarty, Keith Relf	Jim McCarty, Keith Relf	(2:52)
Great Shakes [*]		The Yardbirds	(1:01)

Credits

Jimmy Page (Bass), Jimmy Page (Guitar), The Yardbirds (Main Performer), Jim McCarty (Performer), Adam Block (Executive Producer), Adam Block (Editing), Ron Furmanek (Digital Mastering), Ron Furmanek (Remixing), Ron Furmanek (Compilation Producer), Mickie Most (Producer), Kevin Reeves (Engineer), Kevin Reeves (Digital Mastering), Kevin Reeves (Remixing), Keith Relf (Performer), Paul Samwell-Smith (Producer), Steve Kolanjian (Compilation), Steve Kolanjian (Editing), Steve Kolanjian (Track Annotations), Greg Russo (Liner Notes), Greg Russo (Compilation), Greg Russo (Track Annotations), Greg Russo (Discography), Henry Marquez (Art Direction), Jeffrey Scales (Photography), Paul Volk (Layout Design), Jeff Daniel (Project Coordinator)