Roger the Engineer

Roger The Engineer
Studio album by The Yardbirds
Released 15 July 1966
Recorded Spring and summer 1966 at Advision Studios, London, England
Genre Blues rock, psychedelic rock[1][2]
Length 35:52
Label Columbia
Producer Paul Samwell-Smith, Simon Napier-Bell
The Yardbirds chronology

Having a Rave Up
(1965)		 Roger the Engineer
(1966)		 Little Games
(1967)
Singles from The Yardbirds
  1. "Over, Under, Sideways, Down" b/w "Jeff's Boogie"
    Released: May 1966 (Columbia DB7928 (UK))
  2. "Over, Under, Sideways, Down" b/w "Jeff's Boogie"
    Released: 1966 Epic (BN10035 (US))
  3. "Yardbirds" (EP): "Over Under Sideways Down", "I Can't Make Yor Way" b/w "He's Always There", "What Do You Want""
    Released: January 1967 (Columbia SEG8521)
German album sleeve
German album sleeve: "Over Under Sideways Down" on Epic Records
US album sleeve
US mono copy of "Over Under Sideways Down" on Epic Records

Roger the Engineer (UK title: Yardbirds, but commonly referred to as "Roger the Engineer". US, German and French title: Over Under Sideways Down) is an album by English blues rock band The Yardbirds, released in 1966. It was produced by bassist Paul Samwell-Smith and Simon Napier-Bell. It was the only Yardbirds album with all original material.[2] Although the record was officially titled Yardbirds (and still is in authoritative chart sources, such as The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums), it has since been referred to, first colloquially, then semi-officially, as Roger the Engineer,[3] a title stemming from the cover drawing of the record's audio engineer Roger Cameron by band member Chris Dreja.[4]

In 2012, the album was ranked #349 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[1]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [5]

Recording

The album was recorded at Advision Studios in London in the spring and summer of 1966, and was produced by Paul Samwell-Smith and Simon Napier-Bell. It was released by Columbia on 15 July 1966.

Reception

Legacy

In 2003, the album was ranked #349 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine in a retrospective Allmusic review considers the album to be "the Yardbirds' best individual studio album, offering some of their very best psychedelia", though not "among the great albums of its era".[2]

Track listing

All songs written by Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty, Jeff Beck, Keith Relf, and Paul Samwell-Smith (Dreja and McCarty's last names are misspelled as "Drega" and "McCarthy" on the labels of the US album). All songs are recorded in stereo, except where noted.

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Lost Woman"   3:16
2. "Over Under Sideways Down" (Rechanneled) 2:24
3. "The Nazz Are Blue"   3:04
4. "I Can't Make Your Way"   2:26
5. "Rack My Mind"   3:15
6. "Farewell"   1:29
Side two
No. Title Length
7. "Hot House of Omagarashid"   2:39
8. "Jeff's Boogie" (Rechanneled) 2:25
9. "He's Always There"   2:15
10. "Turn into Earth"   3:06
11. "What Do You Want"   3:22
12. "Ever Since the World Began"   2:09

US release

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Lost Woman"   3:16
2. "Over, Under, Sideways, Down"   2:24
3. "I Can't Make Your Way" (Mono version includes opening beat missing from stereo version) 2:26
4. "Farewell"   1:29
5. "Hot House of Omagarashid" (Beck's lead guitar differs noticeably between the two mixes) 2:39
Side two
No. Title Length
6. "Jeff's Boogie"   2:25
7. "He's Always There" (Longer fadeout and extended vocals at the end of the mono version) 2:15
8. "Turn into Earth" (12-bar opening drum riff on mono version, 8-bar opening on stereo version) 3:06
9. "What Do You Want"   3:22
10. "Ever Since the World Began"   2:09

Personnel

Cover art

Release history

The original American versions of this album (issued with a completely different album cover and entitled Over Under Sideways Down after the hit song of the same name) omitted the songs "The Nazz Are Blue" (which was sung by Jeff Beck) and "Rack My Mind" and are mixed differently from the British editions. Regardless, record collectors have sought out both the mono (LN 24210) and stereo (BN 26210) versions since several tracks are featured with slight differences in the mixes (see US album listing below). Epic's 1983 reissue (simply entitled The Yardbirds) featured the original UK album cover, the two missing tracks, duplication of the British mixing, and two additional tracks, the 1966 single "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" b/w "Psycho Daisies", both featuring Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.

Region Date Title Label Format Catalog
UK 06/1966 Yardbirds Columbia stereo LP SCX6063
UK 06/1966 Yardbirds Columbia mono LP SX6063
USA 08/1966 Over Under Sideways Down Epic stereo LP BN26210
USA 08/1966 Over Under Sideways Down Epic mono LP LN24210
FRG 1966 Over Under Sideways Down Epic stereo LP BN26254
France 1966 Over Under Sideways Down Riviera LP 231196
Canada 1966 Over Under Sideways Down Capitol LP ST 6202
England 1983 Roger the Engineer Edsel LP ED 116
USA 1983 Yardbirds Epic LP FE 38455
USA 11/1997 Roger the Engineer Warner Archive CD WB 457342

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "500 Greatest Albums of All Time: The Yardbirds, 'Roger the Engineer'". Rolling Stone.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Stephen Thomas Erlewine (2012). "Roger the Engineer – The Yardbirds : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  3. ↑ Bob Gulla (2008). Guitar Gods: The 25 Players Who Made Rock History. ABC-CLIO. p. 24. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  4. ↑ Chris Jones (17 April 2007). "BBC – Music – Review of The Yardbirds – Roger The Engineer". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  5. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen. "The Yardbirds: Roger the Engineer > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 1 June 2015.

External links