Songs The Yardbirds Taught Us (#1): Enrie K-Doe - A Certain Girl

We're going to spend the week going under the covers by looking at the original versions of songs that were covered by The Yardbirds. In many cases we learned of the artist or the particular song FROM The Yardbirds. In most cases, actually. 

We'll start today with Ernie K-Doe (born as Ernest Kador) of New Orleans, Louisiana. Ernest struck it big in early 1961 with the Allen Toussaint composition/production of Mother-In-Law. In October of that same year Ernie K-Doe reached his bucket into the deep, rich music well that was Allen Toussaint one more time. Toussaint produced and wrote A Certain Girl under the name of Naomi Neville and it was released by Ernest K-Doe on the great local New Orleans label, Minit Records.

The song became a staple of early Yardbirds sets and was dedicated to wax with Eric Clapton laying down a fiery lead guitar part as the Flip-Side of their amazing debut single in May of 1964. It turns out we wrote about The Yardbirds' version in 2012. You can hear their version right here. 

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Song Of The Week: The Yardbirds - A Certain Girl

As I was flipping the stations on my satellite radio I came across a show where the DJs were having a segment about the greatest guitar solo in rock history. Those cats on the station were playing stuff by AC/DC (really?), Metallica and Deep Purple and the likes. I didn't stick around long enough to get much more info but thought about the premise a bit. Songs like The Rolling Stones' Shine A Light, the very gentle guitar work of John Frusciante on The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Scar Tissue, everything by Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn and even Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven. 

I'm not going to come to a greatest guitar solo conclusion, but I will come to this conclusion: the guitar work by a very young Eric Calpton on The Yardbirds' A Certain Girl is absolutely perfect in tone, attack, phrasing and length. A Certain Girl was the flip-side of the bands' amazing first single, I Wish You Would. I've always thought A Certain Girl, the cover of the Neville Brothers original, was a bit goofy with the band hollering' out a baritone "Nooooo" too often, but this guitar work is undeniable.

Got any other great guitar solos you think need attention? Let us know in comment section below.

Enjoy.