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"Evil Hearted You"
West German picture sleeve
Single by the Yardbirds
A-side"Still I'm Sad" ( double A-side)
Released1 October 1965 (1965-10-01)
Recorded26 August 1965
Studio Advision Sound, London
Genre Rock
Length2:24
Label Columbia
Songwriter(s) Graham Gouldman
Producer(s) Giorgio Gomelsky
The Yardbirds UK singles chronology
" Heart Full of Soul"
(1965)
"Evil Hearted You" / "Still I'm Sad"
(1965)
" Shapes of Things"
(1966)

"Evil Hearted You" is a 1965 song by English rock group the Yardbirds. It was written by future 10cc member Graham Gouldman, who also wrote the group's two prior singles, " For Your Love" and " Heart Full of Soul". [1] It reached No. 3 on the main UK singles chart. [2]

Recording and releases

The Yardbirds recorded the song at Advision Studios, London, on 26 August 1965. [3] [a] When it was released 1 October 1965 in the UK, "Evil Hearted You", along with the second side, "Still I'm Sad" became a double A-side hit. [6] The Record Retailer singles chart counted both sides and reported it reached number three. [6] The NME singles chart reported the two songs separately – "Evil Hearted You" at number ten and "Still I'm Sad" at number nine. [6] There was no single release in the US, but the song was included on the Yardbirds' second Epic Records album Having a Rave Up, [7] which was released 15 November 1965.

Critical commentary

Music critic Cub Koda describes the song as a "minor-key pop classic" and guitarist Jeff Beck's solo as "equal parts classical and James Bond soundtrack". [8] Biographer Martin Power writes:

"Evil Hearted You" had a hint of Italian composer Ennio Morricone, with Beck's contribution taking it to a whole new level of excitement, his clattering, heavily reverbed guitar and shimmering, two-octave slide solo sounding almost ghostly. [9]

In a review for AllMusic, Richie Unterberger calls the song "one of the gloomiest hit singles in all of 1960s British rock" and adds:

[It] throws in all of Gouldman's mid-'60s bag of tricks: multiple abrupt tempo changes, a haunting Middle Eastern-influenced melody extremely heavy on the minor chords, a lyric abjectly pining for a woman's love, and adroit integration of several contrasting sections. [1]

Other versions

"Evil Hearted You" was recorded by the American group the Human Beinz, prior to changing their name. [1] Unterberger describes it as "a faithful version". [1]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Earlier sources, including Alan Clayson, give the recording date as 23 August 1965. [4] Greg Russo, in his 2016 updated Yardbirds' biography, lists it as "26 August 1965" with the explanation: "This information comes directly from the original tape box. These sessions were not recorded on 08/17/65 or 08/23/65 as stated in other publications." [5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Unterberger, Richie. "Evil Hearted You – Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  2. ^ "The Yardbirds: Singles". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  3. ^ Russo 2016, p. 209.
  4. ^ Clayson 2002, p. 175
  5. ^ Russo 2016, p. 209
  6. ^ a b c Russo 2016, p. 50.
  7. ^ Clayson 2002, pp. 196–197.
  8. ^ Koda & Russo 2001, p. 33.
  9. ^ Power 2014, eBook

Bibliography