"Heart Full of Soul" is a song recorded by English rock group the Yardbirds in 1965. Written by Graham Gouldman, it was the Yardbirds' first single after Jeff Beck replaced Eric Clapton as lead guitarist. Released only three months after "For Your Love", "Heart Full of Soul" reached the Top 10 on the singles charts in the UK, US, and several other countries.
The Yardbirds first recorded the song with an Indian sitar player performing the distinctive instrumental figures. However, the group were dissatisfied with the results, so Beck developed the part on electric guitar to emulate the sitar. A contemporary review described it as an "oriental touch", and music writers have identified Beck's contribution as introducing Indian-influenced guitar stylings to rock music, and as one of the earliest examples of what became known as raga rock. Beck's use of a fuzz box has also been cited as perhaps the first significant use of the effect.
As one of the Yardbirds' most popular songs, it was frequently performed in concert. There are a number of live recordings, the earliest of which feature Beck, while later ones feature guitarist Jimmy Page. "Heart Full of Soul" appears on several of the group's compilations and renditions have been recorded by other musicians.
Background
Guitarist Eric Clapton left the Yardbirds in March 1965 because of a perceived shift in musical direction. Inspired in part by Jeff Beck, who replaced Clapton, the group began to experiment with different musical styles. Beck had more varied influences and used electronically enhanced guitar effects, which he brought to the group's sound. The use of a fuzz box was new at the time as well as incorporating feedback into musical passages. When preparing for a follow-up single to their first record chart hit, "For Your Love", the song's writer Graham Gouldman provided a demo for a new song. Music critic Richie Unterberger described Gouldman as "a genius at effectively alternating tempos and major/minor modes", which are used in "Heart Full of Soul". The shift in tempo and use of double-time was also a feature of the Yardbirds' live performances and was known as a "rave up".
At the time, popular music at large was seen as becoming more experimental. Gouldman's arrangement was perceived as creating an exotic sound. Yardbirds' drummer Jim McCarty recalled that "the riff on the demo [by Gouldman] suggested a sitar" and that the group's manager, Giorgio Gomelsky, hired a sitar and a tabla player for a recording session. Beck biographer Martin Power says that "For Your Love" had been made more memorable by a prominent harpsichord part (played by Brian Auger) and that may have influenced Gomelsky's decision. Beck also believes that the addition of an unusual instrument was an attempt to follow the successful incorporation of a harpsichord in their first hit. The use of sitar was a new approach and several months later, the Beatles recorded "Norwegian Wood", which is the first rock song released to incorporate a sitar part. Session guitar player Jimmy Page, who later joined the Yardbirds, was working in an adjacent studio and attended the session. His interest was piqued and after the session, he bought the musician's sitar, which Page later used for his own recordings.
Composition and recording
The Yardbirds' first attempt to record "Heart Full of Soul" was on 13 April 1965 at Advision Studios in London. The session began with the sitar player playing the distinctive instrumental hook or riff. However, he was unfamiliar with the type of rock sound the group was trying to achieve"It just didn't have any groove to it", Beck felt. McCarty added: "It was fine in principle, but while the tablas sounded OK, the sitar just wasn't up front enough. It just didn't cut through." Beck developed a riff on guitar to replace the sitar line. He elaborated in an interview:
According to McCarty, Beck developed the riff after borrowing Page's prototype fuzz box, designed for him by Roger Mayer. When he played the lick for the band, they felt that it was a perfect fit: "this great sounding riff emerged... I mean Beck just nailed it", rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja recalled. The group returned to Advision on 20 April to complete the song. Beck was able to achieve the sitar-like hook by bending the higher notes on his guitar using his own Tone Bender unit to get the distinctive tone. Music writer Alan diPerna describes it as "microtonal string bending", while Relf biographer David French calls Beck's sound a "violin-like fuzz". While simultaneously sounding the open D string, he also added a droning quality reminiscent of the sitar's sympathetic strings.