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The Yardbirds: The Most Blueswailing Futuristic Way-Out Heavy Beat Sound Peter Stanfield REAKTION. £25 Richly detailed, nuanced account of Britain’s trailblazing beat combo. Back in late 1963, The Yardbirds were occasionally billed as a jazz group. By 1968, announcing their split to a disinterested press, they were has-beens. Yet between those times, especially for a 15-month period during 1965 and ’66, they’d been leaders of “the pop avant-garde”. Via an artful sifting of the contemporary press, coupled with a well-tuned listening ear, author Stanfield’s evocative account unpicks the contradictions at the heart of the group. Much-loved frontman Keith Relf nevertheless resembled, wrote Fab 208 magazine, “some fragile bird battling against the elements”; behind him, guitarists Clapton, Beck and Page all had different ambitions for the group. The Yardbirds remained at…