Heart Full of Soul by The Yardbirds turned a scrapped sitar session into one of rock's first great fuzz guitar hooks.
The song became Jeff Beck's first single as the band's lead guitarist in the summer of 1965.
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The Sitar Session That Fell Flat
Graham Gouldman wrote Heart Full of Soul.
He also wrote For Your Love for the same band just months earlier.
The Yardbirds first tried recording the new song on April 13, 1965, with a real Indian sitar player and a tabla player in the studio.
Producer Giorgio Gomelsky wanted the riff to carry an authentic Eastern sound.
The take did not work, and the band knew it right away.
Jim McCarty on the Missing Sitar
Drummer Jim McCarty later summed up the problem in plain terms.
"It was fine in principle, but while the tablas sounded OK, the sitar just wasn't up front enough," he said.
The tabla player's part actually survived onto the final single even after the sitar was dropped.
It was the first song the group worked on after Eric Clapton left the band that March.
Jeff Beck Turns His Guitar Into a Sitar
The Yardbirds finished the track on April 20, 1965, at Advision Studios in London.
Keith Relf sang lead and played acoustic guitar, Jim McCarty stayed on drums, and session player Ron Prentice filled in on bass.
Jeff Beck suggested replacing the sitar part with his own guitar rather than trying the session again.
He ran his lead line through a Sola Sound Tone Bender fuzz box to copy the sitar's buzzing tone.
Critics later called it one of the first significant uses of fuzz guitar on record, taped roughly a month before The Rolling Stones cut (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.
A Riff Five Months Ahead of Norwegian Wood
Columbia had the single in UK shops by June 1965, five months before The Beatles used an actual sitar on "Norwegian Wood."
Beck's fuzz-guitar substitute beat that famous sitar moment to record shelves without using a real sitar at all.
The trick let the band play the riff live every night without hauling an instrument none of them knew how to tune.
Chart Run and Legacy
Columbia released the single in the UK on June 4, 1965, backed with the instrumental "Steeled Blues."
Epic Records issued it in the US on July 2, 1965.
It reached number 2 on the UK chart and number 2 in Canada on the RPM chart.
In the US it climbed to number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit number 3 in New Zealand.
The single gave The Yardbirds their second straight international hit with Jeff Beck now the band's guitarist of record.
Singer Chris Isaak recorded a well known cover version in 1986, released as a single the following year.
Rush also covered the song decades later for their thirtieth anniversary album, "Feedback."
FAQ
Who wrote Heart Full of Soul?
Graham Gouldman wrote it in 1965, the same songwriter behind "For Your Love."
He later co-founded 10cc.
Was there really a sitar on Heart Full of Soul?
Yes, in an early session on April 13, 1965, with an Indian sitar player and a tabla player.
The band scrapped that version because the sitar sounded too thin, and Jeff Beck recreated the sound on guitar instead.
What guitar effect gives Heart Full of Soul its buzzing tone?
Jeff Beck played the riff through a Sola Sound Tone Bender fuzz box.
It let his guitar copy the sitar's Eastern-sounding buzz without an actual sitar on the finished track.
How high did Heart Full of Soul chart?
It reached number 2 in the UK and number 2 in Canada.
In the US it climbed to number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Who has covered Heart Full of Soul?
Chris Isaak recorded the best known cover in 1986, released as a single in 1987.
Rush also covered it for their thirtieth anniversary album "Feedback."
The Yardbirds' fuzz toned breakthrough followed For Your Love by only a few months in 1965.
Both singles sit at the center of the British Invasion sound the band helped define.
Read the full story of the band's rise and lineup changes on The Yardbirds artist page.
Heart Full of Soul by The Yardbirds still stands as the moment Jeff Beck turned a studio failure into a guitar breakthrough.
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