Have trouble keeping track of exactly which 1960s bands served as incubators to other seminal groups? Answers arrive in the form of The Story of the Yardbirds, a solid documentary covering the group in question, as well as the 1963 to 1968 rock scene in general, in glancing, effective shorthand.

Running about 52 minutes, this behind-the-scenes look at an influential but short-lived supergroup includes tons of original tunes, archive convert footage, interviews with bandmates, session musicians and other associates, and of course plenty of footage of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Two 1964 live cuts with Clapton and the Yardbirds, “Louise” and “I Wish I Would,” are given the most reverential spotlight treatment, but in all honestly the title works as both a primer for classic rock neophytes and a nice little blood-pumping exercise in reminiscence for long-time fans. The rest of the track listing of musical selections is as follows: “I’m a Man,” “Heart Full of Soul,” “Still I’m Sad,” “Train Kept Rolling,” “Over, Under, Sideways, Down,” “Shapes of Things,” “Happening Ten Years Ago,” “For the Love,” “My Girl Sloppy,” “Stroll On” and a personal favorite, “Dazed and Confused.”

Housed in a regular plastic Amaray case, The Story of the Yardbirds is presented on a region-free disc in 16×9 widescreen, with an English mono audio track. The sole supplemental feature comes in the form of 14 minutes of full-frame bonus footage of the Yardbirds, with a very young Jimmy Page on guitar,
from a German TV broadcast in late March, 1967. Trippy, amusing stuff, though an academic/talking head dissection of it would have been a cool inclusion as well. To purchase the DVD via Amazon, click here. B (Movie) B- (Disc)