Keith Relf R.I.P.
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It's a pity he never got the sort of recognition other frontmen (Rog Daltrey, Mick, Lennon, etc) did back in the Sixties. Fantastic band, prefer their blues stuff 
Forgotten how funny that film was, at least I laughed at it. Pity Vanessa Redgrave never let her hands drop from in front of her 
Keith looked good in the film, only to be upstaged by Jimmy Page, and then Jeff Beck, who livens up a dead audience by destroying his guitar and throwing it into their midst. Ain't that always the way?
Antonioni wanted to make a film about "swinging London" (circa 1966); for the club scene, he wanted a British band along the lines of The Who. So he hired The Yardbirds; hence, the bit of guitar destruction, which was a regular part of The Who's performances, but never a part of The yardbirds' performances. Beck's baffled comment, years later, was something along the lines of "If he wanted The Who, why didn't he just hire The Who"?
Still, a great opportunity to see a short-lived genius lineup.
As for Relf, his surviving band-mates have noted that people don't realize the struggle he had at the front of that band. He was a lifelong asthmatic, collapsed a lung and almost died, and yet there he was, always at the front, wailing his blues harp, and shouting out above the roar of the band. Ain't gonna find anymore of his kind.
