"Best band in the land!"

That's the phrase I kept hearing a concertgoer shout during a show by New Orleans' favorite sons, the Radiators, Friday night at amphitheater at South Park.

Certainly, that's open to debate, but watching the Rads tear through a two-hour set might convince some folks this band is in contention.

From the rousing opener, "I Like It Like That," through an encore of "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "Ring of Fire," the Radiators showed that playing together for nearly 30 years makes for one tight performance.

The band formed in 1978 and has the same five members it did then: keyboardist Ed "Zeke" Volker, guitarists Dave Malone and Camille Baudoin, bass player Reggie Scanlon and drummer Frank Bua. Their repertoire varies between well-written originals and an unmatched collection of cover versions spanning blues, funk, classic rock and a few other genres.

One of the highlights of Friday's show was the band's distinctive interpretation of Neil Diamond's "A Solitary Man," which the Radiators transform into a smoldering performance complete with a long, intensive instrumental section.

Among the originals, a standout was Volker's "Umbilical," with its catchy sing-along chorus, "Everybody say yeah!" He's known to change the lyrics around here and there, and Friday's version mentioned a president running around the world like a chicken with his head cut off. (In the '90s, he'd make a reference to a president with a "cute little intern ...".)

Best in the land? I don't know, but the Radiators certainly are well worth seeing next time they're anywhere near town.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who still enjoys '60s-era, garage band-style music.

A friend sent me a disc by a Cincinnati-based band called the Greenhornes, and I had to double check that those guys didn't record it around 1966. No, "Dual Mono" - there's a great name for an album! - was released in 2002, by musicians who were a long way from being born yet when this style of music was in its heyday.

My music-conoisseur buddy had heard the Greenhornes playing on the soundtrack for Jim Jarmusch's film "Broken Flowers," which features the band's song "There Is An End." Actually, that's an interesting selection, as it features a guest vocal by Holly Golightly, who also has worked with the garage-inspired White Stripes. The rest of "Dual Mono" features band co-founder Craig Fox singing in a way that would make David Aguilar proud. (The Chocolate Watchband was the first actual '60s garage band to pop into my head, and Aguilar was its lead vocalist.)

At any rate, I've been blaring "Dual Mono" from my car stereo since receiving the disc, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who wants to go back about 40 years without leaving the 21st century.

With the Yardbirds' appearance in the Pittsburgh Blues Festival coming up at Hartwood Acres on Sunday, I'm looking forward to seeing a band that's been one of my favorites since the mid-'70s, even though it had been defunct for several years at the time.

True, the 2006 version isn't quite the Yardbirds of Clapton, Beck and Page. But it does feature half the surviving original members, and they'll be playing some songs I've always wanted to hear live.

Here are some of my favorite tunes of theirs and where you can find them:

"A Certain Girl," "I Ain't Got You," "I'm Not Talking," "For Your Love," "Got to Hurry" (Eric Clapton's "Crossroads" 4-CD compilation)
"Too Much Monkey Business," "Smokestack Lightnin'" ("Five Live Yardbirds")
"Heart Full of Soul," "Still I'm Sad," "Train Kept a-Rollin'," "I'm a Man," "Shapes of Things," "You're a Better Man Than I" ("Jeff Beck: The Yardbirds Years")
"Lost Woman," "Over Under Sideways Down," "The Nazz Are Blue," "Hot House of Omagarashid," "Turn Into Earth," "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago," "Psycho Daisies" ("Roger the Engineer")
"Beck's Bolero" (Jeff Beck: "Truth")
"Stroll On" ("Blow Up" soundtrack)
"Puzzles," "Glimpses," "White Summer," "Think About It" ("Little Games Sessions & More")
"Dazed and Confused" ("Cumular Limit")
"Please Don't Tell Me 'Bout the News," "My Blind Life," "An Original Man" ("Birdland")

PS: Check out my article about the Yardbirds in today's Observer-Reporter.

(This is supplemental information to a newspaper article about the Yardbirds that's running tomorrow.)

1963: Formed in Richmond, England, by Keith Relf, vocals and harmonica; Paul Samwell-Smith, bass guitar; Chris Dreja, rhythm guitar; Jim McCarty, drums; and Anthony "Top" Topham, lead guitar. Topham is replaced by Eric Clapton, 18, whose style earns him the nickname "Slowhand."

1964: The band's first single, "I Wish You Would," is released in the U.K. in June but fails to chart. The follow-up, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," hits the shelves in October and reaches No. 64.

1965: The single "For Your Love" is released in March and climbs to No. 3 in Britain. In May, it is released in the United States, where it reaches No. 6, the Yardbirds' highest-charting American single. Clapton, whose guitar playing is featured on the B-side, "Got to Hurry," decides to leave the band. His replacement is Jeff Beck, 20.

1966: Following a trio of Top 3 British singles the previous year, the band releases the socially conscious "Shapes of Things," a group-composed song that makes for another No. 3 in the U.K. (No. 11 in the States). The next single, "Over Under Sideways Down," also is a hit. The band releases its first album, "The Yardbirds" (also known as "Roger the Engineer"). Session guitarist Jimmy Page joins the band to replace Samwell-Smith, who opts for a career in production. Dreja switches to bass, and Beck and Page play double lead guitar on the single "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago." Despite the high quality of the song, it stalls at No. 30 in America and fails to crack the Top 40 in Britain. Beck decides to exit the band, shortly after the five-piece is filmed for inclusion in the motion picture "Blow Up."

1967: The quartet of Relf, Page, Dreja and McCarty records the second Yardbirds album, "Little Games," which is released only in the United States and barely scrapes the charts. The same holds true for several singles released during the year.

1968: The Yardbirds' final single, "Good Night Sweet Josephine," is withdrawn shortly after its release in March. The B-side, "Think About It," is a hard-rock number featuring a scorching guitar solo by Page, setting the stage for the type of music he'd perform in his next band. The Yardbirds break up during the summer; Relf and McCarty form a folk duo called Together, while Page and Dreja continue for a while as the New Yardbirds. Dreja drops out for a career in photography, and Page rechristens the band - now including Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham - as Led Zeppelin.

1971: Capitalizing on the worldwide success of Led Zeppelin, Epic Records releases "Live Yardbirds Featuring Jimmy Page," an album taken from a March 1968 concert. Page is successful in his bid to have the album removed from the shelves, and it has been a collector's item since.

1976: Relf, 33, is electrocuted when he touches a faulty amplifier.

1984: Dreja, McCarty and Samwell-Smith release an album under the group name Box of Frogs. The studio venture also includes Beck, Irish guitar whiz Rory Gallagher and jazz keyboardist Max Middleton as guests, along with vocalist John Fiddler. "Box of Frogs" reaches No. 45 on the American charts.

1986: "Strange Land," the second and final Box of Frogs album, is released.

1992: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts the Yardbirds.

1995: Dreja, McCarty and Topham re-form the Yardbirds, along with vocalist-bassist John Idan and harmonica player Ray Majors. Topham later is replaced by former Dr. Feelgood guitarist Gypie Mayo, and Majors by former Nine Below Zero harp player Alan Glen.

2003: "Birdland," the first new Yardbirds album since 1967, hits the shelves. It features a host of guest guitarists, including Steve Vai, who releases the album on his Favored Nations label. Others include Joe Satriani, Brian May, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter - and Jeff Beck.

2006: In addition to Dreja, McCarty and Idan, the band now includes harp player Billy-Boy Miskimmin and lead guitarist Ben King.

The Yardbirds' discography is a bit confusing. Most of the band's recordings prior to mid-1966 seem to fall under some kind of public domain, resulting in numerous compilations by any number of record companies.

Here are recommendations for your listening pleasure based on what's in my collection:

The Yardbirds:
* "Jeff Beck: The Yardbird Years" - classics from 1965-66, including some rarities that haven't turned up on other compilations
* "Roger the Engineer" - the band cut its first LP in 1966, which was called "The Yardbirds" in the U.K. and "Over Under Sideways Down" over here
* "Little Games Sessions & More" - this two-disc collection features Jimmy Page on lead guitar and also includes the output of Together, Keith Relf's and Jim McCarty's brief post-Yardbirds folk band
* "The Yardbirds Live with Jimmy Page" - this apparently has been released legimately on CD, but is very hard to find
* "BBC Sessions" - the Warner Bros. Archives series gathered these recordings featuring Beck and/or page in a collection that would play a lot better if not for the inane chattering of the BBC disc jockeys
* "Cumular Limit" - a recent compilation gathers various live recordings, outtakes, alternate versions and previously unreleased material of the Page-era band; of note is the live "Dazed and Confused" recorded in France
* "Birdland" - the 2003 comeback featuring McCarty, Chris Dreja and a slew of talented guest guitarists

Eric Clapton:
* "Crossroads" - the first nine tracks of the essential four-disc anthology features Clapton's studio work with the Yardbirds

Jeff Beck:
* "Beckology" - much of the first disc of the three-CD set is dedicated to Beck's work with the Yardbirds; also of interest are three songs by his pre-Yardbirds band, the Tridents
* "Truth" - Beck's solo debut features Rod Stewart singing a hard-rock version of "Shapes of Things"; also, the instrumental track "Beck's Bolero" is performed by the Yardbirds

Renaissance:
"Renaissance" - the 1969 release is the only full album by the original band, which included Relf and McCarty

Led Zeppelin:
"Led Zeppelin" - the debut of Page's band includes the best-known version of "Dazed and Confused"
"BBC Sessions" - includes a medley featuring "White Summer," which Page originally performed with the Yardbirds, as well as a longer "Dazed and Confused"

Box of Frogs:
"Box of Frogs" and "Strange Land" represent the output of the mid-'80s studio band that featured many former members of the Yardbirds

OK, I survived Ozzfest yesterday at the place once known as Star Lake. Had a great time, too. I'll have to admit to wandering around checking everything out more than listening to the bands, but there were a lot of interesting people in attendance, to say the least.

As far as the performers, we arrived a bit late to catch Ozzy Osbourne's act. Of the bands we did see, I particularly enjoyed Lacuna Coil, although its set was a bit on the truncated side, and Avenged Sevenfold.

The closing act, System of a Down, had its moments, particularly when it broke into an excerpt of Dire Straits' "Sultans of Swing," complete with a Mark Knopfler-like guitar solo. I liked that because I recognized it!

I also recognize a System of a Down song my kids have played for me for shock value. (As if I've never heard any curse words before.) The tune is "Violent Pornography," with lyrics like "everybody, everybody, everybody (expletive deleted)" and references to certain acts of intimacy that make a lot of us cringe. At any rate, the rest of the audience seemed to enjoy it.

In my opinion, frontman Serj Tankian seems to draw quite a bit of influence from Jim Morrison, with the difference being that's the kind of stuff that got the late Doors' singer arrested in the '60s.

Here are a few photos I took around the venue with the camera they'd actually let me take inside. (They wouldn't let me take my bottled water -- but that's another story.)

I had to watch the trailer for "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" after hearing a rant on sports talk radio about the soon-to-be-released film (opening Aug. 4).

It seems that some NASCAR fans are taking offense to the concept of Will Ferrell playing a Southern race-car driver who isn't exactly a Rhodes scholar. The buzz is that the stereotypical portrayals in the movie represent Hollywood's disdain for the demographic that put the current administration in the White House.

I don't know about any of that, but judging by the trailer, the film should have a good soundtrack. The trailer opens with Free performing "All Right Now," one of the great enduring songs from the '70s by a band that never quite received its due.

You can't go wrong with music like that.

I've been told that the first choice for the August rock concert at Falconi Field was Lynyrd Skynyrd.

That band wasn't available, so Falconi gets the second choice. Some guy named Dylan.

Come on, now. You mean someone preferred to hire a bunch of Southern-fried hacks to the a bona fide legend?

Granted, Skynyrd has some popular tunes that aren't bad for a listen. But keep in mind, most of the guys who recorded that material are no longer with us. The co-composers of "Freebird," Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins, both are deceased. In fact, the plane crash that killed Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and his sister Cassie Gaines effectivly put an end to the REAL Lynyrd Skynyrd, much like Lowell George's death spelled an end to the genuine Little Feat.

The remnants of both bands decided to reunite in the '80s, and both still are with us today.

That's good for fans who like to hear their material performed live. I've seen the "new" Little Feat, and the folks in that band put on a heck of a show. (And I've written an article to be published next Friday about another band, the Yardbirds, that has gotten back together withs some key members from its heyday.)

But the thought of putting the 2006 version of Lynyrd Skynyrd ahead of Bob Dylan on any list of priorities boggles the mind.

At any rate, I've heard this story secondhand, so it might not even be true.

Please let it just be a rumor!