‘Roger’ that: Yardbirds classic on 6 discs

The Yardbirds’ proto-psychedelic album universally known as “Roger the Engineer” comes chugging back in June via a six-disc box set.

The “super deluxe limited edition” box contains “new and definitive remastering” done for the rerelease and overseen by Paul Samwell-Smith, the Yardbirds bassist who was the original album’s producer.

“Remastering this album has been a joy,” Samwell-Smith said. “To hear the tracks sounding just as we heard them all those years ago while we were recording them — energetic, edgy, and in your face — is an unexpected treat.

“In 1966, it was a rare and exciting opportunity to be given a recording studio for five days and allowed to experiment. That excitement still shows.”

The Demon Records box set offers two LPs — mono and stereo versions of the album — three CDs including a bonus-tracks disc — and a reproduced single of “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” b/w “Psycho Daisies.”

The track “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” often is cited as the first psychedelic song by a major act. It ranks No. 10 on this web site’s list of great psychedelic songs. “Psycho Daisies” is another early underground rock number. Neither was included on the original album, but both tracks have been folded in on most rereleases.

The third CD — titled “1966 Studio Recordings” — includes a previously unreleased early mix of “Turn Into Earth” that “reveals a searing guitar solo by Jeff Beck.” There’s also a an alternate mix of the trippy “Hot House of Omagararshid” and a trio of (previously released) songs from singer Keith Relf.

The album has been rereleased countless times since it was unleashed on an unsuspecting pop world in the summer of 1966. It has seen several “audiophile” editions such as half-speed-mastered vinyl, although Yardbirds recordings have notorious for their middling audio quality. This new collection contains familiar tracks and bonus tracks, and so will be examined by fans and collectors for the quality of its sonics.

The new stereo mix has been remastered from the 1⁄4-inch master tapes “which were newly transferred for this release by Phil Kinrade at Alchemy Mastering at AIR.”

That disc is pressed on 180 gram red vinyl. The mono (“newly transferred for this release at Abbey Road”) comes on blue vinyl. The single is on white vinyl.

Although the album is officially called “Yardbirds,” it has long gone under the title “Roger the Engineer,” a reference to the cover drawing of the record’s audio engineer Roger Cameron by guitarist Chris Dreja.

The album was composed of all band originals. The hit single was “Over Under Sideways Down,” with its Middle Eastern-influenced guitar work by new guitarist Beck. (The U.S. version of the album employed this title, along with a slightly different track lineup.) This is the studio album upon which the Yardbirds’ reputation as a groundbreaking band of the mid-’60s stands.

Other key tracks are the bass-propelled “Lost Woman,” Beck’s “The Nazz Are Blue” and the atmospheric “Turn Into Earth.”

“Roger” roamed the earth before the great psychedelic albums of 1967. Its music endures, a bit dodgy in spots yet quite stirring — but it’s helpful to remember just how startling these sounds were in mid-1966. The Yardbirds, pushed by Beck, incorporated Indian influences, ersatz Gregorian chants, drones, feedback and odd studio effects into their raw “rave up” sound. Along with the Byrds’ “Fifth Dimension,” it provided a canny preview of the sounds soon to come.

The box set’s 24-page booklet “includes rare memorabilia and photographs, an exclusive introduction by Jeff Beck, testimonials by Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and MC5’s Wayne Kramer, plus an extensive essay and track-by-track liner notes by David French based on new interviews with Jimmy Page, Paul Samwell-Smith, Jim McCarty and Simon Napier-Bell.”

The set debuts June 18 and preorders for about $100.