History Music / TheYardbirds

A [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion British Invasion]] band active in the 1960s British BluesRock scene alongside Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}} and Music/TheAnimals, The Yardbirds are best remembered for developing their hard-edged, proto-PsychedelicRock sound, which influenced numerous future HardRock and early HeavyMetal performers, and for serving as the starting point for three guitar players who soon became famous in their own right: Music/EricClapton, Music/JeffBeck, and [[Music/LedZeppelin Jimmy Page.]]

* BreakupBreakout: Clapton, Beck and Page. Although Relf and [=McCarty=] did go on to some success with Music/{{Renaissance}}, and Samwell-Smith went on to have a successful career behind the scenes as a producer.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Music/LedZeppelin, who were originally called The New Yardbirds.

* ''Kenny Aaronson'' - bass (2015-Present)

* ''Johnny Antonopoulos'' - guitar (2015-Present)
* Music/JeffBeck - guitar, backing and lead vocals, bass (1965-1966, died 2023)
* John Cawthra (Gypie Mayo) - guitar, vocals (1995-2004, died 2013)
* Music/EricClapton - guitar, backing and co-lead vocals (1963-1965)
* Rod Demick - bass, harmonica, vocals (1992-1993)
* Jerry Donahue - guitar (2004-2005)
* '''Chris Dreja''' - guitar, bass, piano, vocals (1963-1968, 1982-1983, 1992-2013)
* Mark Feltham - lead vocals, harmonica (1982-1983)
* Laurie Garman - harmonica (1994-1996)
* Alan Glen - harmonica, percussion (1996-2003, 2008-2009)
* ''John Idan'' - lead vocals, guitar, bass (1992-2009, 2015-Present)
* Ben King - guitar (2005-2015)
* John Knightsbridge - guitar, vocals (1982-1983)
* Ray Majors - guitar, vocals (1994-1995)
* '''''Jim [=McCarty=]''''' - drums, percussion, backing and lead vocals (1963-1968, 1982-1983, 1992-Present)
* Billy Boy Miskimmin - harmonica, percussion (2003-2008)
* Andy Mitchell - lead vocals, harmonica (2009-2015)
* [[Music/LedZeppelin Jimmy Page]] - guitar, bass (1966-1968)
* '''Keith Relf''' - lead vocals, harmonica, maracas, guitar, percussion (1963-1968, died 1976)
* '''Paul Samwell-Smith''' - bass, backing and co-lead vocals (1963-1966, 1983)
* ''Myke Scavone'' - lead vocals, harmonica, percussion (2015-Present)
* David Smale - bass (2009-2015)

* '''Anthony "Top" Topham''' - guitar, vocals (1963, 2013-2015)

A [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion British Invasion]] band active in the 1960s British BluesRock scene alongside Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}} and Music/TheAnimals, The Yardbirds are best remembered for developing a hard-edged, proto-PsychedelicRock sound, which influenced numerous future HardRock and early HeavyMetal performers, and for serving as the starting point for three guitar players who soon became famous in their own right: Music/EricClapton, Music/JeffBeck, and [[Music/LedZeppelin Jimmy Page.]]

A [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion British Invasion]] band active in the 1960s British BluesRock scene alongside Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, and Music/TheAnimals, The Yardbirds are best remembered for developing a hard-edged, proto-PsychedelicRock sound, which influenced numerous future HardRock and early HeavyMetal performers, and for serving as the starting point for three guitar players who soon became famous in their own right: Music/EricClapton, Music/JeffBeck, and [[Music/LedZeppelin Jimmy Page.]]

A [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion British Invasion]] band active in the 1960s British BluesRock scene alongside Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, and Music/TheAnimals, The Yardbirds are best remembered for their hard-edged, proto-PsychedelicRock sound, which influenced numerous future HardRock and early HeavyMetal performers, and for serving as the starting point for three guitar players who soon became famous in their own right: Music/EricClapton, Music/JeffBeck, and [[Music/LedZeppelin Jimmy Page.]]

A [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion British Invasion]] band active in the 1960s British BluesRock scene alongside Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, and Music/TheAnimals, The Yardbirds are best known for their hard-edged BluesRock and proto-PsychedelicRock sound, which influenced numerous future HardRock and early HeavyMetal performers, and for serving as the starting point for three guitar players who soon became famous in their own right: Music/EricClapton, Music/JeffBeck, and [[Music/LedZeppelin Jimmy Page.]]

A [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion British Invasion]] band active in the 1960s British BluesRock scene alongside Music/TheAnimals and Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, The Yardbirds are best known for their hard-edged {{Blues}} and proto-PsychedelicRock sound, which influenced numerous future HardRock and early HeavyMetal performers, and for serving as the starting point for three guitar players who soon became famous in their own right: Music/EricClapton, Music/JeffBeck, and [[Music/LedZeppelin Jimmy Page.]]

The Yardbirds formed in London in 1963, with a lineup initially consisting of Anthony "Top" Topham, Paul Samwell-Smith, Chris Dreja, [=Jim McCarty=] and Keith Relf. Topham had to leave that fall due to studies, and was replaced by Eric Clapton, with whom the band released their first three singles and their debut album ''Music/FiveLiveYardbirds'', which was revolutionary at the time. Clapton quit to join John Mayall's Bluesbreakers shortly before the completion of ''Music/ForYourLove'', which he felt was too much of a departure from their blues roots, and was replaced by Jeff Beck, who led the group in a distinctly [[PsychedelicRock psychedelic]] direction. This is generally considered to be the "classic' lineup of the band, and for good reason. It was with Beck that they recorded their biggest hits (with the exception of "For Your Love", which was with Clapton), most of which appeared on the albums ''Music/HavingARaveUp'' (1965) and ''Music/RogerTheEngineer'' (1966).

The Yardbirds formed in London in 1963, with a lineup initially consisting of Anthony "Top" Topham, Paul Samwell-Smith, Chris Dreja, [=Jim McCarty=] and Keith Relf. Topham had to leave that fall due to studies, and was replaced by Eric Clapton, with whom the band released their first three singles and their debut album ''Music/FiveLiveYardbirds'', which was revolutionary at the time. Clapton quit to join John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers shortly before the completion of ''Music/ForYourLove'', which he felt was too much of a departure from their blues roots, and was replaced by Jeff Beck, who led the group in a distinctly [[PsychedelicRock psychedelic]] direction. It is this line-up that is generally considered to be the classic line-up, and for good reason. It was with Beck that their biggest hits came out, (with the exception of "For Your Love", which was with Clapton) most of which appeared on ''Music/HavingARaveUp'' from 1965, as well as ''Music/RogerTheEngineer''.

Paul Samwell-Smith -- who was an integral part of the band musically and their chief songwriter -- quit shortly after ''Music/RogerTheEngineer'' to focus on production. Jimmy Page joined to replace Samwell-Smith on bass, but it became clear that bass was not suited for him. Chris Dreja chose to switch from rhythm guitar to bass, but until Dreja could learn and play bass competently, Page continued to play bass. Once this was done, Page switched to co-lead guitar and for a very brief period, Beck and Page played lead guitar together. There are only three Yardbirds songs with both Beck and Page: The non-album single "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" (Dreja played rhythm guitar, and the bass was played by Page's future band-mate [[Music/LedZeppelin John Paul Jones]], then a session musician. Turned out to be their last major hit.), its BSide "Psycho Daisies" (Beck on sole lead guitar, Dreja on rhythm guitar and Page on bass) and "Stroll On" ("The Train Kept A-Rollin'" with different lyrics. Used in the film ''Film/BlowUp''). Despite all that, this line-up remains highly influential, especially for guitar enthusiasts.

A [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion British Invasion]] band active in the 1960s British BluesRock scene alongside Music/TheAnimals and Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}. The Yardbirds are best known for their hard-edged {{Blues}} and proto-PsychedelicRock sound, which influenced future HardRock and early HeavyMetal performers and for serving as the starting point for a few guitar players who became famous in their own right; Music/EricClapton, Music/JeffBeck and [[Music/LedZeppelin Jimmy Page.]]

The founding line-up consisted of Anthony "Top" Topham, Paul Samwell-Smith, Chris Dreja, [=Jim McCarty=] and Keith Relf. Topham had to leave due to studies, and was replaced by Eric Clapton. With Clapton the band released their first three singles and debut album ''Music/FiveLiveYardbirds'', which was revolutionary at the time. Clapton quit to join John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers shortly before the completion of ''Music/ForYourLove'', which he felt was too much of a departure from their blues roots, and was replaced by Jeff Beck, who led the group in a distinctly [[PsychedelicRock psychedelic]] direction. It is this line-up that is generally considered to be the classic line-up, and for good reason. It was with Beck that their biggest hits came out, (with the exception of "For Your Love", which was with Clapton) most of which appeared on ''Music/HavingARaveUp'' from 1965, as well as ''Music/RogerTheEngineer''.

Paul Samwell-Smith -- who was an integral part of the band musically and was the band's chief songwriter -- quit shortly after ''Music/RogerTheEngineer'' to focus on production. Jimmy Page joined to replace Samwell-Smith on bass, but it became clear that bass was not suited for him. Chris Dreja chose to switch from rhythm guitar to bass, but until Dreja could learn and play bass competently, Page continued to play bass. Once this was done, Page switched to co-lead guitar and for a very brief period, Beck and Page played lead guitar together. There are only three Yardbirds songs with both Beck and Page: The non-album single "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" (Dreja played rhythm guitar, and the bass was played by Page's future band-mate [[Music/LedZeppelin John Paul Jones]], then a session musician. Turned out to be their last major hit.), its BSide "Psycho Daisies" (Beck on sole lead guitar, Dreja on rhythm guitar and Page on bass) and "Stroll On" ("The Train Kept A-Rollin'" with different lyrics. Used in the film ''Film/BlowUp''). Despite all that, this line-up remains highly influential, especially for guitar enthusiasts.

[[caption-width-right:350: The classic line-up of The Yardbirds, from left to right: Chris Dreja, Jim [=Mc=]Carty, Keith Relf, Music/JeffBeck, and Paul Samwell-Smith.]]

!! Evil Hearted Troper:

* Music/JeffBeck - guitar, backing and lead vocals, bass (1965-1966)

* CutAndPasteTranslation: Every album of theirs released Stateside until ''Music/LittleGames''.