The young songwriter was working at a clothing shop at the time.

“It’s a shame the Yardbirds have no image,” opined Herman’s Hermits’ Peter Noone bluntly in 1966, “because they would be the Number One group in England.” It’s true that the Yardbirds—whose ...

Like many artists who came of age in the early to mid-'60s, the Yardbirds went through some major creative changes in 1966. Leading up to this point was a series of singles, a couple of albums and a ...

The first time was in 1964, when Yardbirds manager Giorgio Gomelsky had asked Page to temporarily replace guitarist Eric Clapton because he was going on holiday. Page, who was friends with Clapton, ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Hugh McIntyre covers music, with a focus on the global charts. During their initial years together, The Yardbirds scored several ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Christopher Walenty “Chris” Dreja, April 1967 (Jorgen Angel/Redferns) Chris Dreja, the co-founding rhythm guitarist and later ...

As founding member Chris Dreja tells it, making a new Yardbirds album after 35 years seemed daunting: “That’s a long holiday. We’ve been dormant like some bacteria for all that time. Waiting to ...

Beck saw evidence of rivalry stretching back to the Yardbirds and his Stevie Wonder collaborations. But a remark Clapton made ...

Keith Relf, Paul Samwell-Smith, Top Topham, Jim McCarty, and Chris Dreja are the original members of the Yardbirds. Relf and Samwell-Smith played together in a band called Metropolitan Blues Quartet.

Chris Dreja, a rhythm guitarist and later bassist who co-founded The Yardbirds, remained with the legendary British band for its entire original run and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of ...

Say the name Jimmy Page and a few images will pop into the minds of rock fans. Many will envision Page at work on his Gibson double-neck guitar during a live rendition of “Stairway to Heaven” in the ...