The Yardbirds

Formed in 1963, The Yardbirds were considered one of the crucial links between mid-60's British rhythm & blues and late-60's psychedelia setting the ground work for heavy metal. The Yardbirds would eventually spawn three major guitar heroes, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. After the release of their first major hit, For Your Love in 1965, Eric Clapton left to join John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and was replaced by Jeff Beck. After a string of hits including Heart Full Of Soul and Shape Of Things, bassist Paul Samwell Smith left to become a producer and was replaced by Jimmy Page who moved to lead guitar when Chris Dreja learned bass. For a brief time The Yardbirds had duel lead guitars. Beck eventually left the band and form The Jeff Beck Group, which left the band to Jimmy Page. The Yardbirds went on to release Little Games in '67. Almost a year later they broke up. In order to fulfill contractual obligations, Page formed The New Yardbirds which eventually became Led Zeppelin. Chris Dreja became a photographer (one of his photos appeared on the back of Led Zeppelin's first album cover), vocalist Keith Relf and drummer Jim McCarty formed a folksy duo called Together followed with Renaissance, in which they recorded an album and a half worth of material until they lost interest and quit (as the remaining members of that group would carry on).