The Yardbirds: little known and sad facts about the band

For decades, fans and critics have agreed that the The Yardbirds never got the recognition they deserved. This is especially surprising considering the fact that the band launched the careers of three guitar legends at once: Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton и Jimmy Page!

But the band's struggle for fame is by no means the last dark episode in its history. Here are some of the saddest moments in the short history of such an important group of musicians.....

Top Topham was forced to leave the group

Anthony "Top" Topham played lead guitar and was also an important part of the very young band. In fact, he was the one who came up with the idea to name the band The Yardbirds after the nickname of the famous jazz musician Charlie Parker. Topham's creative abilities went beyond music. Later, his colleague Chris Drea he told me:

"Anthony was the main inspiration for the early band, and he was very into the blues. His father had a large imported collection of American electric blues records! Anthony and I went to art school together and he was also a very talented illustrator and painter."

"Top" himself might have preferred to keep both passions alive, but it seems that the decision to focus on only one of them was made for him, forcing him to leave the group. Draya explained:

"His parents wouldn't let him give up his art education. They forbade him to perform with a band all the time..."

Eric Clapton and "loneliness in the crowd."

When Topham left the band, he was replaced by Eric Claptonwho accepted an offer from his former art school classmate. Keith Relfa. To find such a talented replacement so quickly was certainly great for the band! But as time went on, Clapton realised that he didn't really belong in the project. And that started to cause some serious tension....

His only desire was to play the blues, and his band mates just didn't share that passion. His relationship with the bass player also quickly soured. Paul Smithand they were increasingly at odds. For a while his only friend in the band was Draya, and he sensed how uncomfortable Eric felt in that line-up... After his departure in 1965, Clapton was asked if he was lonely at that stage of his life, and the guitarist replied:

"Actually, I'm always lonely. But not as lonely as when I was with The Yardbirds. Then it was a matter of being alone in the crowd, and that's the worst form of loneliness. I lived as part of The Yardbirds until I completely lost touch with them..."

Under pressure: Relf and Beck let their "demons" loose

As the years went by, The Yardbirds became increasingly popular. But along with their growing fame. collapsed the mental health of the participants groups... Keith Relf struggled with the pressure in his own ways: despite his poor health since childhood, he plunged headlong into the world of alcohol and illicit substances. Substance abuse was not only terrible for the singer's already fragile health, but also began to negatively affect his personality. Relph had always been sensitive at first, but the strain of the spotlight combined with serious addiction made him more insecure and depressed. As Draya said:

"Amidst the glory, some people self-destruct. Keith was one of those people..."

I was in a band back in the day Jeff Beckand eventually the pressure took its toll on him. The constant travelling, the night gigs - at some point Beck realised he couldn't take it anymore. From Chris's recollections:

"We were on tour in the Midwest, it was winter, and Jeff had a nervous breakdown: he smashed his guitar and headed to Los Angeles."

This was the last straw for his bandmates, who had grown tired of Beck's sour attitude towards them and the project itself. They accepted difficult decisionthat his time in the band had come to an end. After he was fired, Beck said:

"I meet Monday morning just outside London thinking, 'What's the point? Everything has gone against me..."

"Outdated" producer

Even before Beck was sacked, The Yardbirds were beginning to experience commercial declinefrom which they never recovered. The band's last notable single "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago." Didn't even make the top 40, but that was just the beginning of their downfall. Their next job "Little Games." 1967 turned out to be much worse: the album was disliked not only by many fans, but also by a former member of the band. One day. Jeff Beck said:

"When I heard 'Goodnight Sweet Josephine,' I thought, "Thank God I'm out of the Yardbirds!"

Shortly before breaking up, The Yardbirds hired a producer Miki Mostawho helped several other artists such as the Animals and Donovan create dozens of singles that climbed the charts and got them back on track. Unfortunately, Most's contribution did the exact opposite for The Yardbirds and led to disaster....

Bridge's methods were incredibly annoying, especially Jimmy Page. "Everything was done in one take!" the iconic guitarist recalled irritably. Even worse was that the producer was behind the times in his mentality. Not only did Bridge completely ignore new music from rising bands, but he became obsolete, focusing only on making hits. Page explained, "Micky Most couldn't get over albums. Only singles were still important to him."

They never took their place in the sun.....

The Yardbirds may be one of the greatest original rock and R&B bands of all time, but they are nowhere near as famous as many other bands that flourished during the same era. Even when they were at their most active in the 1960s, each participant was fully aware of the fierce competition they faced. In interviews Jim McCarthy confessed:

"We were in a pretty desperate position because there were a lot of bands living in the same era and they all had hits. The Animals, the Stones, the Beatles, the Kinks... Everybody had hits except us."

It's hard to believe that a band that included such esteemed guitarists as. Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck и Jimmy PageI couldn't have been more successful. But it's true. And it's probably the biggest mystery in the history of music.