Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One app.

Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles. One news app.

HISTORICAL FACTS: Yardbirds - Caught on Camera

“It just seemed really distasteful. Eric had been a friend of mine, and I couldn’t possibly have been a party to that”: Why Jimmy Page turned down multiple offers to join the Yardbirds – and why he relented

Jimmy Page could have been a Yardbird before Jeff Beck, had he accepted the somewhat clandestine offers of the band’s management

Guitar World

Quote of the day by Eric Clapton: 'Music became a healer for me. And I learned to listen with all my...' - emotional quote by English singer famously known as Slowhand teaches life lessons on how music can heal fear, confusion and difficult emotions

Quote of the day by Eric Clapton: Eric Clapton found music became a personal healer during difficult family times. He learned to listen deeply, which helped him process fear and confusion. Clapton began playing guitar as a teenager and joined the Yardbirds in 1963. He later formed Cream and achieved…

The Economic Times

Why Jeff Beck said no to replacing Eric Clapton in the Bluesbreakers: “He called my mum several times. She said, ‘That John Mayall sounds very nice!’”

Beck was asked to follow Slowhand’s footsteps out of the Yardbirds and into the Bluesbreakers before he decided to go solo

Guitar World

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

From Hendrix’s pyrotechnics to Cory Wong’s hot-buttered funk, for 72 years the Strat has revolutionized how we play guitar. These are the 25 players who wrote – and burnt – the playbook

The Fender Stratocaster would just be a glorified carpentry project without the players who danced across its neck and gave it life. Here we celebrate 25 of the best

Guitar World

"John Belushi always used to try to get off with my ex-wife. I'd say: 'John, I can hear you, you fat git'": Ronnie Wood's wild tales of Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, Bob Dylan and Axl Rose

Living with Hendrix? Jamming with Dylan? Giving Axl relationship advice? Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has done it all

Louder

“We were going to form a group at the time of the Beck’s Bolero sessions”: Jeff Beck was going to be part of the original Led Zeppelin, according to Jimmy Page

In a momentous sliding doors moment in rock history, Page and Beck had plans to form a twin-guitar act that would have been supported by Keith Moon and John Entwistle

Guitar World

“I heard this car come roaring up… Jeff’s coming out and he’s holding this guitar. He said, ‘Here, this is yours for getting me in the Yardbirds’”: The story of the Fender Telecaster that unites Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page

How a gift of thanks from one Yardbird alumnus to another turned a guitar into a bona-fide icon

Guitar World

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

Quote of the day by Eric Clapton: 'To sing in a lower key is harder work. You have to use your...' - inspiring life lessons by Grammy-winning guitarist and singer-songwriter of Tears In Heaven and Layla on success, discipline, hard work and why toughest paths often leads to best results

Quote of the day by Eric Clapton: Eric Clapton's quote emphasizes discipline and consistent effort for lasting excellence. Performing in a lower key demands greater breath control and diaphragm use. True mastery rarely comes effortlessly, requiring a strong foundation through practice. Clapton's career highlights his influential guitar playing and successful…

The Economic Times

“Listening to him had an effect on me similar to what I might feel if I were to meet an alien from outer space”: How Eric Clapton’s mission to spread the blues gospel was the making of the first guitar ‘god’

The discovery of Freddie King was the Eureka! moment in the origin story of Slowhand's ascent as the British blues scene's greatest player

MusicRadar

"We were playing to capacity crowds, six or seven nights a week, everywhere we went. So we figured something was about to happen." The story of 1966, the year that built rock

Before 1966, the blues was tired, worn out and unsexy. But then Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Jimi Hendrix created the modern guitar hero too

Louder

“Back in the ’70s he got up with us and played Train Kept A-Rollin’. That was amazing, but of course I was intimidated. He’s a genius. He’s Mozart!”: Joe Perry salutes his guitar heroes Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck

“He was always pushing the edge – going into jazz”

MusicRadar

“There were two camps. I came out of the Yardbirds camp – the Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck kind of things”: Why Todd Rundgren chose to play Gibsons over Fenders

Rundgren initially aligned himself with the Yardbirds guitar heroes, though would branch out in later years

Guitar World

“Those Fender Jazz basses sounded fantastic, but they scared the hell out of me”: Why bassist Paul Samwell-Smith chose a short-scale Epiphone for his “rave-ups” with the Yardbirds

The blues-rock opener from the band’s 1966 debut album showcases a standout example of Samwell-Smith’s fluid, freewheeling bass work

Guitar World

“It was fantastic to have Paul come in every day, and we hung out with him quite a lot as well. The studio was absolutely crammed with our gear and his”: 10cc's Graham Gouldman on working with Paul McCartney at Strawberry Studios

We catch up with Gouldman as he prepares for the upcoming 10cc tour to talk about the craft of songwriting, his studio gear, AI in music, and the legacy of Strawberry Studios

MusicRadar

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

Louder

"Sweat was dripping off the walls!" Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood looks back on the '60s, shares memories of The Yardbirds, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and Deep Purple's Jon Lord

Ronnie Wood hasn't lost his enthusiasm for rock 'n' roll

MusicRadar

“Clapton chose pure blues, and he hated it when the volume went up. He actually said to Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, ‘You’re too loud!’ Because he’s a purist”: ’60s icon Donovan salutes a golden generation of guitar heroes

He also claims that Page "begged" John Paul Jones to join Led Zeppelin

Louder

He hung out with Hendrix, got shock treatment with Ronnie Wood, shared girlfriends with Keith Moon, and was friends and rivals with Clapton and Page: Jeff Beck’s wild times

Sharing the stage with Page, giving Hendrix a slide, being mistaken for Jagger – these were some of Jeff Beck’s most memorable friendships

Guitar World

“I guess like John Lennon and Brian Jones, we’re not up front, but we keep it all sticking together”: Chris Dreja turned down Led Zeppelin, but he will be remembered as the Yardbirds’ unsung bass hero in a band of guitar superstars

Co-founder of the Yardbirds, Chris Dreja – who supported Clapton, Beck and Page on rhythm or bass guitar, then went on to become a photographer – has died, aged 79

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

Louder

“She had scratches on the side of her face. I said, ‘What happened?’She said, ‘Oh nothing, Keith threw the cat at me’”: Bill Wyman on Jimi Hendrix’s brilliance, Keith Moon’s madness and Mick Jagger’s brutal reaction to him leaving the Rolling Stones

The Beatles, The Who, Jimi Hendrix – ex-Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman has known them all

Guitar World

“I think he took the blues up as his personal crusade”: Why Eric Clapton left the Yardbirds and joined the Bluesbreakers, according to his former bandmate

Jim McCarty says one particular factor forced Clapton’s hand

Guitar World

“I hadn’t seen him in a while, and I wish I had”: Jimmy Page pays tribute to original Yardbirds guitarist Chris Dreja, who has died aged 79

Dreja played alongside Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page before turning down a chance to join Led Zeppelin to pursue a career in photography

BANG Premier

Tributes pour in for late Yardbirds co-founder Chris Dreja

Chris Dreja passed away in September after battling health issues for many years.

The Independent UK

Chris Dreja death: Yardbirds co-founder and guitarist dies aged 79

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer died ‘after years of health problems,’ his sister-in-law said

Louder

Founding Yardbirds guitarist Chris Dreja dead at 79

Chris Dreja played in The Yardbirds alongside Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page

Louder

Annie Haslam to team up with Renaissance founder Jim McCarty for US live shows

Annie Haslam and JimMcCarty will present The History Of Renaissance live shows in the US in November

1 2 3 4 5

People

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

Organisations

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

Topics

Places

Fourteen days free

Download the app

One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.