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The Rock Band that Hatched Three Legendary Guitarists

Clapton, Beck and Page each played with The Yardbirds

Barry Silverstein
Rock On

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Albums by The Yardbirds. Credit: (Left) Epic (Center) Columbia (Right) Favored Nations

The history of British rock bands is littered with remarkable stories — but none more fascinating than that of The Yardbirds. Why? Because this one group, formed in London in 1963, boasted not one, not two, but three legendary guitarists who played during the group’s most productive years.

That’s right: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page each played with The Yardbirds. More about that in a moment.

The Yardbirds started out steeped in blues, doing covers of such artists as Bo Diddley and Howlin’ Wolf. They became known for their “rave-up” instrumental jams that demonstrated an ability to frenetically improvise and ratchet up the music to a feverish pitch.

Later, The Yardbirds broke into the pop charts. Their first solo hit in 1965, “For Your Love,” made it to the Top Ten in the United States and the UK. “Heart Full of Soul” followed that same year and again charted in the Top Ten in the U.S. and the UK. In 1966, The Yardbirds had two more successful singles, “Shapes of Things” (#11 in the U.S. and #3 in the UK) and “Over Under Sideways Down” (#13 in the U.S. and #10 in the UK).

The original band members of The Yardbirds were Keith Relf (vocals/harmonica), Paul…

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