03/10/2025
Chris Dreja, one of the five original members of the Yardbirds, has died. The guitarist was 79. Chris was born in Surrey, England, in 1945, and was introduced to guitarist Top Topham by his brother. The duo made their debut live performance at a show by British blues singer Duster Bennett, which also featured Dreja's future Yardbirds bandmate Jimmy Page.
Topham and Dreja formed the Metropolitan Blues Quartet in '63; singer Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty and guitarist Paul Samwell-Smith joined soon after. They renamed themselves the Yardbirds the same year. After Topham quit the band, he was replaced by Eric Clapton, and it wasn't long before the quintet started to make a name for themselves with their energetic live shows around England.
Over the next few years, the Yardbirds released a string of Top 10 singles, including "For Your Love," "Heart Full of Soul" and "Evil Hearted You," as well as an influential concert album, Five Live Yardbirds.
Frustrated with the blues group's push toward a commercial sound, Clapton exited in '65 and was replaced by Jeff Beck. With their new guitarist, the Yardbirds recorded a self-titled '66 album, better known as Roger the Engineer, which included a cover drawing by Dreja. The guitarist was also responsible for cowriting many of the songs on the album. Classic Rock 60s 70s 80s 90s Music of the 60s & 70s Oldies, Music We Loved (60’s, 70’s & 80’s) OLDIES MUSIC MEMORIES - 50'S, 60'S, 70'S AND 80'S Hippies and 60s, 70s Music