"For your love, for your love,
I would give the stars above..."

The significance of The Yardbirds could have been established simply by the fact that they were a great rock and roll band. But they are legendary for another reason as well. Three of their alumni, over the band’s brief four-year span, emerged as perhaps the best blues-rock guitarists of record. And even though the trio of guitarist gunslingers never actually performed in the band at the same time, The Yardbirds is perhaps the most fertile guitarist breeding ground in the history of rock and roll.

The Yardbirds were born in England in 1963, the result of a number of well-established rock and roll artists merging to create a sound that mimicked American blues. They called the Crawdaddy Club their home, the new house band in a residence formally inhabited by the Rolling Stones. They soon became known for their formidable guitar jams, known at the time as “rave-ups” When they released Five Live Yardbirds, their popularity rose considerably, thanks in no small part to the exceptional playing from guitarist Eric Clapton.

After releasing two singles, The band finally hit gold with their third offering, a track called “For Your Love.” Far from just being blues, the breakthrough song incorporated a new hard-driving sound, accentuated by a number of musical breaks and a generous helping of vocal harmonies. The influential song would ascend the charts in both England and America, where it rose to the #6 slot. But while fans might have enjoyed the new sound of the band, Eric Clapton, a blues purist of sorts, decided to leave and pursue other interests, thanks to his disdain at the time for pop music. Upon his departure, however, he recommended a renowned guitarist name Jimmy Page. The guitar virtuoso, who was quite busy at the time as a session guitarist in London’s recording studios, didn’t think he could commit to the project. And so, in turn he recommended another talented guitarist named Jeff Beck. The incendiary guitarist, whose style was far more experimental than his predecessor, would change their sound considerably.

The hit records resumed in 1965, with the release of “Heart Full of Soul” and a remake of the Bo Diddley song, “I’m a Man.” The band embarked on an ambitious tour of the U.S. and U.K. and landed additional rocking hits with “Evil Heated You” and “Shapes of Things.” The following year, bassist Samwell-Smith departed the band and Jimmy Page agreed to be a temporary replacement on the bass guitar. Soon they were joined by a studio bassist named John Paul Jones, allowing Page and Beck to share the guitar spotlight for the first time.

After appearing together in the 1966 film, Blowup, Jeff Beck was fired from the group while on tour and Page took over the role of lead guitarist. They released the album, Little Games, a decidedly more pop offering that included the hit songs “Ten Little Indians” and Ha Ha Said The Clown.”

1968 spelled the end for The Yardbirds, as the band members sought new creative avenues. Jimmy Page, however, was contractually obligated to a few performance dates, so he grabbed bassist John Paul Jones to quickly form The New Yardbirds. Adding two relatively unknown musicians at the time named John Bonham and Robert Plant, they eventually changed their name and made rock history as Led Zeppelin. As for the other guitarists, they also achieved legendary status. Eric Clapton went on to lead the iconic rock trio, Cream, as well as stints with Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominoes, before setting out as a very successful solo performer, with many hits under his belt to date. Jeff Beck became a legendary Grammy-Award-winning fusion guitarist, releasing such iconic guitar records as Wired and Blow By Blow.  

There has perhaps never been a band that has spawned so many legendary guitar icons, and yet, to focus solely on that fact is to neglect the bigger picture -  the enormous ripple effect in rock music still being felt by the music created by this highly-influential group. There are a whole lot of rockers out there, not only guitarists, that owe a debt of gratitude to The Yarbirds for their undeniable innovations and contributions to rock and roll.