Post by Pete on May 14, 2011 11:54:32 GMT -5
When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted ’60s greats The Yardbirds in 1992 they made the following statement:
“In addition to their six Top 40 songs, the Yardbirds will be remembered as having produced the top three English blues-based guitarists of the ’60s: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.”
True enough, but that sentiment did overshadow the contribution of the band’s founder, lead singer and exceptional harmonica player Keith Relf, who sadly passed away in tragic circumstances on this very day in 1976.
The story starts at the Crawdaddy pub in Richmond, just outside London, in 1963. When The Rolling Stones left their residency there for bigger and better things, the club needed a replacement – another young blues band fronted by Keith Relf alongside Top Topham (very quickly replaced by Eric Clapton), Chris Dreja, Paul Samwell-Smith and Jim McCarty. Originally called the Metropolitan Blues Quartet, the band had wisely changed their name to The Yardbirds (after Charlie “Yardbird” Parker).
With Clapton on board, the band issued Five Live Yardbirds in December 1964 with a bunch of hardcore American blues, but broke through into the U.K. charts the next year with the poppy “For Your Love” (written by Graham Gouldman, later of 10CC). After that commercial success, Clapton left to be replaced by another gifted young guitarist Jeff Beck, and the hits continued with “Heart Full of Soul,” “I’m a Man” and “Shapes of Things.”
When original bass player Samwell-Smith left in the summer of 1966, another guitar player joined, one Jimmy Page who played on the band’s last hit record, “Happenings 10 Years Time Ago.” Beck left next, in 1966. When Relf and McCarty decided to leave Page and the boys behind to play folksy acoustic music, The Yardbirds transformed into something even more powerful: Led Zeppelin.
In a more mellow vein, Relf and drummer McCarty first formed an acoustic rock combo, Together, and then the folky Renaissance, who signed with Island Records and released a couple of well-received albums.
Keith Relf left Renaissance in 1972, played for a while with a rock band called Medicine Head, and then teamed up with Louis Cennamo and Martin Pugh to form a much heavier band – the metal/rock/folk band Armageddon. Based in Los Angeles, the band, with drummer Bobby Caldwell in the camp, released one album which chuggged up to #60 on the U.S. album chart.
Relf had not been a well man for some time. He had chronic asthma, which had threatened his life three times over the years, and emphysema. But neither of these conditions directly influenced the events of May 14, 1976. Back in London, Relf had been rehearsing in the cellar of his house. He stood on a gas pipe by the cellar fireplace while playing guitar. Unfortunately, his guitar had not been grounded correctly and an electrical fault caused the musician’s electrocution, striking at Relf’s already weak heart.
He was found by his eight year old son the next morning. Keith Relf, best-known as the voice of The Yardbirds, was just 33 years old.
“In addition to their six Top 40 songs, the Yardbirds will be remembered as having produced the top three English blues-based guitarists of the ’60s: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.”
True enough, but that sentiment did overshadow the contribution of the band’s founder, lead singer and exceptional harmonica player Keith Relf, who sadly passed away in tragic circumstances on this very day in 1976.
The story starts at the Crawdaddy pub in Richmond, just outside London, in 1963. When The Rolling Stones left their residency there for bigger and better things, the club needed a replacement – another young blues band fronted by Keith Relf alongside Top Topham (very quickly replaced by Eric Clapton), Chris Dreja, Paul Samwell-Smith and Jim McCarty. Originally called the Metropolitan Blues Quartet, the band had wisely changed their name to The Yardbirds (after Charlie “Yardbird” Parker).
With Clapton on board, the band issued Five Live Yardbirds in December 1964 with a bunch of hardcore American blues, but broke through into the U.K. charts the next year with the poppy “For Your Love” (written by Graham Gouldman, later of 10CC). After that commercial success, Clapton left to be replaced by another gifted young guitarist Jeff Beck, and the hits continued with “Heart Full of Soul,” “I’m a Man” and “Shapes of Things.”
When original bass player Samwell-Smith left in the summer of 1966, another guitar player joined, one Jimmy Page who played on the band’s last hit record, “Happenings 10 Years Time Ago.” Beck left next, in 1966. When Relf and McCarty decided to leave Page and the boys behind to play folksy acoustic music, The Yardbirds transformed into something even more powerful: Led Zeppelin.
In a more mellow vein, Relf and drummer McCarty first formed an acoustic rock combo, Together, and then the folky Renaissance, who signed with Island Records and released a couple of well-received albums.
Keith Relf left Renaissance in 1972, played for a while with a rock band called Medicine Head, and then teamed up with Louis Cennamo and Martin Pugh to form a much heavier band – the metal/rock/folk band Armageddon. Based in Los Angeles, the band, with drummer Bobby Caldwell in the camp, released one album which chuggged up to #60 on the U.S. album chart.
Relf had not been a well man for some time. He had chronic asthma, which had threatened his life three times over the years, and emphysema. But neither of these conditions directly influenced the events of May 14, 1976. Back in London, Relf had been rehearsing in the cellar of his house. He stood on a gas pipe by the cellar fireplace while playing guitar. Unfortunately, his guitar had not been grounded correctly and an electrical fault caused the musician’s electrocution, striking at Relf’s already weak heart.
He was found by his eight year old son the next morning. Keith Relf, best-known as the voice of The Yardbirds, was just 33 years old.
