Why Jimmy Page initially refused to join The Yardbirds: “I couldn’t possibly be party to that”
Most people are aware of The Yardbirds and should know some of their bigger hits such as ‘For Your Love’, ‘Heart Full of Soul’ and ‘Shapes of Things’. However, such releases are not the reason this band was one of the most important of the 1960s. As the formative group of arguably the three greatest British rock guitarists, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, The Yardbirds was a training camp of sorts.
When The Yardbirds set out in 1963, a year that also saw the arrival of The Rolling Stones, the band was one of London’s blues-centric groups. The founding line-up featured Top Topham on guitar, but Clapton replaced him after just five months of gigging. In early gigs, the band covered classics of the Chicago blues scene as founded by Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Williamson II and Elmore James.
Like The Rolling Stones and many other R&B groups in London at the time, The Yardbirds began to drift towards pop sensibilities and radio appeal. Clapton, the Brian Jones of his band, expressed dissatisfaction with such a migration, which led to creative friction. By the time the band started work on its debut album, For Your Love, Clapton began to express his contempt for some of the original compositions.
According to David Bowling’s book Eric Clapton FAQ: All That’s Left To Know About Slowhand, the guitarist took issue with the hit single ‘For Your Love’. By the time the single hit the record store shelves on March 5th, 1965, Clapton was packing his bags. He left the band just eight days later, leaving the door open to Page. At this juncture, Page declined, instead suggesting Beck as a suitable replacement.
Speaking to Rave Magazine later in 1965, Clapton opened up on his Yardbirds departure. Despite feeling a degree of regret, mostly regarding the band’s recent cash flow courtesy of ‘For Your Love’, he maintained that he was unhappy in his position. “I don’t want to knock the Yardbirds because it would only seem like sour grapes,” he said. “They are the best of the pop and R&B groups, and they can be terrifically good. I actually miss lots of things about them and the old life. Even though we had downs more than ups, I did spend all that time with them, and sometimes I think about what they’ll be doing.”
In a 1977 interview with Trouser Press, Page reflected on his early rise to prominence as a session guitarist. With session credits working for The Who, The Rolling Stones, Shirley Bassey and Them, Page built up a solid reputation in the London scene. “It was just like a little clan, really,” he recalled. “Beck, myself, and Clapton were sort of ‘arch-buddies’, and [Pete] Townshend was sort of on the periphery.”
As an acquaintance and friendly rival of Clapton, Page was well aware of The Yardbirds from their formation in 1963. According to Page, he decided not to join the band in 1965 because he didn’t want to dishonour Clapton. “I guess it was probably pretty apparent to them after they did ‘For Your Love’. Clapton didn’t like that at all,” Page reflected. “By that time, they had already started using different instruments like harpsichords, and at that point, Clapton felt like he was just fed up. The rest of the band, especially [Giorgio] Gomelsky, wanted to move further in that direction.”
Manager Giorgio Gomelsky began to make clandestine moves to replace Clapton. First, he approached Page. “Gomelsky said that Eric was going to have a ‘holiday,’ and I could step in and replace him,” Page said. “The way he put it to me, it just seemed really distasteful and I refused. Eric had been a friend of mine, and I couldn’t possibly be party to that. Plus, Eric didn’t want to leave the band at that stage.”
When Clapton finally left The Yardbirds, Gomelsky approached him once again. Even with the recent change of events, Page stayed true to his word. Just over a year later, he finally joined as a replacement for Paul Samwell-Smith, initially playing bass. Initially, Page told Beck that he would “sit in for a few months until they got things sorted out.”
What began as a gesture to help out Beck soon became a full-time labour of love. Chris Dreja soon joined on bass, allowing Page to join Beck on guitar. Beck’s departure from the band in November 1966 foreshadowed an exodus that left Page on his own to rebuild The Yardirds. For legal reasons, the short-lived New Yardbirds had to change their name; they chose Led Zeppelin.
