‘For Your Love’: The Yardbirds hit song that made Eric Clapton quit the band
Eric Clapton is a divisive figure in the world of rock. He may well be regarded as one of the finest guitar players this country has ever produced, delivered some classic rock hits that will outlive us all and been privy to a bevvy of cultural shifts, but his views and opinions back in the 1970s and more recent years have left him without a foothold in modern society.
Anti-vaccination stances amid a global pandemic are one thing, but the resurfacing of his incredibly damaging and disgusting rant about race from 1976 will always be hard to escape, even if he has apologised and revised his viewpoint latterly. It means his position as one of the more problematic men in classic rock is unmovable.
One thing is hard to take away from Clapton: his history in the world of rock music is littered with success and connections to pivotal moments. Not only has he established a solid solo career out on his own, but he was also a part of some of the best bands in the swinging blues scene that London has ever produced. The guitar impresario featured in Cream alongside Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce, which would be enough to gain most people a place on the pedestal of music, but he was also a member of the John Mayall Bluesbreakers, Blind Faith and The Yardbirds. It is the latter group we’re most concerned with today.
As you might expect, Clapton has never been afraid of his views and is even less afraid to share them. That’s not something he ever reserved for socio-political stances; he was always more than happy to shed some light on the songs, bands and music that swirled around his career, even if they were tracks he’d been a part of. But perhaps the more surprising thing, when compared to his contemporaries, is that Clapton was not afraid to share his disdain for his work and those who helped him make it. Perhaps the most intriguing band arrangement for Clapton was The Yardbirds.
Founded in 1963, the band are one of the foundational stones of rock music as we know it today. Bringing over the sensibilities of the delta blues but through a British sphere, the band changed the entire scene seemingly overnight. They also boast some of the best band members of all time, including Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page as ex-members. Clapton wasn’t a founding band member, replacing original axman Top Topham in the early stages of the group’s career.
Using Clapton’s unique guitar style, the group gained prominence and developed a devoted following. With The Beatles breaking America and an influx of British invasion groups welcomed on the shores of the new world, The Yardbirds readied a new record For Your Love, featuring both Clapton and Jeff Beck. However, the title track, which was released as a single, was the one song the band produced that Clapton really hated.
Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty confirmed that the tune was definitely an attempt to bag themselves a number one: “To try and get a hit song in those days was quite a difficult thing to do for us. We could come up with ideas, but our first hit song was very important for us. And with ‘For Your Love’, we heard it and had the demo of it, and it sounded like a hit song to all of us. Yeah, there wasn’t a problem doing that.”
For McCarty, it was an obvious step for a band like The Yardbirds to take: “It was the sort of thing that you relied on to get into that other echelon, to have a hit song. All our contemporaries were having hit songs: The Beatles and the Stones and the Moody Blues and Animals, they were all having number one hits and we were really trying to keep up.”
In David Bowling’s book Eric Clapton FAQ: All That’s Left To Know About Slowhand, he notes that Clapton disliked the brand new style of pop music the band were producing. It was a massive departure from the blues that Clapton had signed on for. In fact, it’s reported that he disliked the song and the direction so much that he left the band when the single was released in February 1965.
Clapton would leave the group to join John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers and complete another huge step in his significant career journey.
