March 13, 1965: Eric Clapton Quits The Yardbirds
18.05.12
Forty-seven years ago today, guitarist Eric Clapton quit The Yardbirds. It's one of the best things that ever happened, period.
Clapton, a self-declared blues purist, thought the band -- which included singer Keith Relf, guitarist Chris Dreja, bassist Paul Samwell-Smith and drummer Jim McCarty -- was getting too commercial. And so, after playing on their most commercial song to date (and their first hit), "For Your Love," Clapton was gone.
This move was great for:
• The Yardbirds : Without Mr. Stick In The Mud, they were able to evolve, freely, into a successful B-Level British rock band. The Clapton-free version of the band enjoyed a string of hits, including "Heart Full of Soul," "I'm a Man" and "Over Under Sideways Down." They also got a lot more creative and experimental, eventually evolving into the band that would eventually evolve into Led Zeppelin.
• Jeff Beck : Although he was getting noticed with his blues band, The Tridents, Beck's upward trajectory didn't start until he replaced Clapton in The Yardbirds in 1965. His brief solos were fuzz-drenched mini-masterpieces, making him a bona fide guitar god and eventually giving him the nerve and justification to quit the band and go solo, eventually becoming the revered "guitarist's guitarist" he is today.
Source: Guitar World Magazine