Chris Dreja

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chris Dreja 2008

Chris Dreja (born November 11, 1945 in Surbiton , England ) is a British musician and photographer who was best known as a member of the English rock band The Yardbirds , where he played rhythm guitar and bass.

Early years

Born in Surbiton, Dreja grew up in south-west London . Through his brother Stefan, Chris met his classmate Top Topham , who played guitar and was a blues fan. Together with another classmate, Dave Holt, they practiced at Topham at home, Dreja switching from piano to guitar. Topham and Dreja admired the folk and blues guitarist Gerry Lochran, who convinced them to play the electric guitar instead of the acoustic one. From first appearances, among others with Duster Bennett and Jimmy Page , a band called "Metropolitan (or Metropolis) Blues Quartet" emerged. After Keith Relf , Jim McCarty and Paul Samwell-Smith joined them over the course of a year , they finally called themselves "The Yardbirds". Topham, 15, left the group in October 1963 to graduate from school. He was replaced by Eric Clapton , who was succeeded by Jeff Beck in the spring of 1965 .

The Yardbirds

With For Your Love , Heart Full of Soul or Shapes of Things , the Yardbirds had a number of hits in the mid-1960s and were also successful in the United States. In mid-1966, Paul Samwell-Smith left the Yardbirds, and Jimmy Page joined him as bassist. Soon, however, things changed: Page became the second lead guitarist alongside Jeff Beck, and Chris Dreja took over bass. Dreja was the co-author of several pieces by the Yardbirds, especially the album Roger the Engineer .

According to the yardbirds

In July 1968, the Yardbirds disbanded. Dreja tried briefly to set up a country band, but then began a career as a photographer. For example, he photographed Led Zeppelin , Jimmy Page's new band, for the back cover of their first album, which was released in January 1969.

In 1983 the former Yardbirds Dreja, Samwell-Smith and McCarty got together again for the 25th anniversary of the Marquee Club . For the late Keith Relf, John Fiddler took over the vocals. They called themselves Box of Frogs and released two albums (1984 and 1986).

In the 1990s, the yardbirds were revived. In 2003 a new album came out with "Birdland". Of the original Yardbirds, only Dreja and McCarty were there.

After several strokes in 2012 and 2013, Chris Dreja left the Yardbirds. In his place came the original lead guitarist Top Topham .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Allmusic, see web links
  2. ^ Topham Replaces Dreja in Yardbirds . Vintage Guitar Magazine, July 10, 2013 (English)
personal data
SURNAME Dreja, Chris
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British musician and photographer
DATE OF BIRTH November 11, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Surbiton , England