the Yardbirds

Maybe we’ll never know who wrote the book of love, but when it comes to bluesbased guitar crunch rock ’n’ roll, it was definitely the Yardbirds. Laying the groundwork for heavy metal, the Yardbirds, formed in London in 1963 (Keith Relf: vocals, Chris Dreja: guitar, Jim McCarty: drums, Paul Samwell Smith: bass, Anthony Topham: guitar, and Eric Clapton: lead guitar), are often rumored to be the missing link between the early '70s rock and soul and the dawn of psychedelia.