# Favorite Yardbirds Guitarist?



## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page all grew up within about 12 miles of each other and all played with the Yardbirds at one time during their illustrious careers. Which one of these 3 legendary guitarists is your favorite?


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Certainly Beck is the most _musically_ interesting, imo. So I voted him.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Clapton is such an old favorite that, almost automatically, I turn to him. His playing on the Layla album of Hendrix's _Little Wing_ still blows me away, emotionally. Plus so many other great performances.

And he sings well, also!


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Jeff Beck is the man!


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Chris Dreja gets my vote


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

For Yardbirds work it's Beck by a landslide, although Clapton's playing on the live version of _Smokestack Lightning_ is pretty incendiary. Post-Yardbirds, I can't pick Beck as I didn't really like his output after _Beck-ola_ and I have to rule out Clapton as I still resent the fact that he seemed to permanently turn his amps down to 2 once Derek and the Dominos had fizzled out. Has to be Page, then, as I still am a big Zep fan.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Yes for the poll I meant to ask who is your favorite all around guitarist of the three, not based solely on their Yardbirds work. 

Eric Clapton - An interesting guitarist who in my view is both a trail blazer and simultaneously conservative. His work with John Mayall and Cream in particular was highly influential, as far as I know he was the first big name guitarist to use a Gibson guitar with a Marshall amp, a format that became so commonly used in rock its become almost cliché. Once that started catching on he switched to a Fender guitar. His playing is very fluid, clean and lyrical, more of a blues purist approach, he is a very versatile guitarist sounding great on electric, acoustic and slide guitar. 

Jeff Beck - Probably the most innovative of the three and the one with the most advanced (and unique) technique. Clapton once said he doesn't know anyone who practices guitar more than Jeff Beck. Beck is a player I respect more than love, as a result I know less about his music than the other two. His playing sounds impressive to me, but for some reason 'moves' me less. He may grow on me more in the future, there is a lot of his music I am unfamiliar with. 

Jimmy Page - Sloppier and less perfectionist than the other two, but with Zeppelin was a super nova of brilliant ideas in my view, also admittedly borrowed more riffs, but to my ears always sounded original. I find his playing very evocative and moving, he can sound more haunting and eerie than the other two, and as a result heavier. When he wanted to sound light he sounded lighter. His playing in Zeppelin moves me the most of the three, and I feel it covers the widest emotional spectrum. To my ears he has possibly the best sounding vibrato on electric guitar. Known equally as a riff writer and producer. His sloppy playing actually inspires me in a weird way. One of my philosophies in music is the idea and 'feel' is more important than being technically clean. Players that focus too much on chops risk leading an imbalanced life, which can lead to less inspiration in their playing. This concept is something Rubenstein commented on as well, and claimed to never practice more than 3 to 4 hours a day. In this sense I see Page as similar in some ways to another of my favorite musicians - Ravel. Ravel was another musician with brilliant ideas not known for virtuosity. Despite this both Page and Ravel were highly successful touring musicians. So for clarity I'm saying there is nothing wrong with technical chops, but in my view 'feel' and communicating something from another place is more important. 

So for the above reasons Page is my favorite guitarist of the three.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I've rarely found Clapton inspiring after 1970. But he's a nice bloke. Page hasn't done squat since LZ bit the dust 40 years ago. But Jeff Beck keeps forging ahead. I found his techno guitar phase in the 90s in rather bad taste but at least he was trying to stay relevant. I didn't buy his last album but the Emotion and Commotion CD from ten years ago was pretty good. What other guitarist would do a rendition of Nessun Dorma and keep it from turning into a cheese fest?


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## Jay (Jul 21, 2014)

tdc said:


> Page is my favorite guitarist of the three.


I dig his playing on "Think About It," and _Little Games_ is worthy.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

Jimmy Page is my favourite of the three, but I voted Jeff Beck because I think his contribution to the Yardbirds was volcanic (and I'm assuming that the context of the question is 'The Yardbirds').


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Actually the question was about your favorite guitarist of the three based on their work throughout their careers. But I'm interested in your answers from either perspective anyway. I've only dabbled in the Yardbirds to be honest, don't know enough about each guitarists distinct contribution to that band to even comment on a preference. The band is mainly only of interest to me because they featured those guitarists. 

I have a couple live bootleg recordings of the Yardbirds with Page and the music nor the guitar playing really stood out to me that much. I think there was a kind of magical chemistry between the members of Zeppelin that made each individual musician better when they performed together. Same thing with The Beatles.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

tdc said:


> Actually the question was about your favorite guitarist of the three based on their work throughout their careers. But I'm interested in your answers from either perspective anyway. I've only dabbled in the Yardbirds to be honest, don't know enough about each guitarists distinct contribution to that band to even comment on a preference. The band is mainly only of interest to me because they featured those guitarists.
> 
> I have a couple live bootleg recordings of the Yardbirds with Page and the music nor the guitar playing really stood out to me that much. I think there was a kind of magical chemistry between the members of Zeppelin that made each individual musician better when they performed together. Same thing with The Beatles.


In that case Jeff Beck. Although Pagey and Plant blew Beck and Rod Stewart out of the water (Truth trounced by Led Zep I), it was, in my opinion, Beck who has done more interesting things down the years. I'd single out 'Wired' from 1976 and 'Live At Ronnie Scott's' 2008 as the peaks.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

HenryPenfold said:


> In that case Jeff Beck. Although Pagey and Plant blew Beck and Rod Stewart out of the water (Truth trounced by Led Zep I), it was, in my opinion, Beck who has done more interesting things down the years. I'd single out 'Wired' from 1976 and 'Live At Ronnie Scott's' 2008 as the peaks.


I don't deny that Beck has done more interesting things down the years, (and his playing sounds great often). But when answering the question I ask myself this: would I trade my Zeppelin discography for the complete works of Jeff Beck? For me the answer is no.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

tdc said:


> would I trade my Zeppelin discography for the complete works of Jeff Beck? For me the answer is no.


Nor would I.

This post is less than fifteen characters, so in order to make the numbers up, I have added this. Please do ignore it, it has nothing to do with my reply to tdc and his interesting postulation. it would be nice if this fifteen characters rule could be abolished (unless there is something that I'm not aware of in so doing that would cause the whole website to come crashing down, killing all of us who happen to be online at the time).


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## Jay (Jul 21, 2014)

I'm not all that familiar with Beck's work after BB&A (which is why I quit following him), but what I've heard seems to suggest a shift to a more _gestural_ playing style, along with sonic utterances; I preferred it when he played _lines_.


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## SearsPoncho (Sep 23, 2020)

HenryPenfold said:


> In that case Jeff Beck. Although Pagey and Plant blew Beck and Rod Stewart out of the water (Truth trounced by Led Zep I), it was, in my opinion, Beck who has done more interesting things down the years. I'd single out 'Wired' from 1976 and 'Live At Ronnie Scott's' 2008 as the peaks.


And don't forget Blow by Blow. My favorite. Beck for the solos and unique phrasing and guitar tone. Page for the riffs and some acoustic work...oh, and he used to be in a really great band too.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Blow By Blow is a nice little masterpiece, isn't it? Just a perfect record without a gratuitous note or phrase to be found.


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## SearsPoncho (Sep 23, 2020)

starthrower said:


> Blow By Blow is a nice little masterpiece, isn't it? Just a perfect record without a gratuitous note or phrase to be found.


And George Martin produced it. Listen to the lush orchestration during Diamond Dust.


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## WNvXXT (Nov 22, 2020)

Deer in the headlights - how can I choose?


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## Annied (Apr 27, 2017)

I'm giving away my age here, but as someone who was a regular at the Crawdaddy when the Yardbirds played there every Sunday, it has to be Eric Clapton for me.


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## Jay (Jul 21, 2014)

Annied said:


> I'm giving away my age here, but as someone who was a regular at the Crawdaddy when the Yardbirds played there every Sunday, it has to be Eric Clapton for me.


Did you see the Stones there?


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## Annied (Apr 27, 2017)

No, I think I missed them by just a few months, they'd moved onto bigger and better venues by the time I started going there.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I'm not that familiar with Clapton's work in the Yardbirds, but I am a big fan of his early music with John Mayall and Cream. While I enjoy much of his later work I don't think he ever really topped the playing in his early days.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I go for Eric.
I spotty career yes, but when he's good, wow!!!
His solos with ream live are symphonic!


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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

Nary a mention of original lead guitarist Anthony "Top" Topham?

Interesting backstory - 

"In May 1963, Topham and his friend at secondary school, Chris Dreja, visited the Railway Hotel in Norbiton. The hotel's entertainment featured traditional jazz music in the upstairs lounge, and allowed budding musicians to play during the breaks. There, he and Dreja met singer and harmonica player Keith Relf, bassist Paul Samwell-Smith, and drummer Jim McCarty and decided to form The Yardbirds, with Topham as lead guitarist. 

Two weeks later they played their first gig at the Eel Pie Island, supporting the Cyril Davies All-Stars. Two months after the formation of the Yardbirds, Giorgio Gomelsky offered them the residency at the Crawdaddy Club and became their manager. 

As the Yardbirds had to turn professional, Topham faced parental disapproval coupled with the anxiety of abandoning his art studies. He could not devote himself to the Yardbirds full-time and he left. His replacement was a fellow art student from the same secondary school, Eric Clapton.

Topham recalls, "I was only 15 then, three or four years younger than the rest, and there was no way my parents would let me go out five or six nights a week to play music, even though I was already bringing home double what my father was earning. I was going on to Epsom Art School and they wanted me to take it seriously. Eric Clapton was the obvious person to replace me. Later on I didn't regret leaving because they'd moved away from the blues music that I was interested in. Even if I'd stayed with them to become professional I think I would have left later for the same reasons Eric left."


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## Craveoon (May 25, 2021)

It was a no-brainer to me. Beck all the way


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