Jimmy Page Joined the Yardbirds After Butchering a Gig Playing Bass

Jimmy Page is most known for forming the rock band Led Zeppelin with Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham in 1968. Before starting Led Zeppelin, Page played guitar in a well-known band called the Yardbirds. Here’s how Page ended up joining the Yardbirds.

Jimmy Page initially did not want to join the Yardbirds

Keith Relf, Paul Samwell-Smith, Top Topham, Jim McCarty, and Chris Dreja formed the Yardbirds in 1963. Eric Clapton went on to replace Topham soon after the band formed.

After Clapton left the Yardbirds in 1965, Page was asked to join the band. However, Page did not want to give up being a session musician so he recommended his friend Jeff Beck for the job instead.

Even after Beck joined the Yardbirds, Page did not want to join and mess with the band’s lineup.

“Jeff often used to say, ‘I wish you could join and we could play together,’ and agreed that it would be good,” Page said in Bob Spitz’s Led Zeppelin: The Biography, “but I never took it and too seriously, because there was this thing about five Yardbirds, bringing in a sixth would have destroyed that. So my joining was never a real consideration.”

The guitarist joined the Yardbirds to play bass

When Samwell-Smith left the band, an opportunity for Page opened up. Beck convinced Page to try and play bass with the Yardbirds, at least until Dreja could takeover Samwell-Smith’s position fully.

So, Page volunteered to play bass during a gig.

“I was terrified, having to fill Samwell-Smith’s role, but fortunately it went okay.” Page said in Led Zeppelin: The Biography.

While Page did not have a problem with his first showing with the Yardbirds, Beck had a different opinion of the performance.

“He couldn’t play the bass for toffee,” Beck said in the biography. “He was running all over the neck.”

Jimmy Page became an official member of the Yardbirds

Even though Page was not a natural at playing bass, he was a welcome addition to the Yardbirds.

“We needed stability, someone who could keep Jeff in check, while taking us to the next stage of our development,” McCarty said in Led Zeppelin: The Biography.

While Page was playing bass with the Yardbirds, Beck became sick and had to take a break from the group to recover. Because of this, Dreja took over playing bass and Page temporarily replaced Beck’s role.

When Beck returned, Page and Beck both played guitar together on stage. This arrangement worked at first, but it soon caused tension in the band.

“In the end, we were just on opposite sides of the stage, glaring at each other and blowing all night,” Beck said in Led Zeppelin: The Biography.