Chris Dreja



































Chris Dreja

Yardbirds-1785.jpg
Chris Dreja (right) and Ben King, Basingstoke 2008

Background information
Birth name Christopher Walenty Dreja
Born
(1945-11-11) 11 November 1945 (age 73)
Surbiton, Surrey, England
Genres
Blues rock, rock
Instruments
Guitar, bass, keyboards
Years active 1963–2013
Associated acts
The Yardbirds, Box of Frogs

Christopher Walenty Dreja[1] (born 11 November 1945 in Surbiton, Surrey)[2][3] is an English musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist and bassist for The Yardbirds.




Contents






  • 1 Early life


  • 2 The Yardbirds


  • 3 See also


  • 4 References





Early life


His father was of Polish descent. Dreja was born in Surbiton, and raised in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey.[2] His brother Stefan Dreja chanced to meet Top Topham, and introduced Topham to his brother.[2] Topham and Dreja were influenced by folk/blues guitarist Gerry Lochran; he influenced them to switch from acoustic to electric guitars according to Greg Russo in his book The Yardbirds: The Ultimate Rave-Up. They made their debut with electric guitars at concert with Duster Bennett and a young Jimmy Page.[2]



The Yardbirds


Dreja and Topham became core members of the Metropolitan (or Metropolis) Blues Quartet. During the space of a year Keith Relf, Jim McCarty, and Paul Samwell-Smith joined the group which became the Yardbirds. The 15-year-old Topham left the group when the band went professional but Dreja continued on to play rhythm guitar with musicians such as Eric Clapton and later Jeff Beck.[2]


Dreja changed from rhythm to bass guitar following the departure of the original bassist, Paul Samwell-Smith. Dreja co-authored many Yardbirds group compositions, especially those on the album Roger the Engineer.[2]


After the group broke up, Page offered Dreja the position of bassist in a new band he was forming (later to become Led Zeppelin).[citation needed] Dreja declined in order to pursue a profession in photography. He photographed Led Zeppelin for the back cover of their debut album.[2]


Dreja played in the Yardbirds spin-off band Box of Frogs in the 1980s, and had been part of the Yardbirds' reformation from 1992 to 2013.


In 2002, The Yardbirds re-emerged and a new album, Birdland, was released.[2]


Dreja suffered a series of strokes in 2012/2013 and had not performed with The Yardbirds since mid-2012. In July 2013 it was announced that he had officially left the band for medical reasons and was replaced by original lead guitarist Top Topham.[4]



See also



  • List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees

  • List of bass guitarists

  • List of rhythm guitarists



References





  1. ^ http://repertoire.bmi.com/Catalog.aspx?detail=writerid&page=1&fromrow=1&torow=25&keyid=95339&subid=0


  2. ^ abcdefgh Unterberger, Richie (1945-11-11). "biography by Richie Unterberger & Bruce Eder". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-11-02..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  3. ^ http://search.findmypast.co.uk/results/world-records/england-and-wales-births-1837-2006?firstname=christopher%20&lastname=dreja


  4. ^ "Topham Replaces Dreja in Yardbirds | Vintage Guitar® magazine". Vintageguitar.com. 2013-07-10. Retrieved 2014-07-12.











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