“I guess like John Lennon and Brian Jones, we’re not up front, but we keep it all sticking together”: Chris Dreja turned down Led Zeppelin, but he will be remembered as the Yardbirds’ unsung bass hero in a band of guitar superstars

Born in Surbiton, Surrey, on 11 November 1945, Christopher Walenty Dreja was the son of Polish airman Alojzy Dreja and Englishwoman Joyce Guillan. While at Kingston School of Art, Chris met fellow guitarist Anthony ‘Top’ Topham. The two jumped on the bandwagon of electric rhythm and blues on which The Rolling Stones were riding high.

Dreja and Topham formed The Metropolis Blues Quartet, adding drummer Jim McCarty, singer/harmonica player Keith Relf and bassist Paul Samwell-Smith, and changed the group’s name to the Yardbirds. Still only 15, Topham quit when the others ‘turned pro’.

Although overshadowed by three legendary lead guitarists – Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page – Dreja was an essential core member who co-wrote many of the band’s songs. He was a stabilising influence, hailed for his gentle manner, and, even among these mega talents, his musical contribution was never questioned. He viewed his role as the glue that held the often-fragile elements together.

“I’m part of the rhythm section,” he explained to ClassicBands.com. “My ears have to be open to all the nuances going on with the lead player. I guess like John Lennon and Brian Jones, we’re not up front, but we kind of keep it all sticking together.”

Regarding his star lead players, Dreja told Vintage Guitar magazine: “I had a close kinship with Eric as our art-school background was the same and we had a similar sense of humour. Jeff, on the other hand, was quite a moody guy, and his main conversation was through his guitar.

“As a natural guitar genius, when he was ‘on’ it was a privilege to jam behind him. Jimmy was a real professional. I liked that period because we became a four-piece and I got to play my bass really loud!”

In 1966, Samwell-Smith left the Yardbirds to work in music production, and Page took over on bass. He and Dreja swapped roles when Beck became ill, and it stayed that way for a brief but legendary moment in pop history. Beck left at the end of 1966.

Dreja inherited Samwell-Smith’s Epiphone Rivoli bass guitar from Page, but a Cherry Red dot-neck Gibson ES-335 was his primary six-string, sometimes alternating with a Fender Jaguar or Jazzmaster.

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Dreja played on all the Yardbirds’ hit singles, including For Your Love featuring Clapton; Evil Hearted You, Heart Full Of Soul, Shapes Of Things and Over Under Sideways Down with Beck; and Happenings Ten Years Time Ago, which made the Billboard Hot 100 with Page on lead. The original Yardbirds only released two albums, Five Live Yardbirds and Yardbirds, better known as ‘Roger The Engineer’ after Dreja’s innovative cover artwork.

Chris Dreja remained a Yardbird until 1968 when the band became The New Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. Page offered him the bass guitarist’s role, but Chris chose to pursue photography.

He took the group shot of Led Zeppelin for the band’s debut album, and in his New York studio captured Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, The Righteous Brothers, and Ike and Tina Turner, among others.

In 1983 Dreja, McCarty and Samwell-Smith formed Box Of Frogs with Medicine Head’s John Fiddler on lead vocals. They produced two well-received albums, Box of Frogs in ’84 and Strange Land in ’86, that included Beck, Page, Rory Gallagher, Graham Gouldman and Steve Hackett.

In 1992 Dreja and McCarty reconvened as the Yardbirds, with Ray Majors and then Dr Feelgood’s Gypie Mayo on guitar. Steve Vai’s Favored Nations label released Birdland under the Yardbirds moniker, with Dreja and McCarty, plus Mayo and guitarists including Vai, Joe Satriani, Steve Lukather, Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter, Brian May, Slash and Beck.

Dreja had a history of cardiovascular issues, and a series of strokes saw him retire in 2013. He died of strokes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in London on 25 September 2025.

Jimmy Page said of his old friend: “Chris Dreja … passionately played with the iconic Yardbirds on rhythm guitar and then the bass. I hadn’t seen him in a while, and I wish I had. RIP Chris.”

• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.