Chris Dreja

Chris Dreja
Dreja with the Yardbirds in 1966
Dreja with the Yardbirds in 1966
Background information
Birth nameChristopher Walenty Dreja
Born (1945-11-11) 11 November 1945
Surbiton, Surrey, England
GenresRock
OccupationGuitarist
Years active1963–2013
Formerly of

Christopher Walenty Dreja[1] (born 11 November 1945)[2][3] is an English retired musician and photographer, best known as the rhythm guitarist and bassist for rock band the Yardbirds for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.[4]

Early life

Chris Dreja was born in Surbiton, and raised in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey.[2] His father, Alojzy Dreja (1 January 1918– 11 December 1985[5]), was from Poland; he had been exiled to Britain in 1940, and served as a pilot in the Polish Air Force in Great Britain during World War II.[6] Dreja's brother Stefan happened to meet guitarist Top Topham when they studied at the same pre-college art program, and introduced Topham to his brother.[2]

Topham and Dreja were influenced by folk/blues guitarist Gerry Lockran, who 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 a concert with Duster Bennett and a young Jimmy Page.[2] Other guitar influences include Hubert Sumlin, Duane Eddy, Brian Jones, and Chuck Berry.[7]

Career

Music

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 and Jimmy Page.[2]

Dreja changed from rhythm to bass guitar following the departure of the original bassist, Samwell-Smith. Dreja co-authored many Yardbirds group compositions, especially those on the album Yardbirds.[2] Additionally, he drew the picture which would be used as the album cover.[8] Due to this drawing the album has been referred to as Roger the Engineer.[9]

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 and 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 Topham.[10]

Photography

After the group broke up, Page offered Dreja the position of bassist in a new band he was forming (later to become Led Zeppelin).[11] Dreja declined in order to pursue a profession in photography. He photographed Led Zeppelin for the back cover of their debut album.[2][12] He worked in a photo studio in New York for a few years and at one point did a shooting session with Andy Warhol.[13]

Dreja mentioned that although he has quite a unique surname, most people he worked with in New York never realised that he was the same Chris Dreja from the Yardbirds: "I was working in New York in a studio and after two years or so no one had ever at that point equated Chris Dreja of photography with Chris Dreja of the Yardbirds! Some messenger came to the studio and said something like "Ain't you that Chris Dreja with that Yardbirds band". It was great in one way."[13] Dreja also photographed artists such as Bob Dylan, the Righteous Brothers and Ike and Tina Turner.[13]

Personal life

Dreja lives in London.[13] In the 60s he married an American woman, Pat Lalley, from New Jersey.[14] Dreja has been retired from music since 2013. In a 2014 interview, Jim McCarty updated fans on Chris: "Well, he’s OK, he’s sort of surviving. He can get around and survive in a quiet way, but he really can’t play any more."[15][16]

Equipment

During the 1960s Dreja recorded songs on both the electric and bass guitar, including: Watkins Rapier, Harmony, a Gibson 335 Les Paul, and Fender Jaguar guitars and a Gibson Rivoli bass.[7] In his later Yardbird years, Dreja still used a Les Paul on stage.[7]

References

  1. ^ "BMI | Repertoire Search". Repertoire.bmi.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Unterberger, Richie (11 November 1945). "Biography by Richie Unterberger & Bruce Eder". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  3. ^ "Search Results for England & Wales Births 1837-2006". Findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  4. ^ "The Yardbirds". Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  5. ^ fhlpen_admin (1 March 2014). "Dreja Alojzy Baltazar". Krzystek's List - Polish Air Force in Great Britain 1940-1947. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  6. ^ "Chris Dreja". Chris Dreja. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  7. ^ a b c Prown, Pete (16 March 2010). "Chris Dreja | Vintage Guitar® magazine". Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  8. ^ Jones, Chris (17 April 2007). "The Yardbirds Roger The Engineer Review". bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 April 2010. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  9. ^ Gulla, Bob (2008). Guitar Gods: The 25 Players Who Made Rock History. ABC-CLIO. p. 24. ISBN 978-0313358067. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  10. ^ "Topham Replaces Dreja in Yardbirds". Vintage Guitar. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  11. ^ Russo, Greg (1998). Yardbirds: The Ultimate Rave-Up. Floral Park, New York: Crossfire Publications. ISBN 0-9648157-3-7.
  12. ^ Team, Editorial (26 April 2011). "THE YARDBIRDS' Chris Dreja Discusses Photographing LED ZEPPELIN". BraveWords - Where Music Lives. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  13. ^ a b c d Kirkman, Jon (26 July 2011). "Classic Rock Radio: Archive Interview with Chris Dreja The Yardbirds 2005". Classic Rock Radio. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  14. ^ "Chris Dreja". www.yardbirdsphotos.com. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  15. ^ Else!, Something (9 May 2014). "'He's sort of surviving': Jim McCarty opens up about ailing Yardbirds legend Chris Dreja". Something Else!. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  16. ^ petefeenstra. "Interview with JIM McCARTY (The Yardbirds) – 3 January 2014". Get Ready to ROCK!. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.