System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Keith Relf, Rock vocalist – The Yardbirds
March 22, 1943 - May 14, 1976
William Keith Relf was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, on March 22, 1943, the eldest child and only son of William Arthur P Relf and his wife, Mary E Vickers. As a teenager, Relf played in a number of local groups around Richmond and Kingston on Thames. In addition to singing and playing the guitar he is also played harp.
In summer 1963, Keith Relf joined 4 others to form The Yardbirds - reputedly named in honour of the famous Jazz musician, Charlie Parker, known as "The Bird" (a shortened form of "Yardbird"). In the original lineup, Keith Relf was lead singer and also played the harmonica; Tony (Top) Topham played lead guitar, Jim McCarty drums, Chris Deja rhythm guitar and vocals, and Paul Samwell Smith bass guitar.
In October 1963, Topham left and was replaced by Eric Clapton as lead guitarist. When the Rolling Stones moved on to greater things, The Yardbirds took over from them as resident group at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond and gradually built up audiences which exceeded those enjoyed previously by the Stones. In March 1965, their record "For Your Love" reached No. 2 in the UK charts and No. 6 in the US.
In March 1965, Eric Clapton left to concentrate on Blues music and was replaced by Jeff Beck as lead guitarist. With this line-up, The Yardbirds had most of their hits - several of which got into the Top Ten both in UK and USA. But it was their fourth line-up, when Paul Samwell Smith left to become a producer and was replaced by Jimmy Page on bass guitar in January 1966, which is regarded by aficionados (of which I am not one) as the greatest. With this lineup, Keith Relf appeared in the classic 60's film "Blow Up" playing a song titled "Stroll On". Unfortunately this lineup was also the shortest lived; in December 1966, Jeff Beck left to join Micky Most and was not replaced.
Keith was married to April Liversidge (from South Africa) on 24 February 1966 in the Paddington Registry Office. They lived in Bayswater, then Sunburyon- Thames and they had two sons, Daniel and Jason.
In July 1968, The Yardbirds split up. Jimmy Page was joined by others under the same manager and formed The New Yardbirds, which later became Led Zeppelin. Chris Deja became a photographer. This left just Relf and Jim McCarty. This pair formed the aptly named "Together" - a folk duo. Keith's sister, Jane Relf, later joined the group on guitar and vocals; when John Hawken joined them on keyboards and Louis Cennamo on bass, they changed their name to Renaissance.
Keith Relf left Renaissance in 1972 and, after briefly performing with a band called Medicine Head, joined Louis Cennamo and Martin Pugh in forming a heavy metal band called Armageddon. Based in Los Angeles, California, they were joined by American drummer Bobby Caldwell, and made one album - which reached No. 60 in the US charts - before Keith Relf died and the group broke up. Keith Relf was not a healthy man; he suffered from asthma, almost dying from it 3 times in his short life, and he also had emphysema. His death, at age 33, occurred on May 14, 1976. He was rehearsing in the cellar of his house, which had been converted into a studio. He was standing on an old gas pipe by the fireplace, when his guitar, which had not been grounded properly, developed an electrical fault and killed him. His body was discovered by his young son, Danny. .
