Christopher Walenty Dreja (born 11 November 1945 in

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it ha ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

) is an English musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist and bassist for rock band

the Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwe ...

for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

Early life

Chris Dreja was born in

, and raised in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

, Surrey. His father was of Polish descent. His brother Stefan Dreja happened to meet guitarist Top Topham, and introduced him to his brother. Topham and Dreja were influenced by folk/

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

guitarist Gerry Lochran, who influenced them to switch from acoustic to

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

s 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 Anthony "Duster" Bennett (23 September 1946 – 26 March 1976) was a British blues singer and musician. Based in London, his first album ''Smiling Like I'm Happy'' saw him playing as a one-man band, playing a bass drum with his foot and blowi ...

and a young

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

The Yardbirds

Dreja and Topham became core members of the Metropolitan (or Metropolis) Blues Quartet. During the space of a year

Keith Relf William Keith Relf (22 March 194312 May 1976) was an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist and harmonica player for rock band the Yardbirds. He then formed the band Renaissance with his sister Jane Relf, The Yardbirds ex-drummer Ji ...

Jim McCarty James Stanley McCarty (born 25 July 1943) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for the Yardbirds and Renaissance. Following Chris Dreja's departure from the Yardbirds in 2013, McCarty became the only member of the band to featu ...

, and

Paul Samwell-Smith Paul Granville Samwell-Smith (born Paul Smith, 8 May 1943, in Richmond, Surrey, England) is an English musician and record producer. He was a founding member and the bassist of the 1960s English rock band the Yardbirds, which launched leading g ...

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 Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...

and later

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a fo ...

and Jimmy Page. 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''. Additionally, he drew the picture which would be used as the album cover. Due to this drawing the album has been referred to as ''Roger the Engineer.'' After the group broke up, Page offered Dreja the position of bassist in a new band he was forming (later to become

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...

).Russo, Greg (1998). ''Yardbirds: The Ultimate Rave-Up''. Floral Park, New York: Crossfire Publications. . Dreja declined in order to pursue a profession in photography. He photographed Led Zeppelin for the back cover of their debut album. Dreja played in the Yardbirds spin-off band

Box of Frogs Box of Frogs were an English rock band formed in 1983 by former members of the Yardbirds, who released their first album in 1984. The core group consisted of Chris Dreja, Paul Samwell-Smith, and Jim McCarty. Vocals on their eponymous album w ...

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. 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreja, Chris 1945 births Living people English rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists English rock guitarists English songwriters The Yardbirds members People from Surbiton English people of Polish descent Rhythm guitarists British rhythm and blues boom musicians Blues rock musicians Rock songwriters Led Zeppelin Box of Frogs members