James Stanley McCarty (born 25 July 1943) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for

the Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1963. The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton (1963–1965), Jeff Beck (1965–1966) and Jimmy Page (1966–1968), all of whom ...

and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

. Following Chris Dreja's departure from the Yardbirds in 2013, McCarty became the only founding member to still tour in the band. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as a member of the Yardbirds.

Early life

He was born at Walton Hospital in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England, but his family moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

when he was two years old. He attended Hampton School in Hampton where Paul Samwell-Smith was a fellow pupil. When playing with the early Yardbirds, he worked as a clerk for the stockbroking firm Phillips & Drew in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

Career

McCarty has performed and recorded with the Yardbirds, Together,

, Shoot,

Illusion An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may ...

, the Yardbirds reunion band Box of Frogs, Stairway, the British Invasion All-Stars, and Pilgrim, as well as under his own name and as the Jim McCarty Band. Since 1992 he has been playing with the reformed Yardbirds. McCarty has released three solo albums : ''Out of the Dark'' (1994), ''Sitting on the Top of Time'' (2009), and ''Walking in the Wild Land.'' (2018)

References

Bibliography

* ''Yardbirds'' (John Platt, Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty) Sidgwick & Jackson, 1983. * ''Yardbirds : The Ultimate Rave-Up'' (Greg Russo) Crossfire Publications, 1997. * ''The Yardbirds'' (Alan Clayson) Backbeat Books, 2002. * ''Nobody Told Me: My Life with the Yardbirds, Renaissance and Other Stories'' (Jim McCarty with Dave Thompson), 2018.

External links

*
Jim McCarty's website

Extensive interview with Jim McCarty
1943 births Living people People educated at Hampton School English rock drummers English male drummers English autobiographers The Yardbirds members Musicians from Liverpool British rhythm and blues boom musicians Renaissance (band) members Box of Frogs members People from Walton, Liverpool Illusion (band) members {{UK-drummer-stub