yardbirds

More than 20 years after the band's reunion -- and weathering countless lineup changes along the way -- the Yardbirds appear to be back in limbo, at least temporarily.

Gypie Mayo, who played guitar for Dr. Feelgood and the reunited Yardbirds, has passed away. He was 62.

I saw the Yardbirds on two different occasions. The first time was unusual as they were playing in the basement coffee shop of one of the stores in Minneapolis. There were maybe  half a dozen people there, obviously their appearance wasn't advertised much. The whole thing was weird. They played maybe twenty minutes, then packed up their stuff and left.

The Yardbirds are mostly known as the starting point for three of the greatest British rock guitarists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. Undoubtedly they did much to shape the group's sound, but throughout their career, The Yardbirds were very much a singular unit. They were truly one of the great rock bands; one whose contributions went far beyond the scope of their half dozen

The son of Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty has pleaded guilty to child porn charges stemming from a 2008 arrest. Simon Jasper McCarty was arrested at Hilo Airport in Hawaii after photos of nude children fell out of his bag while being examined by a TSA officer. An additional search of his laptop and hard drive turned up over 400 still images and 200 video clips of child pornography.