Anthony ‘Top’ Topham obit

Anthony ‘Top’ Topham, the first guitarist for The Yardbirds, has died just two weeks after his successor Jeff Beck. He was 75. 

He was not on the list.

Topham formed The Yardbirds with Keith Relf, Paul Samwell-Smith, Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty in London in May 1963 but left in October. His replacement was Eric Clapton.

Clapton left in 1965 and was replaced by Jeff Beck. Beck left in 1966 and was replaced by Jimmy Page. Page left in 1968 and formed Led Zeppelin.

Topham never recorded with The Yardbirds. Their first single ‘I Wish You Would’ featured Clapton.

Topham recorded one solo album ‘Ascension Heights’.

Topham spent his years as a painter and interior designer. ‘Top’ occasionally rejoined The Yardbirds for reunions in 2013 to 2015.

Keith Relf died in 1976. The other three original members, Paul Samwell-Smith, Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty are all still with us.

n May 1963, Topham and his friend at secondary school, Chris Dreja, visited the Railway Hotel in Norbiton. The hotel's entertainment featured traditional jazz music in the upstairs lounge, and allowed budding musicians to play during the breaks. There, Dreja and Topham met singer and harmonica player Keith Relf, bassist Paul Samwell-Smith, and drummer Jim McCarty and decided to form The Yardbirds, with Topham as lead guitarist. Two weeks later, they played their first gig at the Eel Pie Island, supporting the Cyril Davies All-Stars. Two months after the formation of the Yardbirds, Giorgio Gomelsky offered them the residency at the Crawdaddy Club and became their manager. As the Yardbirds had to turn professional, Topham faced parental disapproval coupled with the anxiety of abandoning his art studies. He could not devote himself to the Yardbirds full-time and he left. His replacement was a fellow art student from the same secondary school, Eric Clapton.

Topham recalled, "I was only 15 then, three or four years younger than the rest, and there was no way my parents would let me go out five or six nights a week to play music, even though I was already bringing home double what my father was earning. I was going on to Epsom Art School and they wanted me to take it seriously. Eric Clapton was the obvious person to replace me. Later on, I didn't regret leaving because they'd moved away from the blues music that I was interested in. Even if I'd stayed with them to become professional, I think I would have left later for the same reasons Eric left."

Topham went on to art college, where he formed bands with his friend Duster Bennett. He joined Winston G and the Wicked (later renamed The Fox), playing alongside Marc Bolan.

After a final gig with Winston G at London's Roundhouse, Topham revived his association with Bennett, recording a live album with him. This led to an introduction to Mike Vernon and his Blue Horizon label. Topham became a session musician for Blue Horizon, playing with Peter Green and Christine McVie.