Chris Dreja ✝

Christopher Walenty Dreja (born 11 November 1945 in Surbiton, Surrey) is an English musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist and bassist for The Yardbirds.\n', ' His father was of Polish descent. Dreja was born in Surbiton, and raised in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. His brother Stefan Dreja chanced to meet Top Topham, and introduced Topham to his brother. Topham and Dreja were influenced by folk/blues guitarist Gerry Lochran; he influenced them to switch from acoustic to electric guitars according to Greg Russo in his book The Yardbirds: The Ultimate Rave-Up. They made their debut with electric guitars at concert with Duster Bennett and a young Jimmy Page.\n', ' Dreja and Topham became core members of the Metropolitan (or Metropolis) Blues Quartet. During the space of a year Keith Relf, Jim McCarty, and Paul Samwell-Smith 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 and later Jeff Beck.\n', '