The Yardbirds -- father of the gods

Good morning people. Hope your day rawks!

Over coffee this early, dark morning, I began thinking about bands that created the most lasting musical legacy -- not necessarily from the standpoint of their OWN catelogue of tunes, but from the standpoint of their members' overall impact ON music over the years.

Now, this is kind of a hard distinction. I'm not talking about the brilliance of singular bands or individuals. No one disputes the effect Lennon/McCartney had on the entire known universe. Or the impact of Jimi Hendrix to legions of axe players (I still got my guitar, look out now....). Also not talking about delta blues tragic-hero Robert Johnson's influence that spawned countless blues-based rock bands on both sides of the Atlantic.

What I AM talking about are those bands that brought together such amazing performers as to have established extended FAMILIES of bands that played major roles in rock history in their own right. The creation, the breakup and the line-up shuffling of these bands caused lightning to strike twice, three times, 10 times.... Almost always resulting in historic NEW creations.

So, with that stage set, who do i consider to be the numero uno rock and roll queen bee ?

The Yardbirds. circa 1964-71

Over the years the lads magically attracted the best guitar talent available anywhere on the planet -- Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.

(disclaimer time: I'm a huge Clapton and Beck fan. While i love Page, and consider Led Zeppelin to be one of the three best rock bands of all time, he was not technically in the same class as the other two. Page was a riff monster who could churn out thunderous and brilliant hooks that wrecked your dental work. But a technically sound guitar god he was not....)

Let's take a look at bands that either directly came out of the Yardbirds, or that later featured key players who got an early start with guys in that group. And this list is not at all exhaustive:

CREAM! (Clapton)

John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (Clapton)

Blind Faith (Clapton)

Derek and the Dominos (Clapton)

Fleetwood Mac (bassist John McVie played with Clapton in the Bluesbreakers)

Jeff Beck Group

Small Faces (Rod Stewart/Ron Wood, who left Beck to form the Faces)

Rod Stewart (same as above)

Led Zeppelin (Page)

What, are you KIDDING me??? This "seven degrees of separation" exercise does not go so far as to draw additional -- and sometimes faint -- lines between rock big shots (e.g., Bad Company), but it DOES give you a sense of the royalty that descended from this amazing group.

The lineage is simply unparalled. One can listen to playlists for days on end from the various iterations of the Yardbirds' lineups and those that spun from that same hive and never have to suffer less than glittering rock glory. Impressive as hell, to say the least.

Arguments can be made for other "Supergroups" (CSNY, e.g.) but none compare with the Yardbirds, in my view. I'd love to hear it if you can make a case for someone else, however.

The god of thunder is with you always.....

G.O.T.