After recording their debut live album Five Live Yardbirds at the end of 1964, the Yardbirds formally introduced themselves to the world with their studio effort For Your Love that following year, which earned them their first chart entry on the back of their classic rock staple “For Your Love.” They went on to release four more studio LPs: 1965’s Heart Full of Soul, 1966’s Yardbirds and Over Under Sideways Down, and 1967’s Little Games.
In a 2009 interview with told Vintage Guitar, Dreja explained that he contributed to the Yardbirds’ music more often than listeners realize, in terms of guitar parts as well as the band’s lyrics, arrangements, and other “crazy ideas” in between. “The Yardbirds were a democratic band, and if somebody came up with something interesting, we would all work on it and see how it developed. Breaking the rules of accepted pop songcraft at the time was always good fun,” said Dreja. “Back then there was no road map for the music, or even the business and touring side that came later. The Yardbirds had a tremendous energy and in the five years we were together (it felt more like 20), we embarked on a lot of experimentation and eclectic sounds; I’m glad we did. To be cited as influential on later rock artists is a great honor for us.”
In the 1980s, Dreja found his way back to the music scene in Box of Frogs, a rock project with his former bandmates McCarty and Samwell-Smith. In 1992, Dreja and the rest of the Yardbirds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That helped inspire Dreja to reform the Yardbirds that year and resume his role on bass on through to 2013, when he retired to address his health following a series of strokes. The reformed version of the Yardbirds released their lone reunion album of original material, Birdland, in 2003, featuring guest appearances by Queen’s Brian May, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, Steve Vai, and others.
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