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Twisted Tales: Ex-Yardbirds Frontman Keith Relf's Electric Blues
- Posted on Feb 8th 2008 5:00PM by James Sullivan
He put together the band that gave the world Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. His band succeeded the Rolling Stones as the house band at London's famed Crawdaddy Club. He was as significant a figure in the introduction of psychedelic exoticism to rock 'n' roll as any of his peers.Yet Yardbirds frontman Keith Relf is little remembered today, largely because he departed this world prematurely, in 1976, when he was just 33. The manner in which he made his exit should alone have ensured him a measure of immortality: A singer and harmonica ace not known for his fretboard skills, Relf was electrocuted in his home by an improperly grounded electric guitar.
Like his better-known mates, Relf was a blues fanatic when he helped form the Metropolitan Blues Quartet in 1963. Quickly changing their name to the Yardbirds – Relf was inspired by Jack Kerouac's frequent mentions of Charlie "Yardbird" Parker – the band first concentrated on covering authentic American bluesmen such as John Lee Hooker and Howlin' Wolf. But they soon had a major hit with 'For Your Love,' an original song written by a contemporary, Graham Gouldman, who would later become a member of 10cc.
The song's success led to the swift departure of blues purist Clapton, who had no interest in pursuing pop stardom. A friend of EC's, Jimmy Page, turned down an offer to join but suggested another rising hotshot named Jeff Beck; Page eventually made his way into the fold as well. Besides their embarrassment of guitar riches, the Yardbirds are best remembered for such hits as 'Heart Full of Soul' and 'Shapes of Things' and the ways their distortion and well-amped rhythm section foreshadowed heavy metal.
Relf was said to be the band's most enthusiastic user of psychoactive drugs, and the singer was soon dabbling in folk and classical influences as well. When the Yardbirds broke up in 1968, he formed Renaissance, an early prog-rock group featuring singing by his sister Jane.
Suffering from emphysema and an asthmatic condition that caused more than a few health scares, Relf kicked around the music industry in the 1970s, producing bands and co-founding a prog-metal group called Armageddon, which debuted in 1975. Urban legend sometimes claims that his electrocution was caused by playing guitar in the bathtub; more accurate is the report that it was Relf's young son who discovered the body. Whatever the case, it was a particularly gruesome form of martyrdom for a forgotten rock star whose last session was for a song called 'All the Falling Angels.'
- Filed under: Twisted Tales
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johnwalden
He was an excellent harmonica player...
Mundharp.
HOUNDDAWG
Back in the early days amps had a "reverse polarity switch" to kill the hum that sometimes plagued musicians. The switch actually made the amp chassis (and the metal guitar parts) "hot" or electrified in the reverse ground position. This usually defeated the hum and was not a problem unless one touched a properly grounded mike or other metal. Sadly, Keith Relf stepped on a partially buried gas line in his basement and the reverse polarity-hot chassis amp current then had a path to ground through his body to the buried metal gas line.
Electrocution at rainy outdoor concerts happens because numerous pieces of equipment (PA or instrument amps) may be reverse grounded and water closes the path from the metal (mikes, guitars) to ground. A ground lifted (with a 2 prong adapter plug), a reverse polarity or otherwise improperly grounded amp can shock all who touch the mikes simultaneously even if only one person is grounded through the guitar or by standing on a wet stage.
It's recommended that all classic Fender amps (which are in great demand today) and other amps that have that type of reverse polarity switch and the original non polarized-two prong plug be retrofitted with a polarized 3 prong plug, and the polarity switch be disabled or removed. The new polarity switches reverse the transformer and circuit board power without electrifying the chassis and (assuming the equipment has a 3 prong plug) these are safe in the reverse positions unless the current is from another source. (Even a properly grounded guitar can provide a path to ground.)
Phil
In response to how you get electrocuted by a guitar. What happens is you get caught between the circuit. The guitar pickups are energized and they normally are electrified with low voltage but when the amp fucks up and blows through the low volt circuit there becomes a fault and now you are electrified but you have to NOW GROUND yourself to something or just mother earth itself which is GROUND! Once you touch ground or metal or anything else that is grounded you are fried! Electricity is a powerful force that can not been seen except you see the results from what it can do. The pioneers of this force were brave men who realized that nature itself has ways to communicate what man & women can truly achieve once they put their hearts into something. Ofcourse then there is Alexander Grahm Bell who stole the secrets of the telephone and got away with it!
February 09 2008 at 3:52 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
daniel jones
Well, one other guy who took the rock & roll shock was Les Harvey with the band "Stone The Crows". It was at an outdoor gig in the rain...got juiced by his own guitar.
Keith Relf was a musical giant, his lyrics, vocals & harmonica playing were world-class. Without him, there would have been no Led Zeppelin or Jeff Beck Group &
many artists (Jim Morrison, Steve Tyler, Bowie) owed him a huge musical debt. Sad to see that an article like this one is how he is recalled - not because he set the bar for all those who came after...
PXR8
This is a sad story - and of course the other members are legendary. I have heard stories before of people being electrocuted on stage but have no idea how it actually happens - the physics behind it. Anyone know?
February 08 2008 at 8:11 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
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