60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
3/25/65 – Eric Clapton abruptly quits The Yardbirds.
Feeling that the band was becoming too commercialized (they had just released what would be their first hit single, “For Your Love”), he will join John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers to get back to his roots and true love of playing the blues.
Before leaving, however, he will recommend Jeff Beck as his replacement … and The Yardbirds will enter Phase Two of their career featuring incredible lead guitarists. (Beck will eventually be replaced by Jimmy Page, who will turn “The New Yardbirds” into Led Zeppelin in the late ‘60’s.)
Also on 3/25, now 25,000 strong, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s march arrives at Montgomery, Alabama’s state capitol.
Also on 3/25, Actress Sarah Jessica Parker is born
