Chris Dreja: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|English guitarist (1945–2025)}}

{{Short description|English guitarist ()}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}

{{Use British English|date=October 2025}}

{{Use British English|date=October 2025}}

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| image_size =

| image_size =

| birth_name = Christopher Walenty Dreja

| birth_name = Christopher Walenty Dreja

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1945|11|11}}

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y||11|11}}

| birth_place = [[Surbiton]], Surrey, England

| birth_place = [[Surbiton]], Surrey, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2025|09|25|1945|11|11}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2025|09|25||11|11}}

| death_place = London, England

| death_place = London, England

| genre = [[Rock music|Rock]]

| genre = [[Rock music|Rock]]

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}}

}}

”’Christopher Walenty Dreja”’ (11 November 1945 – 25 September 2025) was an English musician and photographer. He was best known as the [[rhythm guitarist]] and [[bassist]] for the [[Rock music|rock]] band [[The Yardbirds]]. He left the music business in the late 1960s after The Yardbirds folded and became a professional photographer. In 1992, he and the rest of The Yardbirds were inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]. In later life he would play Yardbirds concerts until a series of strokes forced him to retire from live touring around 2011.

”’Christopher Walenty Dreja”’ (11 November – 25 September 2025) was an English musician and photographer. He was best known as the [[rhythm guitarist]] and [[bassist]] for the [[Rock music|rock]] band [[The Yardbirds]]. He left the music business in the late 1960s after The Yardbirds folded and became a professional photographer. In 1992, he and the rest of The Yardbirds were inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]]. In later life he would play Yardbirds concerts until a series of strokes forced him to retire from live touring around 2011.

==Early life==

==Early life==

Christopher Walenty Dreja<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://repertoire.bmi.com/Catalog.aspx?detail=writerid&page=1&fromrow=1&torow=25&keyid=95339&subid=0|title=BMI &#124; Repertoire Search|website=Repertoire.bmi.com|accessdate=6 July 2020|archive-date=8 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308003051/http://repertoire.bmi.com/Catalog.aspx?detail=writerid&page=1&fromrow=1&torow=25&keyid=95339&subid=0|url-status=dead}}</ref> was born on 11 November 1945 in [[Surbiton]], and raised in [[Kingston upon Thames]], Surrey.<ref name=nytimesobit>{{cite web|title=Chris Dreja, a Founding Member of the Yardbirds, Dies at 79|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/arts/music/chris-dreja-dead.html|date=6 October 2025|last=Williams|first=Alex|website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=6 October 2025}}</ref><ref name=”AMG”>{{cite web|last=Unterberger |first=Richie |url={{Allmusic|class=artist |id=p72208/biography |pure_url=yes}} |title=Biography by Richie Unterberger & Bruce Eder |website=[[AllMusic]] |date=11 November 1945 |accessdate=2 November 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/results?datasetname=england+%26+wales+births+1837-2006&firstname=christopher+&lastname=dreja|title=Search Results for England & Wales Births 1837–2006|website=Findmypast.co.uk|accessdate=6 July 2020}}</ref> His father, Alojzy Dreja (1 January 1918 – 11 December 1985<ref>{{Cite web |last=fhlpen_admin |date=1 March 2014 |title=Dreja Alojzy Baltazar |url=https://listakrzystka.pl/en/dreja-alojzy-baltazar/ |access-date=15 August 2025 |website=Krzystek’s List – Polish Air Force in Great Britain 1940–1947 |language=en-US}}</ref>), was from [[Poland]]; he had been exiled to Britain in 1940, and served as a pilot in the [[Polish Air Force in Great Britain]] during [[World War II]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chris Dreja |url=https://chrisdreja.wordpress.com/ |access-date=14 August 2025 |website=Chris Dreja |language=en}}</ref> He married Joyce Guillan in 1943 and they had three sons, Stefan, Christopher and Nicholas.

Christopher Walenty Dreja<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://repertoire.bmi.com/Catalog.aspx?detail=writerid&page=1&fromrow=1&torow=25&keyid=95339&subid=0|title=BMI &#124; Repertoire Search|website=Repertoire.bmi.com|accessdate=6 July 2020|archive-date=8 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308003051/http://repertoire.bmi.com/Catalog.aspx?detail=writerid&page=1&fromrow=1&torow=25&keyid=95339&subid=0|url-status=dead}}</ref> was born on 11 November in [[Surbiton]], and raised in [[Kingston upon Thames]], Surrey.<ref name=nytimesobit>{{cite web|title=Chris Dreja, a Founding Member of the Yardbirds, Dies at 79|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/arts/music/chris-dreja-dead.html|date=6 October 2025|last=Williams|first=Alex|website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=6 October 2025}}</ref><ref name=”AMG”>{{cite web|last=Unterberger |first=Richie |url={{Allmusic|class=artist |id=p72208/biography |pure_url=yes}} |title=Biography by Richie Unterberger & Bruce Eder |website=[[AllMusic]] |date=11 November 1945 |accessdate=2 November 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/results?datasetname=england+%26+wales+births+1837-2006&firstname=christopher+&lastname=dreja|title=Search Results for England & Wales Births 1837–2006|website=Findmypast.co.uk|accessdate=6 July 2020}}</ref> His father, Alojzy Dreja (1 January 1918 – 11 December 1985<ref>{{Cite web |last=fhlpen_admin |date=1 March 2014 |title=Dreja Alojzy Baltazar |url=https://listakrzystka.pl/en/dreja-alojzy-baltazar/ |access-date=15 August 2025 |website=Krzystek’s List – Polish Air Force in Great Britain 1940–1947 |language=en-US}}</ref>), was from [[Poland]]; he had been exiled to Britain in 1940, and served as a pilot in the [[Polish Air Force in Great Britain]] during [[World War II]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chris Dreja |url=https://chrisdreja.wordpress.com/ |access-date=14 August 2025 |website=Chris Dreja |language=en}}</ref> He married Joyce Guillan in 1943 and they had three sons, Stefan, Christopher and Nicholas.

Dreja’s elder brother Stefan happened to meet guitarist [[Top Topham]] when they studied at the same pre-college art program, and introduced Topham to his brother.<ref name=”AMG” />

Dreja’s elder brother Stefan happened to meet guitarist [[Top Topham]] when they studied at the same pre-college art program, and introduced Topham to his brother.<ref name=”AMG” />

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Dreja lived in London.<ref name=”:1″ /> In the 1960s, he married an American woman, Pat Lalley, from [[New Jersey]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chris Dreja |url=http://www.yardbirdsphotos.com/Chris%20Dreja.html |access-date=14 August 2025 |website=www.yardbirdsphotos.com}}</ref> After suffering a series of strokes in 2012 and 2013, Dreja retired from The Yardbirds and was replaced by original lead guitarist Top Topham.<ref name=VintageGuitar13/> In a 2014 interview, Jim McCarty updated fans on Chris: “Well, he’s OK, he’s sort of surviving. He can get around and survive in a quiet way, but he really can’t play any more.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Else! |first=Something |date=9 May 2014 |title=”He”s sort of surviving’: Jim McCarty opens up about ailing Yardbirds legend Chris Dreja |url=https://somethingelsereviews.com/2014/05/09/hes-sort-of-surviving-jim-mccarty-opens-up-about-ailing-yardbirds-legend-chris-dreja/ |access-date=14 August 2025 |website=Something Else! |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=petefeenstra |title=Interview with JIM McCARTY (The Yardbirds) – 3 January 2014 |url=https://getreadytorock.me.uk/blog/2014/01/interview-with-jim-mccarty-the-yardbirds-3-january-2014/ |access-date=14 August 2025 |website=Get Ready to ROCK! |language=en-US}}</ref>

Dreja lived in London.<ref name=”:1″ /> In the 1960s, he married an American woman, Pat Lalley, from [[New Jersey]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chris Dreja |url=http://www.yardbirdsphotos.com/Chris%20Dreja.html |access-date=14 August 2025 |website=www.yardbirdsphotos.com}}</ref> After suffering a series of strokes in 2012 and 2013, Dreja retired from The Yardbirds and was replaced by original lead guitarist Top Topham.<ref name=VintageGuitar13/> In a 2014 interview, Jim McCarty updated fans on Chris: “Well, he’s OK, he’s sort of surviving. He can get around and survive in a quiet way, but he really can’t play any more.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Else! |first=Something |date=9 May 2014 |title=”He”s sort of surviving’: Jim McCarty opens up about ailing Yardbirds legend Chris Dreja |url=https://somethingelsereviews.com/2014/05/09/hes-sort-of-surviving-jim-mccarty-opens-up-about-ailing-yardbirds-legend-chris-dreja/ |access-date=14 August 2025 |website=Something Else! |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=petefeenstra |title=Interview with JIM McCARTY (The Yardbirds) – 3 January 2014 |url=https://getreadytorock.me.uk/blog/2014/01/interview-with-jim-mccarty-the-yardbirds-3-january-2014/ |access-date=14 August 2025 |website=Get Ready to ROCK! |language=en-US}}</ref>

Dreja died from complications of a stroke and [[COPD]] at a nursing home in London, on 25 September 2025, at the age of 79.<ref name=nytimesobit /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Christopher Walenty Dreja, Founding Member of The Yardbirds, Dies at 78 |url=https://www.russells.co.uk/christopher-walenty-dreja-founding-member-of-the-yardbirds-dies-at-78/ |access-date=4 October 2025 |website=russells.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://bestclassicbands.com/chris-dreja-other-guitarist-in-the-yardbirds-obituary-10-2-25/|title=Chris Dreja, ‘Other’ Guitarist in the Yardbirds, Dies|website=Best Classic Bands|date=2 October 2025|author=Greg Brodsky}}</ref><ref name=”noise11″>{{Cite web |last=Hayes |first=Labelle |date=2 October 2025 |title=Chris Dreja of The Yardbirds Dies Weeks Before 80th Birthday |url=https://www.noise11.com/news/chris-dreja-yardbirds-dies-79-20251002 |access-date=2 October 2025 |website=Noise11.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=<!–Not stated–> |date=2 October 2025 |title=The Yardbirds Founding Member Chris Dreja Dead At 79 |url=https://bravewords.com/news/the-yardbirds-founding-member-chris-dreja-dead-at-79/ |website=BraveWords |access-date=2 October 2025}}</ref>

Dreja died from complications of a stroke and [[COPD]] at a nursing home in London, on 25 September 2025, at the age of .<ref name=nytimesobit /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Christopher Walenty Dreja, Founding Member of The Yardbirds, Dies at 78 |url=https://www.russells.co.uk/christopher-walenty-dreja-founding-member-of-the-yardbirds-dies-at-78/ |access-date=4 October 2025 |website=russells.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://bestclassicbands.com/chris-dreja-other-guitarist-in-the-yardbirds-obituary-10-2-25/|title=Chris Dreja, ‘Other’ Guitarist in the Yardbirds, Dies|website=Best Classic Bands|date=2 October 2025|author=Greg Brodsky}}</ref><ref name=”noise11″>{{Cite web |last=Hayes |first=Labelle |date=2 October 2025 |title=Chris Dreja of The Yardbirds Dies Weeks Before 80th Birthday |url=https://www.noise11.com/news/chris-dreja-yardbirds-dies-79-20251002 |access-date=2 October 2025 |website=Noise11.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=<!–Not stated–> |date=2 October 2025 |title=The Yardbirds Founding Member Chris Dreja Dead At 79 |url=https://bravewords.com/news/the-yardbirds-founding-member-chris-dreja-dead-at-79/ |website=BraveWords |access-date=2 October 2025}}</ref>

== Equipment ==

== Equipment ==

English guitarist (1946–2025)

Chris Dreja

Dreja with the Yardbirds in 1966
Born

Christopher Walenty Dreja

(1946-11-11)11 November 1946
Died 25 September 2025(2025-09-25) (aged 78)

London, England
Genres Rock
Occupation
  • Guitarist
  • bassist
  • photographer
Years active 1963–2013
Formerly of

Musical artist

Christopher Walenty Dreja (11 November 1946 – 25 September 2025) was an English musician and photographer. He was best known as the rhythm guitarist and bassist for the rock band The Yardbirds. He left the music business in the late 1960s after The Yardbirds folded and became a professional photographer. In 1992, he and the rest of The Yardbirds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In later life he would play Yardbirds concerts until a series of strokes forced him to retire from live touring around 2011.

Christopher Walenty Dreja[1] was born on 11 November 1946 in Surbiton, and raised in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey.[2][3][4] His father, Alojzy Dreja (1 January 1918 – 11 December 1985[5]), was from Poland; he had been exiled to Britain in 1940, and served as a pilot in the Polish Air Force in Great Britain during World War II.[6] He married Joyce Guillan in 1943 and they had three sons, Stefan, Christopher and Nicholas.
Dreja’s elder brother Stefan happened to meet guitarist Top Topham when they studied at the same pre-college art program, and introduced Topham to his brother.[3]

Topham and Dreja were influenced by folk–blues guitarist Gerry Lockran, who 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 a concert with Duster Bennett and a young Jimmy Page.[3] Their other guitar influences included Hubert Sumlin, Duane Eddy, Brian Jones, and Chuck Berry.[7]

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 and Jimmy Page.[3]

Dreja changed from rhythm to bass guitar following the departure of the original bassist, Samwell-Smith. Dreja co-authored many Yardbirds group compositions, especially those on the album Yardbirds.[3] Additionally, he drew the picture which would be used as the album cover.[8] Due to this drawing the album has been referred to as Roger the Engineer.[9]

Dreja played in the Yardbirds spin-off band Box of Frogs in the 1980s, and was part of the Yardbirds’ reformation from 1992 until 2013, when he retired from the band for medical reasons.[10] In 1992, he along with the rest of The Yardbirds, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[11] In 2002, the Yardbirds re-emerged and a new album, Birdland, was released.[3]

After the group broke up, Page offered Dreja the position of bassist in a new band he was forming (later to become Led Zeppelin).[12] Dreja declined in order to pursue a profession in photography and the position was filled by John Paul Jones. He photographed Led Zeppelin for the back cover of their debut album.[3][13] He worked in a photo studio in New York for a few years and at one point did a shooting session with Andy Warhol.[14]

Dreja mentioned that although he possessed quite a unique surname, most people he worked with in New York never realised that he was the same Chris Dreja from the Yardbirds: “I was working in New York in a studio and after two years or so no one had ever at that point equated Chris Dreja of photography with Chris Dreja of the Yardbirds! Some messenger came to the studio and said something like ‘Ain’t you that Chris Dreja with that Yardbirds band.’ It was great in one way.”[14] Dreja also photographed artists such as Bob Dylan, the Righteous Brothers and Ike and Tina Turner.[14]

Personal life and death

[edit]

Dreja lived in London.[14] In the 1960s, he married an American woman, Pat Lalley, from New Jersey.[15] After suffering a series of strokes in 2012 and 2013, Dreja retired from The Yardbirds and was replaced by original lead guitarist Top Topham.[10] In a 2014 interview, Jim McCarty updated fans on Chris: “Well, he’s OK, he’s sort of surviving. He can get around and survive in a quiet way, but he really can’t play any more.”[16][17]

Dreja died from complications of a stroke and COPD at a nursing home in London, on 25 September 2025, at the age of 78.[2][18][19][20][21]

During the 1960s Dreja recorded songs on both the electric and bass guitar, including Watkins Rapier, Harmony, a Gibson 335, Les Paul, and Fender Jaguar and Jazzmaster guitars and an Epiphone Rivoli bass.[7] In his later Yardbird years, Dreja continued to use a Les Paul on stage.[7]

  1. ^ “BMI | Repertoire Search”. Repertoire.bmi.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b Williams, Alex (6 October 2025). “Chris Dreja, a Founding Member of the Yardbirds, Dies at 79”. The New York Times. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Unterberger, Richie (11 November 1945). “Biography by Richie Unterberger & Bruce Eder”. AllMusic. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  4. ^ “Search Results for England & Wales Births 1837–2006”. Findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  5. ^ fhlpen_admin (1 March 2014). “Dreja Alojzy Baltazar”. Krzystek’s List – Polish Air Force in Great Britain 1940–1947. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  6. ^ “Chris Dreja”. Chris Dreja. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  7. ^ a b c Prown, Pete (16 March 2010). “Chris Dreja | Vintage Guitar® magazine”. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  8. ^ Jones, Chris (17 April 2007). “The Yardbirds Roger The Engineer Review”. bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 April 2010. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  9. ^ Gulla, Bob (2008). Guitar Gods: The 25 Players Who Made Rock History. ABC-CLIO. p. 24. ISBN 978-0313358067. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  10. ^ a b “Topham Replaces Dreja in Yardbirds”. Vintage Guitar. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  11. ^ “The Yardbirds”. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  12. ^ Russo, Greg (1998). Yardbirds: The Ultimate Rave-Up. Floral Park, New York: Crossfire Publications. ISBN 0-9648157-3-7.
  13. ^ Team, Editorial (26 April 2011). “THE YARDBIRDS’ Chris Dreja Discusses Photographing LED ZEPPELIN”. BraveWords – Where Music Lives. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  14. ^ a b c d Kirkman, Jon (26 July 2011). “Classic Rock Radio: Archive Interview with Chris Dreja The Yardbirds 2005”. Classic Rock Radio. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  15. ^ “Chris Dreja”. www.yardbirdsphotos.com. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  16. ^ Else!, Something (9 May 2014). “‘He’s sort of surviving’: Jim McCarty opens up about ailing Yardbirds legend Chris Dreja”. Something Else!. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  17. ^ petefeenstra. “Interview with JIM McCARTY (The Yardbirds) – 3 January 2014”. Get Ready to ROCK!. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  18. ^ “Christopher Walenty Dreja, Founding Member of The Yardbirds, Dies at 78”. russells.co.uk. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  19. ^ Greg Brodsky (2 October 2025). “Chris Dreja, ‘Other’ Guitarist in the Yardbirds, Dies”. Best Classic Bands.
  20. ^ Hayes, Labelle (2 October 2025). “Chris Dreja of The Yardbirds Dies Weeks Before 80th Birthday”. Noise11.com. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
  21. ^ “The Yardbirds Founding Member Chris Dreja Dead At 79”. BraveWords. 2 October 2025. Retrieved 2 October 2025.

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