William Keith Relf (22 March 194312 May 1976) was an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist and harmonica player for

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

the Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...

. He then formed the band

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

with his sister

Jane Relf Jane Relf (born 7 March 1947) is a British singer, best known as the original vocalist for the progressive rock band Renaissance. She is the younger sister of Keith Relf of the Yardbirds. Renaissance In January 1969 Keith Relf and Jim McCa ...

, The Yardbirds ex-drummer

Jim McCarty James Stanley McCarty (born 25 July 1943) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for the Yardbirds and Renaissance. Following Chris Dreja's departure from the Yardbirds in 2013, McCarty became the only member of the band to featur ...

and ex-

The Nashville Teens The Nashville Teens are a British rock band, formed in Surrey in 1962. They are best known for their 1964 hit single " Tobacco Road", a top 10 UK hit and a top 20 hit in the United States. Early membership Art Sharp (born Arthur Sharp, 26 May ...

keyboardist

John Hawken John Christopher Hawken is an English keyboard player, best known as a member of The Nashville Teens, Renaissance, and the Strawbs. He also played in Spooky Tooth, Third World War, Vinegar Joe, Illusion, as well as being a session musician. ...

Early life

Relf was born in the Richmond Institution on 22 March 1943 to Mary Elsie Relf (née Vickers) and William Arthur Percy Relf. Keith had a sister

Jane Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...

. His father was a builder, while his mother stayed at home.

Musical career

Relf started playing in bands around the summer of 1956 as a singer, guitarist, and harmonica player. His blues harp and vocals were as key to the Yardbirds' sound and success as were the group's three superstar lead guitarists

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a focus ...

, and

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

. Relf co-wrote many of the original Yardbirds songs ("

Shapes of Things "Shapes of Things" is a song by the English rock group the Yardbirds. With its Eastern-sounding, feedback-laden guitar solo and anti-war/pro-environmental lyrics, several music writers have identified it as the first popular psychedelic rock ...

", "I Ain't Done Wrong", "

Over Under Sideways Down "Over Under Sideways Down" is a 1966 song by English rock group the Yardbirds. A composition credited to all members of the group, it combines elements of blues rock and psychedelic rock. It was first released as a single in May 1966 as a follow- ...

", "

Happenings Ten Years Time Ago "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" is a song by the English group the Yardbirds. Written and recorded in 1966, it is considered one of their most progressive works. The song was the group's first to feature the dual-lead guitar line-up of Jeff Be ...

"), later showing a leaning towards acoustic/folk music as the sixties unfolded ("Only the Black Rose"). He also sang an early version of " Dazed and Confused" in live Yardbirds concerts, after hearing musician

Jake Holmes Jake Holmes (born December 28, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and jingle writer who began a recording career in the 1960s. Holmes is the author of the song " Dazed and Confused", later reworked by Led Zeppelin. Holmes also composed the ...

perform the song, which was later recorded by the band's successor group

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

. His debut solo single, " Mr. Zero", peaked at No. 50 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in May 1966. After the Yardbirds broke up in July 1968, Relf formed the acoustic duo Together, with fellow Yardbird

, followed immediately by

(which also featured his sister

). After leaving Renaissance in 1970, he started producing other artists: Steamhammer, folk-rock band

Hunter Muskett Hunter Muskett is an English folk-rock band, that first existed between 1968 and 1974, and reformed in 2010. Beginnings The group was formed at Avery Hill College in South London, when Terry Hiscock and Chris George were joined by fellow stu ...

, the acoustic world music group

Amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...

, psychedelic band Saturnalia, and blues-rock band

Medicine Head Medicine Head were a British blues rock band – initially a duo – active in the 1970s. Their biggest single success was in 1973 with " One and One Is One", which reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. The group recorded six original albums ...

(with whom he also played bass guitar). In 1974, he formed progressive/rock group

Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...

. Their self-titled debut, ''

'', was recorded in England and released in the United States on

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

. The album's original liner notes used the term "

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

"; their personnel (besides Relf) included drummer

Bobby Caldwell Robert Hunter Caldwell (born August 15, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He released several albums spanning R&B, soul, jazz and adult contemporary. He is known for his soulful and versatile vocals. Caldwell released the ...

(previously a member of Captain Beyond and

Johnny Winter John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer and guitarist. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums and live performances in the late 1960s and 1970s. He also produced three Grammy Award-win ...

's band), guitarist

Martin Pugh Martin John Pugh is a British guitarist who came to prominence after joining blues-rock band Steamhammer in 1968, staying with that band through 5 years and 4 albums. The debut Steamhammer album, also known as '' Steamhammer'', was released ...

(from Steamhammer, '' The Rod Stewart Album'', and later of

7th Order 7th Order is an American rock and roll, rock & roll band whose debut extended play CD release, ''The Lake of Memory'', was issued on the Big Island Sounds label in 2007 (although 7th Order had been in existence for several years by that time). ...

), and bassist

Louis Cennamo Louis David Cennamo is an English bass guitarist, whose lengthy career has included extensive recording and touring with a number of important British rock/blues/progressive bands. Career Cennamo left school at 16 and undertook his earliest imp ...

(also formerly of Renaissance and Steamhammer).

Personal life and death

In 1966, he married April Liversidge. They had two sons, Danny and Jason. Relf died in the basement of his home in 1976 at age 33 from

electrocution Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death. The term "electrocution" was coined ...

while playing an electric guitar. He had had several health problems throughout his life, including

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

and

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

. He may have been taking the medications commonly used to treat those diseases at the time, and these may have contributed to his inability to survive the

electric shock Electrical injury is a physiological reaction caused by electric current passing through the body. The injury depends on the density of the current, tissue resistance and duration of contact. Very small currents may be imperceptible or produce ...

. At the time, it is said that Relf was in the process of putting back together the original

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band

line-up, which would eventually be called

Illusion An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may o ...

. He was buried in

Richmond Cemetery Richmond Cemetery is a cemetery on Lower Grove Road in Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. The cemetery opened in 1786 on a plot of land granted by an Act of Parliament the previous year. The cemetery has been expande ...

. Though most sources mistakenly list 14 May as Relf's date of death (the day that many newspapers ran the story); on the official death certificate, he was declared dead on 12 May at West Middlesex Hospital.

Legacy

Relf's posthumous 1992

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

induction with the Yardbirds was represented by his widow April, and sons Danny and Jay.

Solo singles discography

Most of Relf's

recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

were released under the name of the group he was in at the time. However, an early attempt was made to establish him as a solo musician, and two singles came out under his own name in 1966. * " Mr. Zero" / "Knowing" – UK Columbia DB7920 / U.S. Epic 10044 (May 1966) ::

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

written by

Bob Lind Robert Neale Lind (born November 25, 1942) is an American folk-music singer-lyricist, who helped define the 1960s folk rock movement in the U.S. and UK. Lind is well known for his transatlantic hit record, "Elusive Butterfly", which reached num ...

* "Shapes in My Mind" / "Blue Sands" – UK Columbia DB8084 / US Epic 10110 (November 1966) ::

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

is an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

credited to Relf, but actually performed by the Outsiders (not to be confused with the US band, the Outsiders, who performed "Time Won't Let Me"). The US single featured the same version as the UK single; US promotional copies (on red vinyl) featured a complete re-edit of the song. A further single appeared in 1989: * "Together Now" / "All The Fallen Angels" – MCCM 89 002 (1989) ::US release only. The A-side was originally recorded in 1968 by Together. The B-side was recorded on 2 May 1976, ten days before Relf's death.

References

External links

Keith Relf web page

The Yardbirds official website
*
Keith Relf biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Relf, Keith 1943 births 1976 deaths 20th-century English singers Alumni of Kingston University English rock singers English blues singers English male singer-songwriters English rock musicians English blues musicians Blues singer-songwriters Electric blues musicians Blues rock musicians British blues (genre) musicians British rhythm and blues boom musicians British harmonica players Blues harmonica players People from Richmond, London Singers from London The Yardbirds members Accidental deaths by electrocution Accidental deaths in London Burials at Richmond Cemetery English baritones Maracas players Armageddon (British band) members Renaissance (band) members 20th-century British male singers