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Biography
Top Topham (born Anthony Topham in Southall, Middlesex, on 3 July 1947; died January 2023) was an English musician and artist. He is remembered as a blues guitarist and for being the first lead guitarist of The Yardbirds (though he left the band before they achieved mainstream popularity, being replaced by Eric Clapton).
In May 1963, Topham and his friend at secondary school, Chris Dreja, visited the Railway Hotel in Norbiton. The hotel's entertainment featured traditional jazz music in the upstairs lounge, and allowed budding musicians to play during the breaks. There, he and Dreja met singer and harmonica player Keith Relf, bassist Paul Samwell-Smith, and drummer Jim McCarty and decided to form The Yardbirds, with Topham as lead guitarist. Two weeks later they played their first gig at the Eel Pie Island, supporting the Cyril Davies All-Stars. Two months after the formation of The Yardbirds, Giorgio Gomelsky offered them the residency at the Crawdaddy Club and became their manager. As The Yardbirds had to turn professional, Topham faced parental disapproval coupled with the anxiety of abandoning his art studies. He could not devote himself to The Yardbirds full-time and he left. His replacement was a fellow art student from the same secondary school, Eric Clapton.
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