"Page was content with his lucrative session work and turned the Yardbirds down, but not before he recommended Jeff Beck as Clapton's replacement.
Beck was yet another hot young guitarist. Unlike Page, he was not interested in anonymous session work or simply carrying the torch for electric blues. Beck was a fearless innovator who was stretching mid-'60s rock guitar with a variety of tricks, effects and pure talent.
All these years later, most guitar scholars regard him as the greatest living player, arguably eclipsed only by the late Jimi Hendrix and the late Duane Allman.
Beck slid effortlessly into the Yardbirds' guitar chair and added a kaleidoscope of sounds and flash that brashly signaled the Yardbirds' full pop flowering.
Subsequent singles released during Beck's tenure, such as "Heart Full of Soul," "Shape of Things to Come" and "Over Under Sideways Down," quickly climbed the charts and put the group squarely in the red-hot center of Swinging London's world pop dominance.
Other tracks, while not reaching the height of the charts, reflected a rich tapestry of sounds, including psychedelic and Eastern influences and what many would consider the faint early stirrings of heavy metal before it became bombastic in the '70s."
pretty good article on the Yardbirds
www.boomermagazine.com
