Jim McCarty

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Jim McCarty
Jim McCarty of the Yardbirds circa 1966.jpg
McCarty in January 1966
Background information
Birth nameJames Stanley McCarty
Born (1943-07-25) 25 July 1943 (age 82)
Walton, Liverpool, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • songwriter
Instruments
  • Drums
  • vocals
  • guitar
  • keyboards
Years active1960s–present
Member of The Yardbirds
Formerly of

James Stanley McCarty (born 25 July 1943) [1] is an English musician, best known as the drummer for the Yardbirds and Renaissance. [2] McCarty has performed and recorded as a drummer and occasional singer with the Yardbirds, Together, Renaissance, Shoot [3] , Illusion, Box of Frogs, the British Invasion All-Stars, and Pilgrim. He was also a keyboardist for Stairway and, under his own name, a guitarist in the Jim McCarty Band. [1] [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Since 1992 he has been playing with the reformed Yardbirds. [5] Following Chris Dreja's departure from the Yardbirds in 2013, McCarty became the only founding member to still tour in the band. [7] He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 as a member of the Yardbirds. [8] McCarty has released three solo albums : Out of the Dark (1994), Sitting on the Top of Time (2009), and Walking in the Wild Land (2018) as well as two books. [9] [10] [6]

McCarty has contributed to four Yardbird books: Yardbirds (1983. ISBN   0-283-98982-3 ) / Yardbirds : The Ultimate Rave-Up (1997. ISBN   0-9648157-8-8 ) / The Yardbirds (2002. ISBN   0-87930-724-2 ) / Nobody Told Me: My Life with the Yardbirds, Renaissance and Other Stories (2018. ISBN   0244966508). [5] [9]

Personal life

James Stanley McCarty was born at Walton Hospital in Liverpool, England, [1] but his family moved to Teddington, London when he was two years old. [11] He attended Hampton School in Hampton where Paul Samwell-Smith was a fellow pupil. The first record McCarty bought was either "Bad Penny Blues" by Humphrey Lyttelton or "Born Too Late" by The Poni-Tails. [5]

When playing with the early Yardbirds, he worked as a clerk for the stockbroking firm Phillips & Drew in the City of London. [12] [13] [14] McCarty admited that addiction to LSD in the 1960s negatively affected his mental health. [5] McCarty's wife, Elisabeth, died from cancer on 7 June 2020, [15] which got McCarty interested in Mediumship. [16] [17] McCarty released a book, She Walks In Beauty, which his wife suggested him to do just before her death. [18] [19] [17]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1550. ISBN   0-85112-939-0.
  2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Biography: Jim McCarty". AllMusic . Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  3. "FEATURE: Ex-Yardbirds drummer McCarty on the Shoot story ..." Singsong Music Marketing. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  4. "Interview with JIM McCARTY (THE YARDBIRDS) – Part 1". DMME.net. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Cooper, Kevin. "INTERVIEW: Jim McCarty | Welcome to UK Music Reviews" . Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Albums ‹ Jim McCarty, The Yardbirds and Renaissance". www.jamesmccarty.com. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  7. Howie, Guy (7 July 2024). "Every musician who was ever in The Yardbirds". faroutmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  8. "The Yardbirds". Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  9. 1 2 petefeenstra. "Book review: JIM McCARTY with DAVE THOMPSON – Nobody Told Me: My Life With The Yardbirds, Renaissance and Other Stories". Get Ready to ROCK!. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  10. "Jim McCarty Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More..." AllMusic. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  11. Mike Pachelli (18 February 2023). The Yardbirds Interview With Jim McCarty by Mike Pachelli . Retrieved 16 August 2025 via YouTube.
  12. Jim McCarty; Dave Thompson (5 February 2018). Nobody Told Me: My Life with the Yardbirds, Renaissance and Other Stories. Lulu. p. 43. ISBN   9780244966508.
  13. David French (29 May 2020). Heart Full of Soul: Keith Relf of the Yardbirds. McFarland. p. 15. ISBN   9781476640464.
  14. Posted by Music Network by Michael Limnios on January 24, 2021 at 10:30am; Blog, View. "Q&A with founding member of the Yardbirds, Jim McCarty - his innovative drumming style which he introduced into music in the '60s". blues.gr. Retrieved 14 August 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. Hill, Dave (25 August 2023). "JIM McCARTY: 'Breath of the Wind' exclusive DL single from The Yardbirds drummer & singer-songwriter". tenacitypr. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  16. "Jim McCarty Interview". North Coast Music. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  17. 1 2 Gaudiosi, Jeff (19 November 2021). "A Conversation with Yardbirds Drummer Jim McCarty". MisplacedStraws. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  18. 2021 interview with Edmonton Journal
  19. ""Breath of the Wind": Musician, Author & Yardbirds Drummer Jim McCarty's Voyage Through Loss & Love". Christy Alexander Hallberg. Retrieved 14 August 2025.