Paul Samwell-Smith

Paul Samwell-Smith (born Paul Smith, 8 May 1943, in Richmond, Surrey) is best known as a founding member and bassist of the 1960s English band, The Yardbirds, a group that spawned such noteworthy musicians as Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page. As a youth, Samwell-Smith attended Hampton School with The Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty.

While in The Yardbirds, he worked with record producers such as Mickie Most, Simon Napier-Bell and Giorgio Gomelsky and co-produced and engineered much of their music. He left The Yardbirds in June 1966 to pursue a career as a music producer.