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As drummer for the Yardbirds — the only one in the British band’s history, in fact — Jim McCarty spent six years during the ’60s staring at the backsides of three of the greatest guitarists in rock history. That, in turn, gave him a front-row seat in the early careers of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it? And with time it gets better and better,” McCarty, who still leads the band, tells us from his current home in France. “Going back to the time, they were all learning how to do it. They were all part of the team, as I say. We were all trying to play and having good fun playing that sort of music. And they were all very different.”