Paul Samwell-Smith

Paul Granville Samwell-Smith (born Paul Smith, 8 May 1943, in Richmond, Surrey, England) is an English musician and record producer. He was a founding member and the bassist of the 1960s English rock band The Yardbirds, which launched leading guitarists Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page to fame. As a youth, Samwell-Smith attended Hampton School with The Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty.

While in The Yardbirds, he co-produced and engineered much of their music, working with record producers such as Mickie Most, Simon Napier-Bell and Giorgio Gomelsky. Samwell-Smith was a major contributor to the original tracks written by The Yardbirds during his tenure with the band. He left The Yardbirds in June 1966 to pursue a career as a record producer.