Paul Samwell-Smith

Paul Samwell-Smith is a British musician and record producer, best known for being the original bassist for The Yardbirds and for being the longtime producer for Cat Stevens. Samwell-Smith began his career in 1963 as part of the Metropolitan Blues Quartet, a blues group that featured Keith Relf. With the addition of Chris Dreja, Jim McCarty, and Top Topham, the group slowly evolved into The Yardbirds. During his time in the Yardbirds, Samwell-Smith played bass guitar, sang background vocals, and co-produced their recordings. Samwell-Smith left the group in 1966, deciding instead to pursue a career in music production. Samwell Smith produced Cat Stevens' albums from 1970 to 1972, later returning to co-produce three more albums on different occasions alongside Stevens himself. Samwell-Smith also produced albums for Jethro Tull, Carly Simon, Renaissance, and Illusion, among others.