The All-Stars were a short-lived English

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

combo active in the early-mid 1960s. Originally known as the Cyril Davies (R&B) All-Stars, their later recordings are often credited to the Immediate All-Stars due to their releases on

Immediate Records Immediate Records was a British record label, started in 1965 by The Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham and Tony Calder, and concentrating on the London-based blues and R&B scene. History Immediate Records was started in 1965. Signe ...

. In 1999, the group reformed as the Carlo Little All-Stars.

History

The Cyril Davies R&B All-Stars

The All-Stars were initially formed as a backing band for vocalist and

blues harmonica The Richter-tuned harmonica, 10-hole harmonica (in Asia) or blues harp (in America), is the most widely known type of harmonica. It is a variety of diatonic harmonica, with ten holes which offer the player 19 notes (10 holes times a draw and a ...

player

Cyril Davies Cyril Davies (23 January 1932 – 7 January 1964) was an English blues musician, and one of the first blues harmonica players in England. Biography Born at St Mildred's, 15 Hawthorn Drive, Willowbank, Denham, Buckinghamshire, he was the so ...

after his departure from

Alexis Korner Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984), known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major i ...

Blues Incorporated Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, or simply Blues Incorporated, were an English British blues, blues band formed in London in 1961, led by Alexis Korner and including at various times Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Terry Cox, Ginger Baker, Art W ...

in October 1962. The original lineup was tentatively named 'The Cyril Davies Blues Band' and was made up of former members of

Screaming Lord Sutch Screaming Lord Sutch (born David Edward Sutch, 10 November 1940 – 16 June 1999) was an English musician and perennial parliamentary candidate. He was the founder of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party and served as its leader from 1983 t ...

's group, the Savages, including

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. He performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, including on songs recorde ...

on piano,

Carlo Little Carl O'Neil Little (17 December 1938 – 6 August 2005), better known by his stage name Carlo Little, was a rock and roll drummer, based in the London nightclub scene in the 1960s. He played in an early version of the Rolling Stones. Little wa ...

on drums and

Ricky Fenson Richard Brown (born 22 May 1945), better known by his stage name of Ricky Fenson and also known as Rick Brown, is a British bass guitarist. The Rolling Stones Fenson briefly played with an early version of the Rolling Stones before he was re ...

( aka Rick Brown) on bass. The band also featured

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

on guitar for a brief period, though he soon backed out to focus on his burgeoning career as a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

and was replaced by Bernie Watson, another former member of the Savages. Cyril Davies All-Stars advert

In December 1962, Davies was in competition with Korner to recruit

Long John Baldry John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including ...

as a second lead vocalist. Baldry had previously performed with Blues Incorporated while Davies was still a member, with both vocalists being featured on the 1962 album ''

R&B from the Marquee ''R&B from the Marquee'' is an album by Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated released in November 1962 on Decca Records. Blues Incorporated was a British rhythm and blues band in the early 1960s. Although never very successful commercially, it ...

''. Following the formation of the All-Stars, Baldry played a few shows with each band before eventually committing to join Davies' camp in January 1963. Around this time, Davies also added female backing singers to the lineup in the form of South African vocal group the Velvettes (not to be confused with

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

trio,

the Velvelettes The Velvelettes were an American singing girl group, signed to Motown in the 1960s. Their biggest chart success occurred in 1964, when Norman Whitfield produced "Needle in a Haystack", which peaked at number 45 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, ...

), who had emigrated to England after touring with the musical stage production ''

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

''.Confessions of a Sixties Drummer: The 1960s London R&B Scene
at carlolittle.com (archived from 2015) The Velvettes were initially a quartet made up of Peggy Phango, Hazel Futa, Patience Gcwabe and Eunice Mamsie Mthombeni, though Phango soon departed to pursue a solo career, leaving the rest of the group to join the All-Stars as a trio.Tom Vallance
"Obituary: Peggy Phango"
''Independent'' (2 September 1998). On 27 February, the All-Stars recorded their first single for

Pye Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...

: the original compositions "Country Line Special" and "Chicago Calling", released under the name 'Cyril Davies and His Rhythm and Blues All-Stars'. However, Baldry and the Velvettes are not featured on these recordings. Long John Baldry photo 1972

In May 1963, illness forced the departure of Hopkins as he was hospitalised for several months. Former Blues Incorporated pianist Keith Scott was recruited in his stead, but growing tensions between Davies and the other band members meant that Fenson, Watson and Little each soon left the group to be replaced by bassist Cliff Barton, guitarist

Geoff Bradford Geoffrey Reginald William Bradford (18 July 1927 – 30 December 1994) was an English professional Association football, footballer who spent his entire career at Bristol Rovers F.C., Bristol Rovers and won one international cap for England na ...

and drummer

Micky Waller Michael Waller (6 September 1941 – 29 April 2008) was an English drummer, who played with many of the biggest names on the UK rock and blues scene, after he became a professional musician in 1960. In addition to being a member, albeit sometim ...

. In August, this lineup recorded the R&B All-Stars' second single for Pye: "Preachin' the Blues", a

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His singing, guitar playing and songwriting on his landmark 1936 and 1937 recordings have influenced later generations of musicians. Although his r ...

cover, and "Sweet Mary", a

Lead Belly Huddie William Ledbetter ( ; January 1888 or 1889 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the ...

cover. As with the previous recordings, Baldry and the Velvettes are not featured. Instead, backing vocals for "Preachin' the Blues" are provided by

Alex Bradford Alex Bradford (January 23, 1927 – February 15, 1978) was an American gospel composer, singer, arranger and choir director, who was an influence on artists such as Little Richard, Bob Marley and Ray Charles, and who helped bring about the mode ...

and

Madeline Bell Madeline Bell (born July 23, 1942) is an American soul singer, who became famous as a performer in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s with pop group Blue Mink, having arrived from the United States in the gospel show '' Black Nativity'' in 1962 ...

. Towards the end of 1963, Scott and Waller were themselves replaced by the group's final members Johnny Parker and Bob Wackett. Cyril Davies died on 7 January 1964 of

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (Pulmonary pleurae, pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant d ...

and

endocarditis Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves. Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, o ...

. Following this, Pye Records paid tribute to Davies by re-releasing the four tracks he had recorded for them as the EP ''The Sound of Cyril Davies and His Rhythm and Blues All-Stars''.''The Sound of Cyril Davies and His Rhythm and Blues All-Stars'' liner notes, Pye Records, 1964
at cyrildavies.com Baldry assumed the role of band leader, and with fellow All-Stars Barton, Bradford and Parker went on to perform as 'The Hoochie Coochie Men' together with

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

on vocals and Ernie O'Malley on drums.Cyril Davies and the birth of the UK R&B scene
at bluesinlondon.com (archived from 2017)
at cyrildavies.com Carlo Little also joined them briefly in June 1964, but soon left due to "a difference in musical opinion" between himself and Baldry. The Hoochie Coochie Men released one album, '' Long John's Blues'', before disbanding in October 1965. Baldry and Stewart went on to form

Steampacket Steampacket (sometimes shown as Steam Packet) was a British blues band formed in 1965 by Long John Baldry with Rod Stewart, Julie Driscoll, and organist Brian Auger. History A musical revue rather than a single group, Steampacket was formed i ...

with former All-Stars Ricky Fenson and Micky Waller. At least one further song is known to have been recorded by the All-Stars during Davies' lifetime: a cover of

Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...

's "Someday Baby", first issued by

on the 1968 compilation album '' Blues Anytime Vol. 3''. This track was credited to 'Cyril Davies and the All-Stars', although it is not clear when the recording was made, nor with which lineup. In 1986 a sixth track was released: a cover of

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...

's " Not Fade Away" on the

Castle Communications Castle Communications, also known as Castle Music, was a British independent record label and home video distributor founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane, and Jon Beecher. Its video imprint was called Castle Vision. The label's producti ...

compilation album ''White Boy Blues Vol. 2'', again credited to 'Cyril Davies and the All-Stars'.Cliff Dane
''White Boy Blues: Volume 2'' liner notes, Castle Communications, 1986
at FleetwoodMac.net

The All-Stars featuring Jeff Beck

By 1965,

had established himself as a prolific

and was signed to Immediate Records as an in-house producer. Around eighteen months after

' death, Page brought together former All-Stars

and Cliff Barton to record with him and his friend

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

''Blues Anytime Vol. 3'' liner notes, Immediate Records, 1968
at cyrildavies.com

Jon Tiven Jon Tiven (born January 3, 1955) is an American composer, guitarist, record producer, and music journalist. He has produced albums by Wilson Pickett, Frank Black and Don Covay as well as a series of tribute albums paying tribute to the songwrit ...

''White Boy Blues'' liner notes, Castle Communications, 1985
at FleetwoodMac.net Together they recorded five original tracks, with Hopkins taking the lead on "Piano Shuffle", Beck on "Chuckles" and "Steelin'", and Page on "Down in the Boots" and "L.A. Breakdown". The first track from this session to be issued was "Steelin'", although its initial release was not credited to the group. London fashion photographer David Anthony (under the pseudonym 'Charles Dickens') had recorded a cover of

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' "So Much in Love" for Immediate Records, and when this was released as a single in 1965 it featured "Steelin'" as its b-side under the title "Our Soul Brother TH", credited solely to Dickens. The rest of the tracks from this session would eventually get their first release in 1968, alongside "Steelin'", properly credited to 'The All-Stars featuring...' on the Immediate compilation album '' Blues Anytime Vol. 3''.

Page, Clapton and the Immediate All-Stars

In June 1965,

invited

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

to join him in a

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...

at his home studio on Miles Road in London, and the two guitarists recorded seven instrumental tracks together: "Choker", "Draggin' My Tail", "Freight Loader", "Miles Road", "Snake Drive", "Tribute to

Elmore Elmore may refer to: Places United States *Elmore, Alabama *Elmore, Illinois * Elmore, Minnesota *Elmore, Ohio * Elmore City, Oklahoma * Elmore, Vermont *Elmore, Wisconsin *Elmore County (disambiguation) *Elmore Township (disambiguation) *Lake Elm ...

" and "West Coast Idea". Page and Clapton were both of the opinion that the tracks they recorded were merely rehearsals rather than fully formed songs, but representatives of

soon approached Page informing him that they legally owned the publishing rights to all recordings he made as per the terms of their contract. Page reluctantly gave them the recordings of the jam session in fear of a lawsuit and was asked to clean them up by adding

overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...

s, which he recorded that August at

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a British independent recording studio based on Church Road, Barnes, Church Road, Barnes, London, Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st ...

with a new lineup of the All-Stars. This time, the group featured members of

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

Bill Wyman William George Wyman ( né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who was the bass guitarist with the rock band the Rolling Stones from 1962 to 1993. Wyman was part of the band's first stable lineup and performed on their first 19 ...

, Ian Stewart and

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

(credited as Chris Winters), facilitated by the Stones' manager at the time also being Immediate Records' co-founder,

Andrew Loog Oldham Andrew Loog Oldham (born 29 January 1944) is an English record producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 to 1967, and was noted for his flamboyant style. Early life Oldham's f ...

. This was seen by Clapton as a betrayal of confidence on Page's part, and greatly damaged the personal relationship between the two guitarists for years to follow.John Hamilton's Ultimate Eric Clapton Discography – 1965a
at archive.org (archived from 2007). Immediate Records first released these tracks alongside the All-Stars' previous recordings in 1968, spread out across their compilation albums '' Blues Anytime Vol. 1–3''. The tracks were initially attributed simply to Eric Clapton, or 'Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page', although many subsequent releases have given the credit to 'The Immediate All-Stars'.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

Eric Clapton – ''The Blues Years'' review
at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

.Songs that have been credited to the Immediate All-Stars
at Allmusic.

The Carlo Little All-Stars

In late 1962,

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

were beginning to gain a following as a new band on the London blues scene. At the time, the band consisted of vocalist

, guitarists

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

and

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

, and pianist Ian Stewart. The group played with a number of different bassists and drummers during this period, including members of the Cyril Davies All-Stars

and

, ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'', Little, Brown and Company, 2010. Little and Fenson made a strong impression on the younger musicians, and were repeatedly asked to join the band, but the Stones at the time couldn't afford to match what they were earning with the All-Stars. After finally recruiting permanent bassist

in December 1962 and drummer

in January 1963, the Stones played a support slot for the All-Stars for about a month, with Little and Fenson continuing to occasionally fill in for Watts and Wyman whenever the latter two were unavailable to play. Decades later, in March 1998, Little was interviewed by ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi * '' ...

'' magazine about his time playing with the Rolling Stones, which led to several more interviews and a TV documentary being produced for Channel 5.Confessions of a Sixties Drummer: The 1990s Revival
at carlolittle.com (archived from 2014) Little flew to Paris for the documentary, where he was reunited with the Stones, meeting them backstage at one of their shows and being invited to attend Jagger's 55th birthday party at their hotel. Capitalising on the attention and publicity he was now receiving, Little reformed the All-Stars in 1999 with Fenson on bass and including vocalist

Art Wood Arthur Wood (7 July 1937 – 3 November 2006) was a British blues, pop and rock singer, who led The Artwoods in the 1960s and subsequently became a graphic artist. He was the brother of Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones. Early life Born in ...

, guitarist Alex Chanter, Eddie Armer playing harmonica and Johnny Casanova on keyboards.Confessions of a Sixties Drummer: 2000's - Never Stop Rockin'
at carlolittle.com (archived from 2014) They recorded an album together in 2001, named ''Never Stop Rockin, which also featured

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as a member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, and a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing lead guitar with several Brit ...

, Matthew Fisher and the

Chanter Sisters The Chanter Sisters are British sisters Irene and Doreen Chanter who perform both as a duo, and as backing for other singers. They released three albums and a number of singles from the mid to late 1970s. Background Irene and Doreen began ...

, though this remained unreleased for several years.Confessions of a Sixties Drummer: Discography
at carlolittle.com (archived from 2012) Carlo Little died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

on 6 August 2005. The Carlo Little All-Stars' album ''Never Stop Rockin was released posthumously by

Angel Air Records Angel Air is an English independent record label established in February 1997, specialising in reissues of classic pop and rock albums originally issued in the 1960s and 1970s (and latterly new albums from known artists up to the 21st century ...

in January 2009.

Personnel

1962–1964

;Cyril Davies and the R&B All-Stars :''Note: Dates represented here are approximate, accurate only to within a month.'' *

– vocals, harmonica *

– guitar *

– piano *

, aka Rick Brown – bass *

– drums *Bernie Watson – guitar *

– vocals *The Velvettes – backing vocals **Hazel Futa, Patience Gcwabe, Eunice Mamsie Mthombeni *Keith Scott – piano *Cliff Barton – bass *

– drums *

– guitar * Johnny Parker – piano *Bob Wackett – drums ;Timeline

1965

;The All-Stars featuring Jeff Beck *Jimmy Page – guitar, production *

– guitar *Nicky Hopkins – piano *Cliff Barton – bass *Carlo Little – drums ;The Immediate All-Stars *Jimmy Page – guitar, production *

– guitar *

– harmonica * Ian Stewart – piano *

– bass *

, credited as Chris Winters – drums

1999–2002

;The Carlo Little All-Stars *Carlo Little – drums, band leader *

– vocals *Alex Chanter – guitar, vocals *Eddie Armer – harmonica *Johnny Casanova – keyboards *Ricky Fenson – bass

Discography

Pye Records

All releases credited to Cyril Davies and His Rhythm and Blues All-Stars.

Immediate Records

Listed here is only the initial release of each track recorded by the All-Stars. Following Immediate Records going out of business in 1970, these tracks have been released on many compilation albums by multiple record labels, major and independent. ;Castle Communications It has been suggested that this track was in fact recorded by Dave Berry and the Cruisers and misattributed to Davies.

Angel Air Records

Carlo Little All-Stars.

References

External links

The All-Stars
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{Authority control Jimmy Page Eric Clapton The Rolling Stones The Yardbirds Blues music supergroups British supergroups English blues musical groups English blues rock musical groups English session musicians Musical groups from London Musical groups established in 1962 Musical groups disestablished in 1965 Articles which contain graphical timelines 1962 establishments in England 1965 disestablishments in England