The All-Stars were a short-lived English blues 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. 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 player Cyril Davies after his departure from Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated 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's group, the Savages, including Nicky Hopkins on piano, Carlo Little on drums and Ricky Fenson (a.k.a. Rick Brown) on bass. The band also featured Jimmy Page on guitar for a brief period, though he soon backed out to focus on his burgeoning career as a session musician and was replaced by Bernie Watson, another former member of the Savages.
In December 1962, Davies was in competition with Korner to recruit Long John Baldry 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. 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 trio, the Velvelettes), who had emigrated to England after touring with the musical stage production King Kong.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: 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.
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 and drummer Micky Waller.
In August, this lineup recorded the R&B All-Stars' second single for Pye: "Preachin' the Blues", a Robert Johnson cover, and "Sweet Mary", a Lead Belly 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 and Madeline Bell. 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 and endocarditis. 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 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)The Cyril Davies R&B All Stars 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 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's "Someday Baby", first issued by Immediate Records 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's "Not Fade Away" on the Castle Communications 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, Jimmy Page had established himself as a prolific session musician and was signed to Immediate Records as an in-house producer. Around eighteen months after Cyril Davies' death, Page brought together former All-Stars Nicky Hopkins, Carlo Little and Cliff Barton to record with him and his friend Jeff Beck.Jimmy Page, Blues Anytime Vol. 3 liner notes, Immediate Records, 1968 at cyrildavies.comJon Tiven, 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' "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, Jimmy Page invited Eric Clapton to join him in a jam session 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" 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 Immediate Records 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 overdubs, which he recorded that August at Olympic Studios with a new lineup of the All-Stars. This time, the group featured members of The Rolling Stones: Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman, Ian Stewart and Charlie Watts (credited as Chris Winters), facilitated by the Stones' manager at the time also being Immediate Records' co-founder, Andrew Loog Oldham. 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).Steven Davies, Hammer of the Gods, William Morrow & Co, 1985.Marc Roberty, Eric Clapton: The Complete Recording Sessions 1963–1992, Blandford or St. Martin’s Press, 1993.
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, Eric Clapton – The Blues Years review at Allmusic.Songs that have been credited to the Immediate All-Stars at Allmusic.
The Carlo Little All-Stars In late 1962, the Rolling Stones were beginning to gain a following as a new band on the London blues scene. At the time, the band consisted of vocalist Mick Jagger, guitarists Keith Richards and Brian Jones, 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 Carlo Little and Ricky Fenson.Keith Richards, Life, 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 Bill Wyman in December 1962 and drummer Charlie Watts 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 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, 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, Jeff Beck, Long John Baldry, Matthew Fisher and the Chanter Sisters, 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 on 6 August 2005. The Carlo Little All-Stars' album Never Stop Rockin was released posthumously by Angel Air Records in January 2009.
Personnel
1962–1964 Cyril Davies and the R&B All-StarsNote: Dates represented here are approximate, accurate only to within a month.
Cyril Davies – vocals, harmonica Jimmy Page – guitar Nicky Hopkins – piano Ricky Fenson, a.k.a. Rick Brown – bass Carlo Little – drums Bernie Watson – guitar Long John Baldry – vocals The Velvettes – backing vocals Hazel Futa, Patience Gcwabe, Eunice Mamsie Mthombeni
Keith Scott – piano Cliff Barton – bass Micky Waller – drums Geoff Bradford – guitar Johnny Parker – piano Bob Wackett – drums
Timeline
1965
The All-Stars featuring Jeff Beck Jimmy Page – guitar, production Jeff Beck – guitar Nicky Hopkins – piano Cliff Barton – bass Carlo Little – drums
The Immediate All-Stars Jimmy Page – guitar, production Eric Clapton – guitar Mick Jagger – harmonica Ian Stewart – piano Bill Wyman – bass Charlie Watts, credited as Chris Winters – drums
1999–2002 The Carlo Little All-Stars Carlo Little – drums, band leader Art Wood – 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. DateReleaseNotes1963"Country Line Special" b/w "Chicago Calling""Preachin' the Blues"