Biography
In the early 1960s the Cyril Davies R&B All-Stars stood as Britain's strongest blues outfit after the Rolling Stones, and an extended run with Davies leading them might have allowed the group to compete directly against Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, and their band. Harpist and singer Cyril Davies (1932-1964) put the unit together in 1963 once he had left Blues Incorporated. Its first roster placed Davies on harp and vocals, Bernie Watson on guitar, Nicky Hopkins on piano, Ricky Brown on bass, and Carlo Little on drums, all four musicians drawn from Screaming Lord Sutch's Savages. The quintet cut an opening single, "Country Line Special," whose wailing harp and vocals proved authentic enough for Pye Records to slot the track beside UK pressings of Chess Record artists such as Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. Watson and Brown exited in summer 1963, replaced on guitar and bass by Jeff Bradford and Cliff Barton, while another Blues Incorporated veteran, Long John Baldry, sat in on vocals at times. Their next single, "Preachin' the Blues," appeared in September and met with modest yet encouraging sales, hinting that Davies and his colleagues could soon dominate the expanding R&B circuit. Late in 1963 Davies fell ill, received a diagnosis of acute leukemia, and died the following January. Long John Baldry held Hopkins, Bradford, Barton, and Little together as his backing group, the Hoochie Coochie Men, yet the moment had already passed. Davies' vocals carried a distinctive character that helped the band's records hold their own during the 1962-1963 blues peak, and his harp playing ranked second to none in England, delivering a forceful sound that shifted between mournful and exultant. Baldry, by comparison, never rose above middle-level success in Britain despite solid talent as a singer; by 1966 the British blues audience demanded flash along with ability, and charismatic guitarists mattered more than vocalists, a shift illustrated by the international superstardom Eric Clapton achieved while John Mayall stayed a cult figure. Ironically, Baldry's most visible recorded appearance for international listeners came when he introduced the Rolling Stones on their 1966 concert album Got Live if You Want It. Nicky Hopkins later emerged as a prominent session player, recording and touring with various bands including the Rolling Stones in the late 1960s and 1970s, and several members of the All-Stars/Hoochie Coochie Men also appeared on Screaming Lord Sutch's recordings from the same period, most notably the Heavy Friends album. The Cyril Davies R&B All-Stars nevertheless remain a striking footnote in British blues history thanks to their few recordings, among them "Country Line Special," "Preachin' the Blues," and a hard-rocking version of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away." They never made an album, yet their tracks surface on many anthologies, including A Shot of Rhythm and Blues (Sequel Records), Stroll On (Sony Music), and Dealing With the Devil (Sony Music).
Albums
