Cyril Davies

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For the former Welsh International footballer, see Cyril Davies (footballer).

Cyril Davies
Blues Incorporated

Cyril Davies (23 January 1932 – 7 January 1964)

blues harmonica
players in England.

Biography

Born at St Mildred's, 15 Hawthorn Drive, Willowbank, Denham, Buckinghamshire, he was the son of William Albert Davies, a labourer, and his wife Margaret Mary (née Jones). He had an elder brother named Glyn, and the family is believed to have come from Wales.

Cyril Davies began his career in the early 1950s first within Steve Lane's Southern Stompers, then in 1955 formed an acoustic skiffle and blues group with Alexis Korner.[2] He began as a banjo and 12-string guitar player before becoming a Chicago-style blues harmonica player after hearing Little Walter.[2] Working by day as a panel beater, he ran an unsuccessful skiffle club before meeting Korner, then Davies and Korner opened a London Rhythm and Blues club "England's Firstest and Bestest Skiffle Club", later known as the "London Blues and Barrelhouse Club". Popular with other musicians, the club hosted gigs by blues musicians such as Muddy Waters, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and Memphis Slim.[2]

During this period Davies and Korner worked as session musicians, and often backed Ottilie Patterson during her featured set with husband Chris Barber's band, using amplified instruments for the first time – which did not go down well with their blues purist audience and many fellow musicians.[2] After closing the blues club, Davies and Korner went their separate ways, and, influenced by Muddy Waters electric sound, Davies formed his own electric blues band.[2]

The Ealing Club and Blues Incorporated

In 1961, Chris Barber recruited Davies and Korner to play harmonica and electric guitar in accompanying Barber's band regularly at its Wednesday and Friday night sets at the Marquee Club, a popular London jazz club. This opportunity granted Davies and Korner some exposure to the London music scene, but the duo wished to focus more on blues and R&B. The two decided to found their own rhythm and blues group and, in a show of support, Barber offered them the intermission slot at the Marquee on Wednesday nights.[3]

Korner supplied musicians for the rhythm sections, and Davies recruited

Blues Incorporated, and their initial performances at the Marquee were very well received. However, they realized the need for additional performance opportunities and, since most jazz and folk clubs in London were wary of electric guitars, Davies and Korner decided to found their own club at which they could perform. In 1962 they founded the Ealing Club, which featured performances by both Blues Incorporated and other Trad jazz outfits popular in England at the time. The club proved to be a popular sensation in the burgeoning R&B scene, and attracted such far-flung admirers and future stars as Mick Jagger and Eric Burdon.[3] Jagger was in the audience for the second night at the club and got up to sing "Got My Mojo Working".[2]

Later success

In June 1962 they recorded

Cyril Davies All-Stars[7] in November 1962 and recorded five tracks for Pye Records, who had announced an R&B label featuring music imported from Davies' favourite Chicago musicians ("Country Line Special", "Chicago Calling", "Preachin' the Blues", "Sweet Mary" and "Someday Baby").[8] The original line-up was largely recruited from Screaming Lord Sutch's Savages, and featured both Long John Baldry and Davies on vocals to give Davies room to play harmonica. The band, later known simply as the All-Stars was subject to frequent personnel changes.[9]

After contracting

leukaemia
is often quoted. The core band was taken over by Long John Baldry and formed the basis of his 'Hoochie Coochie Men'.

In October 2014 the compilation entitled Preachin' The Blues: The Cyril Davies Memorial Album was finally released on GVC Records (GVC2040) in Great Britain.[9]

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ Doc Rock. "The Dead Rock Stars Club – The 1960s". Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  2. ^
    ISBN 1-86074-129-0
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7546-5580-0.[page needed
    ]
  4. ^ "Allmusic ((( Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated > R&B from the Marquee > Overview )))".
  5. ^ "A full account of Cyril's life and contribution to the development of the UK blues boom". Cyrildavies.com. 20 July 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  6. ISBN 1-86074-129-0
    , and most other records of the time agree with this version.
  7. ^ "John Pidgeon's Rock'sbackpages blog". Rocksbackpagesblogs.com. Archived from the original on 9 November 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  8. ^ "The R&B Years". Carlo Little. Archived from the original on 17 March 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  9. ^ a b c "Biography by Bruce Eder". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
  10. ISBN 9780857121172
    . Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  11. ^ "Larkin, Newman and Blues Nexus". Bluesnexus.com. Archived from the original on 30 December 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.

External links

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