Cyril Davies And His Rhythm And Blues All Stars – Country Line Special

A seminal blues single which helped open the floodgates to bring the UK's Rhythm & Blues scene to a wider audience in the Spring of 1963.

Cyril Davies' work with the All-Stars, along with that of his early skiffle/blues partnership with Alexis Korner in the Southern Stompers and Blues Incorporated, was a fundamental inspiration to so many rhythm & blues musicians who have now become legends in their own right. In March 1962 Davies and Korner re-opened the Ealing Jazz Club as The Ealing Club, becoming a regular venue for Blues Incorporated, in which many aspiring young blues musicians could guest, interact and develop their techniques.

Whilst Korner's taste was open to blues fusion & experimentation Davies was a Chicago-style blues purist at heart. The two parted ways and the Cyril Davies All-Stars was formed in November 1962 with members from Screaming Lord Sutch's band, the Savages, plus Jimmy Page on lead guitar- later replaced by the enigmatic peroxide-haired Bernie Watson prior to their Pye recording deal.

Pye's launch of their R & B label was greatly assisted by this single, aided by the band's growing popularity at key pub & club gigs and a regular Thursday-night appearance from early in 1963 at the Marquee, fronted by South African girl singers The Velvettes and with The Rolling Stones filling the set-breaks.

Cyril shone the torch and the All-Stars lit a path to a whole mess o' blues. No self-respecting R & B geek should be without a recording of 'Country Line Special'.