CLIFF BARTON info
Cliff Barton
(bass)
Superb bass player, he played
in some great bands in the 60s. I haven't been able to find any biographical
data about him, sorry.
After turning down an offer to join John Mayall
& The Bluesbreakers, in June 1963, he joined famed band Cyril Davies
R&B All Stars:
-
Cyril Davies (vocals, harmonica)
-
Long John Baldry (vocals)
-
Geoff Bradford (guitar)
-
Cliff Barton (bass)
-
Keith Scott (piano)
-
The Velvettes (vocals)
-
Carlo Little (drums)
But that same month, mighty Carlo Little leaves, and
they call Micky Waller:
-
Cyril Davies (vocals, harmonica)
-
Long John Baldry (vocals)
-
Geoff Bradford (guitar)
-
Cliff Barton (bass)
-
Keith Scott (piano)
-
The Velvettes (vocals)
-
Micky
Waller (drums)
There were a couple of changes in the lineup. Johnny
Parker replaced Keith Scott, and Bob Wackett replaced Micky Waller:
-
Cyril Davies (vocals, harmonica)
-
Long John Baldry (vocals)
-
Geoff Bradford (guitar)
-
Cliff Barton (bass)
-
Johnny Parker (piano)
-
The Velvettes (vocals)
-
Bob
Wackett (drums)
But Cyril Davies died of leukemia on January 7, 1964.
He was 32. The band was commanded then by Long John Baldry under the new
name Hoochie Coochie Men, with some changes, including a very young singer
called Rod Stewart:
-
Long John Baldry (vocals)
-
Rod Stewart (vocals)
-
Geoff Bradford (guitar)
-
Cliff Barton (bass)
-
Johnny Parker (piano)
Ernie
O'Malley (drums)
By the way, there's a live track
in an Eric Clapton bootleg, where a band called Liverpool Roadrunners appear,
recorded in February 1964. Who are the members of that band? Baldry, Stewart,
Bradford, Cliff Barton, Ian Armitt, Billy
Law. What's that? A missing link?
There's an album released
by the band, Long John's Blues.
After a while, Ernie O'Malley
was replaced by Billy Law:
-
Long John Baldry (vocals)
-
Rod Stewart (vocals)
-
Geoff Bradford (guitar)
-
Cliff Barton (bass)
-
Johnny Parker (piano)
Billy
Law (drums)
In October 1964, the band changes
a lot, with an added horn section:
-
Long John Baldry (vocals)
-
Rod Stewart (vocals)
-
Geoff Bradford (guitar)
-
Cliff Barton (bass)
-
Ian
Armitt (piano)
-
Al Gay
(sax)
-
Art Themen (sax)
Johnny Spooner (drums)
But this fantastic team sadly
parted ways next month, in November 1964. Baldry and Armit recruited a
new band, while the other guys (less Rod Stewart) continued under the name
Original All Stars:
-
Brian Knight (vocals)
-
Geoff Bradford (guitar)
-
Cliff Barton (bass)
-
Laurie Scott (piano)
-
Al Gay
(sax)
-
Trevor Watts (sax)
Johnny Spooner (drums)
But in January 1965, the band
split.
Sometime around 1965, Jimmy
Page on the producer's role assembled a studio band to record some tracks
for an album for singer Andy Anderson. This was the lineup:
-
Jeff Beck (guitar)
-
Cliff Barton (bass)
-
Nicky Hopkins (piano)
Carlo Little (drums)
The recordings were never released
as a proper album, but many jam tracks were also recorded, and many of
them have been appearing in lots of compilations from the Immediate label.
I have a couple of them, but there are more than 20 compilations including
them.
Then, Cliff Barton joined
The Alan Price Set, but I can't find proper info. Help, please!
In December 1965, Cliff replaces
Tex Makins in Georgie Fame & The Blue
Flames:
Georgie Fame (vocals, keyboards)
Colin Green (guitar)
Cliff Barton (bass)
Peter Coe (sax)
Glenn Hughes (sax)
Eddie Thornton (trumpet)
Speedy
Acquaye (percussion)
Mitch Mitchell (drums)
They released a 3rd album, Sweet
things. But in July 1966, Speedy and Cliff leave the band (Cliff
was replaced by another great player, Ricky
Brown).
Soon after, in September
1966, he joins Alexis Korner in his new band, called Free At Last:
Alexis Korner (guitar, vocals)
Cliff Barton (bass)
Hughie Flint (drums)
But, after some months, he left
the band before January 1967 (being replaced by Binky
McKenzie). He started playing sessions (mostly for Donovan), but it's
almost impossible tracking down session credits for recordings made in
the 60s. If anyone knows about more recordings with Cliff Barton, please
send me a message!
After that, I only know that
Cliff sadly died, but I don't have idea about the year when it happened.
QUESTIONS:
1. Was Cliff Barton a member
of Blues Incorporated before joining Free At Last?
2. ???
Albums by Georgie Fame &
The Blue Flames:
-
Sweet things (May
66, with Georgie Fame, Colin Green, Peter Coe, Glenn Hughes, Speedy
Acquaye, Mitch Mitchell)
Albums by Long John Baldry &
The Hoochie Coochie Men:
-
Long John's Blues
(Dec 64, with Long John Baldry, Rod Stewart, Ian
Armitt, Geoff Bradford, Billy Law)
Sessions:
-
Donovan (For little ones, 1967, with
Donovan, Mike O'Neil, Harold McNair, Keith Webb)
-
Donovan (Wear your love like heaven,
1967, with Donovan, Eric Leese, Jack Bruce, Mike O'Neil, Harold McNair,
Mike Carr, Candy John Carr, Keith Webb)
-
Donovan (A gift from a flower to a garden,
1968, with Donovan, Eric Leese, Jack Bruce, Ken Baldock, Mike O'Neil, Harold
McNair, Mike Carr, Candy John Carr, Keith Webb) (2LP, compilation)
-
Donovan (Troubadour - the definitive collection
1964-1976, Aug 92, with Donovan, Eric Leese, Jeff
Beck, Jimmy Page, Allan Holdsworth, Chris Spedding, Jay Graydon, Henry
McCullough, Reggie Young, Clive Chaman, Spike Heatley, Alan Spenner, Danny
Thompson, Ron Wood, John Paul Jones, Nicky Hopkins, Jean Roussel, David
Briggs, Mike O'Neil, John 'Rabbit' Bundrick, Harold McNair, Tom Scott,
John Bonham, Cozy Powell,
Clem Cattini, Tony Newman, Jim Keltner, Denny Seiwell, Eddie Hoh, Lesley
Duncan, Graham Nash, Shawn Phillips) (2CD) (compilation)
-
Rod Stewart (A shot of rhythm and blues,
1977, with Rod Stewart, Ian Armitt, Micky
Waller) (old recordings from 1964-66)
-
Rod Stewart (1964-1969, Jun 2000, with
Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck,
Gary Boyle, Geoff Bradford, Ron Wood, Vic Briggs, Keith Richards, Dave
Ambrose, Ricky Brown, Kim Gardner, John
Paul Jones, Victor Brox, Mike D'Abo, Ian Armitt,
Nicky Hopkins, Ian McLagan, Brian Auger, Peter Bardens, Keith Emerson,
Art Themen, Aynsley Dunbar,
Micky Waller, Mick Fleetwood,
Bobby Graham, Long John Baldry, PP Arnold, Beryl Marsden, Art Wood) (2CD,
compilation with lots of unreleased tracks)
Other Sessions:
-
Original soundtrack for the movie 'Separation' (1968).
The players were: Cliff Barton (bass), Matthew Fisher (keyboards, from
Procol Harum fame) and Stanley Myers (keyboards).
Related links:
Thanks section
Very special thanks to: ....
Special thanks to: ...
Thanks to: my friend Alex
Gitlin, for the list of musicians in the Rod Stewart compilation.
If you can contribute (with
additions, corrections, opinions, etc.), please, send me an e-mail message
at mterol@myrealbox.com
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Page created
by Miguel Terol on: 17/September/2003. First published on: 26/September/2003.
Last modified on: 01/December/2003.
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