Bill Wyman: Stone Alone with Ray Colman
p. 136 ...Because Charlie and I were working all day we missed the audition that the BBC eventually gave us four months later, on 23 April 1963: Carlo Little and Ricky Brown from the Cyril Davies All-Stars deputised for us in the test session with the BBC's Jimmy Grant...the polite rejection letter from David Dore, assistant light-entertainment booking manager, came on 13 May: 'We regret that the performance was not considered suitable for our purposes,' the letter began. Adding that it 'might be of help to you know our opinions in a little more detail', Dore suggested contacting the BBC music organiser, Donal MacLean. One night at Edith Grove, Brian [Jones] told us of the phone call he made to MacLean. It was hilarious. MacLean told him it was felt that 'our singer sounded too black'!
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Keith: Till I Roll Over Dead by Stanley Booth
Keith Richards is describing the music/club scene in early 1960's London:
p. 27-28...there were some very hot and great rock'n'roll bands around. You had Nero and the Gladiators, incredible players. Johnny Kidd and the Pirates were great players. What Cyril Davies did was hire Screamin' Lord Sutch's band in total. They were just glad they didn't have to watch this guy burn in a coffin every goddamn gig. And Ricky Fenson and Carlo Little, they were the ones who gave us the power shot. I think Carlo's a butcher now, and Ricky runs a garage or something. Ricky Fenson, bleached hair. His hair was black but was peroxide blonde. Him and another guy called Bernie, they used to call Strawberry, the guitar player. I wish I could remember his last name. He would sit on the stage with his gloves on his head, on this peroxide thing, 'cause he had the same hairdo and Ricky Fenson. Bernie. What a guitar player. I thought, "Well, I might as well go home, this is ridiculous, this cat's so good." Cyril Davies put that band together - listen to a record called 'Country Line Special' by Cyril Davies's All-Stars, with Nicky Hopkins, Bernie, Ricky Fenson and Carlo Little...
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The Rolling Stones Chronicle by Massimo Bonnano
This book documents the history of the Rolling Stones
p.11... December 1962: In early December Tony Chapman quits the band, due to work commitments, but his days had been numbered anyway...Steve Harris also has trouble finding time to play with the Rolling Stones so yet another drummer, Carlo Little, from the Cyril Davies band, plays with them occasionally.
p.12... January 1963: Cyril Davies has now formed his own band, and two of its members - Carlo Little and Nicky Hopkins - have occasionally played with the Stones. Nicky Hopkins will become a regular sessions musician with the Stones later, playing on several albums and touring with them in the late Sixties and early Seventies...They [The Stones] begin a regular residency at the Crawdaddy, Station Hotel, Richmond, Surrey, owned by Giorgio Gomelsky. For the third gig, drummer Carlo Little replaces Charlie Watts, and bass-player Ricky Fenson, also from the Cyril Davies band, joins the line-up for this one [sic] occasion. The first of many [TRUE! - ed.] rumours about the Rolling Stones reports that Brian Jones tried to get Carlo Little instead of Charlie Watts.
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Golden Stone by Laura Jackson
p.51 ...The Rolling Stones' drummer problem was still not resolved. Tony Chapman would sometimes drum, as would Carlo Little, but it was an unsatisfactory arrangement...
p.63...In a step towards this [fame], Brian's persistent badgering of the BBC had finally achieved results: the Stones were to be considered for 'Jazz Club'. In his letters [See it here] he had told them that, "in view of the vast increase in interest in rhythm and blues in Britain an exceptionally good future has been predicted for us by many people." The BBC decided to try them out and invited them one Tuesday, 23 April [1963] to audition. Later the tape was played to the production panel, who didn't share Brian's belief and wrote Brian telling him that, "the performance was not considered suitable for our purposes." The reason for this, according to Bill [Wyman], was that only Brian, Mick and Keith went to that audition as he, Charlie and Stu were working:
"I think they got the two people from Screamin' Lord Sutch's band who were playing with Cyril Davies, someone called Ricky Fenson, bass player, and Carlo Little the drummer. I think they used the rhythm section. So it wasn't really the Rollin' Stones and it wasn't really authentic. They probably played loads of fast Chuck Berry numbers. I dunno".
[Too right, he didn't know! Bill never liked Carlo Little for some reason. Keith and Brian, at least, considered Carlo Little and Ricky Fenson to be two of the best rock and roll musicians in London. They were very respected musicians at the time. The actual reason why the Stones were not considered for Jazz Club was because the booking managers thought that "the singer sounded too black"! - ed.]
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The Rolling Stones Story by George Tremlett
p. 12-13 ...Geoff Bradford was another early member of the Stones - and so was drummer Carlo Little and Keith's friend, Dick Taylor, and also pianist Ian Smith: "...We still hadn't sorted out who was going to be drummer...Tony Chapman was with us for a while, and then Mick Avory who later joined The Kinks, and Carlo Little was with us too..."
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Who Killed Christopher Robin: The Truth Behind The Murder Of Brian Jones by Terry Rawlings
p.51 ...Back in January [1963] he [Brian Jones] had sent a hand-written biography of The Stones explaining the band's make-up and influences, and a full-listing of venues they had played, in the hope of getting an audition for the radio show, Jazz Club. But so much time had elapsed that Brian had all but forgot it. The letter informed Brian they had been successful and to report to the BBC on the 23rd of April. Panic set in on the day of the audition when, hours before the gig, Bill and Charlie told Brian they could have no more time off from their regular jobs. Since leaving the band to play as a four piece would have meant cancelling the gig, Brian, at the last minute, dragged along the rhythm section from Cyril Davies' band The All Stars [including Carlo Little - ed.] The audition was successful and they were booked for a later date.
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Mick Jagger: Primitive Cool by Christopher Sandford
p.53 ...Brian Jones applied and applied and applied again for bookings, though to little effect. Such dated as they had were desultory affairs in Ealing or Sutton, when the group, permanently broke, jammed with their equipment on to a tube or bus. The drum stool was filled by [Tony] Chapman, [Mick] Avory or an exhibitionist [!] named Carlo Little. Ricky Fenson replaced [Dick] Taylor on bass.
p.55 ...Christmas was bleak that year [1962]. On the 21st the group played to an audience of ten at the Piccadilly Jazz Club. The next night at Ealing was no better. The holiday itself was the coldest since 1897. Jagger, Richards and Jones spent the afternoon in a working man's cafe debating the group's line-up. Wyman, it was agreed, was in; Chapman, Avory and Little out.
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