Lee Curtis and the All-Stars were a

beat group Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a British popular music genre that developed, particularly in and around Liverpool, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The genre melded influences from American rock and roll, rhythm and blues, skiffle ...

from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. They were contemporaries and briefly local rivals of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

in the early 1960s. Led by Peter Flannery (born 31 October 1939,

Norris Green Norris Green is a suburb and ward of Liverpool, England, in the east of the city. At the 2001 Census it had a population of 17,784, which had fallen to 15,047 at the 2011 Census. History Historically a part of Lancashire, Norris Green's develop ...

), who used the stage name Lee Curtis, other group members included

Pete Best Randolph Peter Best (né Scanland; born 24 November 1941) is an English musician known as the drummer of the English rock band the Beatles who was dismissed immediately prior to the band achieving worldwide fame. Fired from the group in 1962 ...

and

Wayne Bickerton Wayne Bickerton (born Arthur Ronald Bickerton; 11 July 1941 – 29 November 2015) was a British record producer, songwriter and music business executive. He became well known, with Tony Waddington, as writer and producer of a series of UK chart ...

Career

Their origins lay in the Detours, a group formed in 1961 by school friends in Liverpool including lead singer Peter Flannery, who adopted a stage name derived from the American singer

Curtis Lee Curtis Edwin Lee (October 28, 1939 – January 8, 2015) was an American singer of the early 1960s, who was twice a beneficiary of Phil Spector's productions in 1961. These were "Pretty Little Angel Eyes" ( US #7) and "Under the Moon of Love" ( ...

. Although they performed regularly in the Liverpool and

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areas, Lee Curtis and the Detours split up after a few months. Flannery and his brother and manager Joe, who had previously worked as a singer with the

Joe Loss Sir Joshua Alexander "Joe" Loss (22 June 1909 – 6 June 1990) was a British dance band leader and musician who founded his own eponymous orchestra. Life Loss was born in Spitalfields, London, the youngest of four children. His parents, Israe ...

Orchestra, decided to form a new group, to be called Lee Curtis and the All-Stars. In mid 1962 they recruited band members from other local groups. Original members were Frank Bowen (lead guitar),

Tony Waddington Anthony Waddington (9 November 1924 – 21 January 1994) was an English football manager at both Crewe Alexandra and Stoke City. Waddington had a seven-year playing career with Crewe Alexandra before becoming a coach at Stoke City. He progress ...

(rhythm guitar), Wayne Bickerton (bass), and Bernie Rogers (drums). However, when Pete Best was sacked by the Beatles, the Flannery brothers - apparently encouraged by the Beatles' manager

Brian Epstein Brian Samuel Epstein (; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was a British music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967. Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him i ...

- decided to dispense with Rogers and install Best as the group's drummer. Biography by Bruce Eder

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

They also occasionally performed with singer

Beryl Marsden Beryl Marsden (born 10 June 1947) is a British R&B and pop singer, who first came to notice on the Liverpool club scene of the early 1960s. She recorded a number of "powerful and soulful", Biography by Bruce Eder at Allmusic/ref> but unsucce ...

. By the end of 1962, the group were one of the most successful in the area, and placed second in the ''

Mersey Beat ''Mersey Beat'' was a music publication in Liverpool, England in the early 1960s. It was founded by Bill Harry, who was one of John Lennon's classmates at Liverpool Art College. The paper carried news about all the local Liverpool bands, and s ...

'' annual poll, behind the Beatles but ahead of

Gerry and the Pacemakers Gerry and the Pacemakers were a British beat group prominent in the 1960s Merseybeat scene. In common with the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein, and were recorded by George Martin. Their early successes alongsid ...

the Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John Wa ...

, and other groups who later became nationally and internationally renowned. Lee Curtis and the All-Stars were signed by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

, and released two singles in early 1963, "Little Girl" and "Let's Stomp". However, neither made the charts, and in mid 1963 the rest of the band decided to split from Curtis to form The Original All-Stars. That group later became the Pete Best Four, and several years later Bickerton and Waddington moved on to become the writers and producers behind

The Rubettes The Rubettes are an English pop/glam rock band put together in 1974 after the release of "Sugar Baby Love", a recording assembled of studio session musicians in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, the then head of A&R at Polydor R ...

. Curtis formed a new version of the All-Stars in 1963, with Paul Pilnick (lead guitar), George "Porky" Peckham (rhythm guitar - in later years a renowned record cutting engineer), Dave "Mushy" Cooper (bass), and Don Alcyd (drums). The new line-up recorded a single "I've Got My Eyes On You", contributed two tracks to the Decca album, ''Live at the Cavern'', and played in clubs in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, but split up soon afterwards. However, Curtis continued to build up his popularity on the club circuit in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and had a year-long residency at the

Star-Club The Star-Club was a music club in Hamburg, Germany, that opened on Friday 13 April 1962, and was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. In the 1960s, many of the giants of rock music played at the club. The club closed on 3 ...

. He also recorded regularly in Germany, although the line-up of his backing group, the All-Stars, changed repeatedly. Towards the end of 1967, he was a passenger in a car which crashed while he was on the way to a performance in Germany, and he suffered head injuries. After a few further performances, he decided to leave the music business and returned home to Liverpool. In later years, Lee Curtis worked as a

croupier A croupier or dealer is someone appointed at a gambling table to assist in the conduct of the game, especially in the distribution of bets and payouts. Croupiers are typically employed by casinos. Origin of the word Originally a "croupier" meant ...

and at the

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

motor works at

Halewood Halewood is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. It lies near the city of Liverpool's southeastern boundary, bordered by the suburbs of Netherley, Hunt's Cross and Woolton. Historically a part of Lancashire, ...

, occasionally returning to live performance in Liverpool and Germany. In 2007 he headlined a well attended live music event as Lee Curtis and The Bonds in

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...

, Germany, for the launch of the book ''We Got Our Kicks in Cux'66'' by Jens-Christian Mangels and Ralf Froehlich. He now lives in Southport, near Liverpool, England.

References

External links

"Limelight at last for the man at The Beatles' birth"
- 2013 interview with Joe Flannery {{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Lee, and The All-Stars English rock music groups Musical groups from Liverpool Beat groups