Carlo Little

Carlo Little (17 December 1938 — 6 August 2005 ) was an influential rock and roll drummer, based on the London nightclub scene in the 1960s. He was the first drummer with The Rolling Stones and taught Keith Moon how to play. Little was also with Cyril Davies All Stars and was the founding member of Screaming Lord Sutch's Savages.

Career

Born Carl O'Neil Little at the Queen Charlotte's Hospital, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, he was brought up and lived in Wembley, Middlesex for most of his life - his fellow townsmen included peers Keith Moon, Ginger Baker and Charlie Watts, all of whom would find fame with the same instrument. He was included in the evacuation of civilians during World War II as a child, and sent to relatives in Wales during the Blitz in London.

As a teenager he discovered Ted Heath and then skiffle music, especially Chris Barber and Lonnie Donegan. Skiffle inspired Little to join a band, Derek Addison's Rhythm Katz. By the late 1950s rock and roll had arrived in the United Kingdom, and Little became a huge fan of Chuck Berry and Little Richard, whose drummer Earl Palmer he was influenced by.

Little found himself called up in 1958 to join the British National service, where he served in Kenya and Malta. He was demobbed in 1960.

Little died of lung cancer in Cleadon, Tyne and Wear in 2005, at the age of 65.

See also

• British rock
• Blues rock
• Rhythm and blues

External links

• www.carlolittle.com
• www.myspace.com/carlolittle