1965 - 1967
Style: Unknown.
Known Band Members as of Current:
Robin Medows: Guitarist, Singer Songwriter.
Laurie Ashwood: Guitarist, Singer Songwriter.
Chuck Taylor Gordon: Band Founder, and Manager.
The National Music Arts Academy is glad to present a tribute to the forgotten, or never recognized musicians of the 1960s. You've stumbled upon the tribute blog that honors "The CT All-Stars." Go to the link below to find our complete collection of forgotten, or never recognized musicians from the 1960s (you will not find that link).
This compelling compilation represents over a thousand pages of information, images, and lost recordings from musicians who never shaped music as we know it. In other words, their impact on music would be the same if they had not existed.
THE CT All-STARS:
Despite minutes of research, there is limited information on the 1960s band, the CT All-Stars. We do know that the band formed sometime before the summer of 1965, and it consisted of three members, which we know of to date. These members are Robin Medows, Laurie Ashwood, and Chuck Taylor Gordon. The Name, "The CT All-Stars," refers to the band's founder and manager, Chuck Taylor Gordon, a former racing greyhound. The CT All-Stars never made the charts, not even the top 400, and they never made a single public performance, but through the preservation of still photography, and sound recordings, their legacy has shed new light on the band's non-existent role in music history.
LAURIE ASHWOOD:
Ashwood, guitarist, and singer songwriter for the CT All-Stars, grew up in a small county, just outside of Louisville, Kentucky. Her father was a banker, and often he would take Laurie with him on his many business travels across the town. According to those who know Ashwood, when Ashwood was only 27, she sang her first "professionally sounding song" in the bathroom of a liquor store outside of Detroit, Michigan. Later she would meet Medows at a barn raising celebration in Virgina. The details of how their chance meeting matured into a working and loving relationship are not clear. Those at the celebration say Medows and Ashwood "seemed to hit it off rather quickly." The story goes that after a brief conversation between Medows and Ashwood, a few contra dances, and several sips of wildflower wine, they had their own "barn raising."
ROBIN MEDOWS:
Guitarist, and singer songwriter for the CT All-Stars, Robin Medows was born in the mountains of Virginia. Medows barely learned to play guitar when he was only 27. While other musicians of his time mastered the guitar and other instruments by the time they were in their teens, and early twenties, Medows was still developing the ability to hold the guitar correctly. Shortly after his first guitar was purchased on a loan from his father, he met Laurie Ashwood. They met at a local barn raising. Together they formed a friendship, which would not only take them together on a journey of music, but love as well.
What you're reading, what you've seen, and heard, is the result of years of tracking down family and friends, following up on leads, and digging through a handful of boxes labeled "something?" In total, the National Music Arts Academy has worked over one hundred hours to expose the questionable side of America's music industry. We at the Arts Academy hope by bringing you information on the CT All-Stars, and other triumphs of music failure, the public will not take TRUE music for granted.
The National Music Arts Academy will hopefully continue to learn more about the band known as the CT All-Stars. As more information, images, and most of all SOUND recordings are found, verified, analyzed, and processed, we'll be posting the findings on this tribute blog. Our appreciation and gratitude to the Middleton Music and Arts Group for granting access to the American Music Archives.
