Rod Stewart (and indeed became lifelong friends), and legendary impresario Giorgio Gomelsky put together Steampacket, which featured Baldry, Stewart, Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll, Micky Waller, Vic Briggs and Ricky Fenson; their first appearance was in support of The Rolling Stones in July 1965. The group was conceived as a white soul revue, analogous to The Ike & Tina Turner Revue, with multiple vocalists and styles ranging from jazz to R & B to blues. Steampacket toured with the Stones and The Walker Brothers that summer, ending in the London Palladium; seeing the audience react to the Stones gave Stewart his first exposure
Gary Boyle England in 1964 to play in Millie Small's backup band, opening for The Rolling Stones in sold-out tour. He then worked in Dusty Springfield's band The Echoes and became a member of Brian Auger and the Trinity. After attending the Leeds College of Music, in 1969 Boyle briefly joined Dorris Henderson's folk rock band Eclection, before returning to Brian Auger once more in June. For three years in the early 1970s he worked as a session musician with musicians Keith Tippett, Mike Gibbs, Mike Westbrook, Soft Machine, Stomu Yamashta's short-lived band "East Wind", Bert Jansch and Norma Winstone. In 1973,