The Syndicats was a beat band formed in 1963 in England. With Thomas Ladd on vocals, Steve Howe on guitar and backing vocals, Kevin Driscoll on bass and backing vocals, Jeff Williams on organ and piano, and John "Truelove" Melton on drums. The latter was replaced by Paul Holm on their last single in 1965. This is the first group of Steve Howe. When Steve left The Syndicats to join the band The in Crowd in November 1965, which would later be known as Tomorrow, he was replaced by guitarist Ray Fenwick, the latter would eventually give way to Peter Banks. The same Peter Banks would eventually be replaced by Steve Howe within Yes in 1970.
Their first single appeared on 8 April 1964, is a cover of Chuck Berry's Maybellene on the A side and on the B side, a joint composition of Steve Howe and Tom Ladd, True To Me. Later, they would produce a second single, with yet another cover, a song by Willie Dixon, Howlin' For My Baby with on B side, a song signed by the entire band (Tell Me) What To Do. Their third and final single On the Horizon is a composition of Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller on the A and on side B, Crawdaddy Simone a song by Ray Fenwick and pianist and organist Jeff Williams. It's Ray Fenwick who plays the guitar solo in this song. Crawdaddy Simone was also covered by a British band called The Horrors on their eponymous EP released in 2006.