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Lonnie Donegan was widely acknowledged to be the 'King Of Skiffle'. A situation that came about more by chance than by design for Donegan did not invent the music nor was he responsible for its introduction onto the British music scene. However, he was responsible for its popularisation and it is beyond doubt that he was the greatest influence on those musical performers who would follow him in the 1960s to bring about the 'beat boom', 'the group sound' and establish Britain as an important force in popular music. Donegan was already an accomplished banjo player with the Chris Barber jazz band when the opportunity to provide a 'skiffle' break during the band's stage performances arose. One of the more popular numbers that Lonnie performed was 'Rock Island Line'- a song that he had taken from American bluesman 'Leadbelly' and provided with a new flavour of his own making. The issue of this number as a single proved so popular that Donegan had the temerity to ask Barber for a substantial raise. As Chris did not want to turn his band into a skiffle outfit the request was refused and Lonnie set out on his own. With his energy and dazzling skills on the fret he was already a popular musician with audiences. This, together with his extrovert originality and humour, made him an even more popular recording artist. A long series of chart successes followed which inspired other competitive groups all over the country. Skiffle was sufficiently simple and cheap enough for any youngsters to get started. These would include some of the most famous popular musicians of the era. |
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Lonnie Donegan's stage act produced just as much enthusiasm as his recorded output. This EP (NEP24075) is a recording of a session made at the Conway Hall in London's Holborn on 25th January 1957. The sleeve notes claim that the audience reaction to Lonnie's performance was so enthusiastic that only four of the numbers performed were sufficiently audible above the noise to merit inclusion on the disc! |
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Lonnie's songs were a mixture of blues, bluegrass, Cajun, old music hall numbers and songs simply created by himself, for Lonnie was also a skillful songwriter. He had in fact written a number for Adam Faith called 'Have A Drink On Me' which Adam rejected. Lonnie recorded it himself, but included the line; 'You can make a fortune writing Adam Faith songs' ! However, Skiffle ceased almost as abruptly as it had started. After seven years of almost continuous chart presence Lonnie's reign came to an end. Despite changing his style a little to appeal to a new generation of record buyers Lonnie never returned to the charts. However, his legacy in the form of new talent who had learned their craft as skifflers would span the entire 1960s and beyond. Sadly, Lonnie Donegan who was frequently troubled with a heart condition during his later years, died on November 4th 2002 while touring- still actively pursuing his musical career at the age of 71. Lonnie's musical influences continue to live on. You can read a lot more about Lonnie Donegan in Spencer Leigh's book "Puttin' On The Style": click here |
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