Lonnie Donegan
and His Skiffle Group
Lonnie Donegan was a very influential member of the pop music scene in
the United Kingdom in the 50's and 60's, and is best known as the individual
who launched the skiffle movement.
He was born Anthony
Donegan in Glasgow, Scotland in 1931. He learned to play a guitar and became a
singer. He sang and played in Ken Colyer's group and in Chris Barber's Jazz
Band in the early to mid-50's. Donegan was a great admirer of country, folk,
and blues music from the United States, to such an extent that he changed his
name to Lonnie as a tribute to bluesman Lonnie Johnson.
Between sets he would play
onstage using a washboard, a tea-chest bass and a cheap Spanish guitar. He gave
the impression that anyone could do it, and had a lot of fun. He used the
musical legacy of artists such as Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie to come up with
song ideas. This style came to be known as skiffle music, a style originated by
Lonnie Donegan. Successful songs included Cumberland Gap, Gambling
Man, and My Old Man's A Dustman.
In 1956 Lonnie had a huge
hit with Rock Island Line, which reached number eight on both the USA
and UK charts. Send-ups of the song were recorded by Jim Dale in the UK and
Stan Freberg in the USA. Lost John was a minor hit on the USA charts in
the same year.
Lonnie Donegan's skiffle
music was very influential on younger musicians who would become prominent in
the music world in the years to come. He put more than 30 songs in the top 30
on the UK charts from 1958 to 1962, and became a favorite on the early pop
music TV shows in the UK, such as 6.5 Special and Oh Boy. A song
that had been a top ten hit in the 20's for Ernest Hare & Billy Jones, Does
The Spearmint Lose Its Flavor On The Bedpost Overnight?, was re-done by
Lonnie as Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor [On The Bedpost Overnight]?
and was released in March, 1959. Two years later it went to number five on the
USA charts. He has exercised his considerable discernment in business affairs,
such as when he purchased the copyright to the Moody Blues' Nights In White
Satin in the 60's.
Among the many artists who
cited the influence of Lonnie's music on theirs were the Beatles, and when they
rose to popularity in the 60's, Lonnie's popularity itself went into decline. He
began to play the cabaret circuit. He had a profound influence on others as
well, such as Dave Cousins of the Strawbs. His comeback LP in 1977 served to
show how he had affected such pop music performers as Brian May of Queen, Ringo
Starr, Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, Rory Gallagher, Elton John, Ron Wood, and
Albert Lee. Another album released in 1978, Sundown, did not fare
as well.
In later years, the UK's first pop superstar suffered heart attacks but the
"King of Skiffle" continued to work. He recorded an album titled Skiffle
Sessions: Live In Belfast with his friend Van Morrison as late as 2000.
Lonnie died in November, 2002 after collapsing midway through a tour of the
United Kingdom. He was a performer to the very end.