Lonnie Donegan

Lonnie Donegan - Broadcast Nov 2008

Every now and again in these sessions we head off at a bit of a tangent to cover an artist or a style that is not strictly blues, but with strong links. And today we’re going down that path to complete some work we started a few months ago when we covered artists like Moon Mullican and Jackie Brensten who played a key part in the development of early rock’n roll

The artist we are covering today developed a style inspired by Leadbelly’s folk blues songs of the 1930s and in turn paved the way for literally hundreds of early 1960s British blues and rock artists. Among the many tens of thousands of British teens inspired by LDs skiffle style were The Quarrymen formed in March 1957 by John Lennon, Gerry & The Pacemakers, and the Searchers.

Others whose early careers included stints in skiffle bands include Mick Jagger, Graham Nash and Alan Clarke of The Hollies, Jimmy Page, Van Morrison and Ronnie Wood.

Lonnie Donegan was the King Of Skiffle and 'first real British pop superstar'. He shot to fame in 1956, when this cover of a Leadbelly track sold an unprecedented 3 million copies, shooting into the British and American top ten.

For a few years in the mid to late 1950’s LD was huge, and his influence changed the face of popular music forever. Over six years, every single he released was a top-ten hit. He was the first artist to win a Gold Record with a debut release, the first to have an album and an EP in the singles chart.

His first single was a Leadbelly cover and had a 22 week run on the English charts, peaking at No. 8. It was catchy, earthy, even bluesy American music played in a way that the British kids could master without an enormous amount of trouble—a guitar or two, and maybe a banjo, an upright bass (or even one made from a tea chest, a broom handle, and a piece of rope), and a washboard-and-thimble for percussion.

We will start with this first hit, Leadbelly’s version and fade into Lonnie’s

1. Rock Island Line – June 1940 – Legendary Leadbelly – Tk 21 – 2.32

2. Rock Island Line – July 1954 - LD The Early Years – Tk 1 – 2.37

LD’s 'Rock Island Line' was voted #38 in MOJO Magazine's '100 Records That Changed the World' poll. It lies ahead of the likes of The Beatles' 'Revolver', Bruce Spingsteen's 'Born to Run' and The Who's 'My Generation':

Lonnie Donegan was born Anthony James Donegan in Glasgow, Scotland, in April 1931, the son of a professional violinist who had played with the Scottish National Orchestra. His father was unemployed in the 1930s, and in 1933 the family moved to East London.

He bought his first guitar at the age of fourteen, around 1945.. By the end of the 1940s he was playing guitar around London and visiting small jazz clubs.

In 1949, he was drafted into the British Army. This put him in direct contact with American troops and, even more important, the American Forces Radio Network.

In 1952 he formed his first group, the Tony Donegan Jazzband, which found some work around London. On one occasion they opened for US blues musician Lonnie Johnson at the Royal Festival Hall. The story goes that the MC got the musicians' names confused, calling them "Tony Johnson" and "Lonnie Donegan", and Donegan was happy to keep the name.

Donegan and his band eventually hooked back up with an old friend, trombonist Chris Barber, and later fellow jazzman Ken Colyer. Between sets by the full band, Donegan would come on stage and perform his own version of American blues, country, and folk standards, punched up with his own rhythms and accents, on acoustic guitar or banjo, backed by upright bass and drums.

When Chris Barber left to form his own band in 1954, he took Donegan with him, and featured him on an LP called the New Orleans Joys, recorded in July 1954. Thanks in large part to Donegan’s raucous version of Leadbelly's "Rock Island Line", and "John Henry" which were included on the album, it sold an unprecedented 50,000 copies, which in turn led to Decca releasing these two tracks as the A & B sides of a single.

His next single for Decca, "Diggin' My Potatoes," cut at an October 30, 1954 concert at London's Royal Festival Hall, was banned by the BBC for its suggestive lyrics—this hurt sales but also gave Donegan a slight veneer of daring and rebelliousness that didn't hurt his credibility with the kids.

3. Diggin My Potatoes – Oct 1954 - LD The Early Years – Tk 12 – 3.09

The name "skiffle" was hung on this music. The word, according to Donegan, was suggested by Ken Colyer's brother Bill, who remembered an outfit called the Dan Burley Skiffle Group, based in Chicago in the 1930's

Decca gave up on Donegan soon after, believing that skiffle was a flash-in-the-pan fad. The next month he was at Abbey Road Studios in London cutting a song for EMI's Columbia label. By the spring of 1955, he was signed to Pye Records, and his single "Lost John" hit No. 2 in England.

4. Lost John – April 1956 – Best Of – Disc 1 Tk 1 – 2.44

Lost John", was the start of a series of UK hits – 34 of them - which lasted until 1962.

Lonnie went over to America to appear on the Perry Como Show, and toured with Chuck Berry. Suddenly, his manager was getting offers of $1500 a week for concert appearances in cities from Cleveland to New York—that in a day when $800 was a year's wages in England.

Back in UK, his next release was another Leadbelly cover, which reached No 7.

5. Bring a Little Water Sylvie – April 1956 – Best Of – Disc 1 Tk 4 – 2.28

He performed two very live shows in London in Jan and Feb 1957. Two tracks from the second of these – at Royal Albert Hall. The audience response shows they were clearly having a great time but the erratic performance by a guy named Denny Wright on electric guitar suggests he had spent too long in the green room before the show.

Lonnie can introduce both songs

6. Cumberland Gap – Feb 1957 – Live – Tk 10 – Start at 2.55

7. Dont You Rock Me Daddy O – Feb 1957 – Live – Tk 12 – 1.51

The first of these tracks was recorded again a few weeks later, in a studio and became his first No 1 hit in April 1957:

Another live track from early 1958, which Johnny Cash would record a year later, followed by a Kingston Trio number recorded in the studio later that year, and which also became a huge hit

8. On a Monday – Feb 1958 – Best Of – Disc 1 Tk 15 – 2.38

9. Tom Dooley – Nov 1958 – Best Of – Disc 1 Tk 23 – 3.19

By mid-1958, however, skiffle was waning rapidly as a commercial sound, and LD realised he was going have to adapt his style. He looked to the US again for inspiration.

10. Fort Worth Jail – May 1959 – Best Of – Disc 1 Tk 25 – 2.13

His biggest ever hit was recorded live in Feb 1960, based on an old US novelty number which was popular with audiences in his live shows, this song needs no introduction. It was the first record by a British artist to enter the charts at No 1, selling well over 1 million copies

11. My Old Man’s a Dustman – Feb 1960 – Best Of – Disc 2 Tk 7 – 3.21

He cleaned up an old traditional coke sniffers song called Have a Whiff on Me for this 1961 top 10 hit:

12. Have a Drink On Me – May 1961 – Best Of – Disc 2 Tk 13 – 2.51

Eventually British rock soon overtook skiffle in the public’s attention and his hits became less frequent. Donegan was still strumming on, oblivious to the fact that the Skiffle craze had long since gone.

His last UK hit came in late 1962, with another Leadbelly cover

13. Pick a Bale of Cotton – Aug 1962 – Best Of – Disc 2 Tk 19 – 2.36

He continued to record sporadically during the 1960's, but after 1964, he was primarily occupied as a producer at Pye Records. A highlight of this period was his work with Tom Jones - he wrote "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" for Jones in 1969,

Lonnie spent the late 60's and 70's touring, starring in Las Vegas, Hollywood, New York, Canada, Bermuda, Germany Australia and New Zealand, before severe heart problems led him to settle at Lake Tahoe, California.

In 1978, however, he was back in the studio, recording the album that was his first chart entry in 15 years, and more concert tours followed, along with a move to Florida and then to Spain.

Heart surgery in 1992 slowed Donegan down again, but by the end of the year he was touring once again with Chris Barber.

In 1998 he teamed up with long-time fan Van Morrison and became a frequent guest and opening act for Van’s shows. In Nov of that year he reunited with Chris Barber and Chris, LD and VM recorded a live album in Belfast. In June 1999 played at the Glastonbury Festival, followed by a tour that autumn.. He was awarded the MBE in 2000.

Lonnie died in 2002 aged 71, after suffering a heart attack mid-way through a UK tour.

Subsequently, son Peter Donegan formed a band that performs his father's material. Lonnies eldest son Anthony also formed his own band under the name Lonnie Donegan Jnr

Just before he died, he said in an interview

"In England, we were separated from our folk music tradition centuries ago and were imbued with the idea that music was for the upper classes. You had to be very clever to play music. When I came along with the old three chords, people began to think that if I could do it, so could they. It was the reintroduction of the folk music bridge which did that."

Finish up with track from 1965, with some fine banjo work, echoing the sound of Flatt & Scruggs, and then two tracks from the 1998 Live in Belfast album

14. She Was T Bone Talking Woman – May 1965 – Best Of – Disc 2 Tk 23 – 1.44

15. Railroad Bill – Nov 1998 – Skiffle Sessions – Tk 12 – 1.57

16. Muleskinner Blues – Nov 1998 – Skiffle Sessions – Tk 13 – 3.05