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Lonnie Donegan

Anthony James Donegan MBE (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002), known as Lonnie Donegan, was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the "King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians.[1][2][3] Born in Scotland and brought up in England, Donegan began his career in the British trad jazz revival but transitioned to skiffle in the mid-1950s, rising to prominence with a hit recording of the American folk song "Rock Island Line" which helped spur the broader UK skiffle movement.

Lonnie Donegan
Donegan in the 1970s
Background information
Birth nameAnthony James Donegan
Also known asThe King of Skiffle
Born(1931-04-29)29 April 1931
Bridgeton, Glasgow, Scotland
Died3 November 2002(2002-11-03) (aged 71)
Market Deeping, Lincolnshire, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instrument(s)
Years active1949–2002
Labels

Donegan had 31 UK top 30 hit singles, 24 were successive hits and three were number one. He was the first British male singer with two US top 10 hits.[1] Donegan received an Ivor Novello lifetime achievement award in 1995[4] and in 2000 he was made an MBE. Donegan was a pivotal figure in the British Invasion due to his influence in the US in the late 1950s.

Life

Donegan was born in Bridgeton, Glasgow, Scotland, on 29 April 1931.[4] He was the son of an Irish mother (Mary Josephine Deighan) and a Scots father (Peter John Donegan), a professional violinist who had played with the Scottish National Orchestra. In 1933, when Donegan was aged 2, the family moved to East Ham in East London.[5] Donegan was evacuated to Cheshire to escape the Blitz in the Second World War and attended St Ambrose College in Hale Barns.[6] He lived for a while on Chiswick Mall in West London.[7]

Donegan married three times. He had two daughters (Fiona and Corrina) with his first wife, Maureen Tyler (divorced 1962), a son and a daughter (Anthony and Juanita) with his second wife, Jill Westlake (divorced 1971), and three sons (Peter, David and Andrew)[8] with his third wife, Sharon whom he married in 1977. Peter Donegan is also a singer and a musician.[9]

Lonnie Donegan died on 3 November 2002, aged 71, after having a heart attack in Market Deeping, Lincolnshire mid-way through a UK tour,[10] and before he was due to perform at a memorial concert for George Harrison with the Rolling Stones.[11] He had cardiac problems since the 1970s and several heart attacks.[12]

Trad jazz

As a child growing up in the early 1940s Donegan listened mostly to swing jazz and vocal acts, and became interested in the guitar.[5] Country & western and blues records, particularly by Frank Crumit and Josh White, attracted his interest and he bought his first guitar at 14 in 1945.[5] He learned songs such as "Frankie and Johnny", "Puttin' On the Style", and "The House of the Rising Sun" by listening to BBC radio broadcasts.[5] By the end of the 1940s he was playing guitar around London and visiting small jazz clubs.[13]

Donegan first played in a major band after Chris Barber heard that he was a good banjo player and, on a train, asked him to audition. Donegan had never played the banjo but he bought one for the audition and succeeded more on personality than talent.[5] His stint with Barber's trad jazz band was interrupted when he was called up for National Service in 1949, but while in the army at Southampton, he was the drummer in Ken Grinyer's Wolverines Jazz Band at a local pub. A posting to Vienna brought him into contact with American troops, and access to US records and the American Forces Network radio station.[13]

In 1952, he formed the Tony Donegan Jazzband, which played around London. On 28 June 1952 at the Royal Festival Hall they opened for the blues musician Lonnie Johnson.[5] Donegan adopted his first name as a tribute. He used the name at a concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 2 June 1952.[14]

In 1953 cornetist Ken Colyer was imprisoned in New Orleans for a visa problem. He returned to Britain and joined Chris Barber's band. They changed the name to Ken Colyer's Jazzmen and made their first public appearance on 11 April 1953 in Copenhagen. The following day, Chris Albertson recorded Ken Colyer's Jazzmen and the Monty Sunshine Trio—Sunshine, Barber, and Donegan—for Storyville Records. These were amongst Donegan's first commercial recordings.[15]

Skiffle

While in Ken Colyer's Jazzmen with Chris Barber, Donegan sang and played guitar and banjo in their Dixieland set. He began playing with two other band members during the intervals, to provide what posters called a "skiffle" break, a name suggested by Ken Colyer's brother, Bill, after the Dan Burley Skiffle Group of the 1930s.[5] In 1954 Colyer left and the band became Chris Barber's Jazz Band.[13]

With a washboard, tea-chest bass, and a cheap Spanish guitar, Donegan played folk and blues songs by artists such as Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie.[5] This proved popular and in July 1954 he recorded a fast version of Lead Belly's "Rock Island Line",[4] featuring a washboard but not a tea-chest bass, with "John Henry" on the B-side.[5] It was a hit in 1956[16] (which also later inspired the creation of a full album, An Englishman Sings American Folk Songs, released in America on the Mercury label in the early 1960s), but because it was a band recording, Donegan made no money beyond his session fee. It was the first debut record to go gold in the UK, and it reached the Top Ten in the United States.[5] This recording has proved greatly influential on musicians who heard it in their younger days and for whom it seems to have been a catalyst in their musical motivation and careers.

The Acoustic Music organisation made this comment about Donegan's "Rock Island Line": "It flew up the English charts. Donegan had synthesized American southern blues with simple acoustic instruments: acoustic guitar, washtub bass, and washboard rhythm. The new style was called 'Skiffle'.... and referred to music from people with little money for instruments. The new style captivated an entire generation of post-war youth in England."[17]

His next single for Decca, "Diggin' My Potatoes", was recorded at a concert at the Royal Festival Hall on 30 October 1954.[5] Decca dropped Donegan thereafter, but within a month he was at the Abbey Road Studios in London recording for EMI's Columbia label. He had left the Barber band, and by spring 1955, signed a recording contract with Pye. His next single "Lost John" reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart.[5]

He appeared on television in the United States on the Perry Como Show and the Paul Winchell Show.[5] Returning to the UK, he recorded his debut album, Lonnie Donegan Showcase, in summer 1956, with songs by Lead Belly and Leroy Carr, plus "I'm a Ramblin' Man" and "Wabash Cannonball". The LP sold hundreds of thousands.[5] The skiffle style encouraged amateurs and one of many groups that followed was the Quarrymen, formed in March 1957 by John Lennon. Donegan's "Gamblin' Man"/"Puttin' On the Style" single was number one in the UK in July 1957, when Lennon first met Paul McCartney.[1]

Donegan went on to successes such as "Cumberland Gap" and "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?)",[4] his biggest hit in the US, on Dot.[5] He turned to music hall style with "My Old Man's a Dustman" which was not well received by skiffle fans and unsuccessful in America on Atlantic in 1960,[4] but it reached number one in the UK.[4] Donegan's group had a flexible line-up, but was generally Denny Wright or Les Bennetts (of Les Hobeaux and Days of Skiffle, led by singer Dave George), playing lead guitar and singing harmony, Micky Ashman or Pete Huggett—later Steve Jones—on upright bass, Nick Nichols—later Pete Appleby, Mark Goodwin, and Ken Rodway (now a Christian author and minister) on drums or percussion, and Donegan playing acoustic guitar or banjo and singing the lead.[5]

His last hit single on the UK chart was his cover version of "Pick a Bale of Cotton." Ironically, or perhaps appropriately, his fall from the chart coincided with the rise of The Beatles and the other beat music performers whom he inspired.[5]

Later career

Donegan recorded sporadically during the 1960s, including sessions at Hickory Records in Nashville with Charlie McCoy, Floyd Cramer, and the Jordanaires. After 1964 he was a record producer for most of the decade at Pye Records. Justin Hayward was one of the artists with whom he worked.[5]

Donegan was not popular through the late 1960s and 1970s (although his "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" was recorded by Tom Jones in 1967 and Elvis Presley in 1976), and he began to play the American cabaret circuit. A departure from his normal style was an a cappella recording of "The Party's Over[citation needed]".

Donegan reunited with the original Chris Barber band for a concert in Croydon in June 1975. A bomb scare meant that the recording had to be finished in the studio, after an impromptu concert in the car park.[citation needed] The release was titled The Great Re-Union Album.[5] He collaborated with Rory Gallagher on several songs, notably Rock Island Line with Gallagher performing most of the elaborate guitar work.

He had his first heart attack in 1976 while in the United States and had quadruple bypass surgery. He returned to attention in 1978 when he recorded his early songs with Rory Gallagher, Ringo Starr, Elton John, and Brian May.[4] The album was called Putting on the Style.[5] A follow-up featuring Albert Lee saw Donegan in less familiar country and western vein. By 1980 he was making regular concert appearances again, and another album with Barber followed. In 1983, Donegan toured with Billie Jo Spears, and in 1984 he made his theatrical debut in a revival of the 1920 musical Mr Cinders. More concert tours followed, with a move from Florida to Spain. In 1992 he had further bypass surgery following another heart attack.[5]

In 1994, the Chris Barber band celebrated 40 years with a tour with both bands. Pat Halcox was still on trumpet (a position he retained until July 2008). The reunion concert and the tour were on CD and DVD.

Donegan had a late renaissance when in 2000 he appeared on Van Morrison's album The Skiffle Sessions – Live in Belfast 1998, an acclaimed album featuring him singing with Morrison and Chris Barber, with a guest appearance by Dr John. Donegan also played at the Glastonbury Festival in 1999, and was made an MBE in 2000.

Donegan also appeared at Fairport Convention's annual music festival on 9 August 2001. His final CD was This Yere de Story.

Peter Donegan started touring as his father's pianist when he was aged 18. In 2019, Peter appeared on the show The Voice as a contestant, and dueted with Tom Jones with a song Lonnie had written for Tom, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again".[18] Anthony Donegan also performs under the name, Lonnie Donegan Jr.

Legacy

Mark Knopfler released a tribute to Lonnie Donegan titled "Donegan's Gone" on his 2004 album, Shangri-La, and said he was one of his greatest influences.[2] Donegan's music formed a musical starring his two sons. Lonnie D – The Musical took its name from the Chas & Dave tribute song which started the show. Subsequently, Peter Donegan formed a band to perform his father's material and has since linked with his father's band from the last 30 years with newcomer Eddie Masters on bass. They made an album together in 2009 titled "Here We Go Again". Lonnie Donegan's eldest son, Anthony, also formed his own band, as Lonnie Donegan Junior, who also performed "World Cup Willie" for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

On his album A Beach Full of Shells, Al Stewart paid tribute to Donegan in the song "Katherine of Oregon". In "Class of '58" he describes a British entertainer who is either Donegan or a composite including him.

Peter Sellers recorded Puttin' on the Smile featuring "Lenny Goonagain", who travels to the "Deep South" of Brighton and finds an "obscure folk song hidden at the top of the American hit parade", re-records it and reaches number one in the UK.

David Letterman pretended to try to remember Jimmy Fallon's name during the Tonight Show conflict between Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien, calling Fallon "Lonnie Donegan."[19]

In the 2019 movie Judy, the actor John Dagleish portrays Lonnie Donegan, who replaces an ill Judy Garland. He is shown in the (entirely fictional) final scene generously allowing her to make one last appearance on stage.

Quotations

  • "I'm trying to sing acceptable folk music. I want to widen the audience beyond the artsy-craftsy crowd and the pseudo intellectuals–but without distorting the music itself." NME – June 1956[20]
  • "In Britain, 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." – Interview, 2002.[21]
  • "He was the first person we had heard of from Britain to get to the coveted No. 1 in the charts, and we studied his records avidly. We all bought guitars to be in a skiffle group. He was the man." – Paul McCartney[21]
  • "He really was at the very cornerstone of English blues and rock." – Brian May.[2]
  • "I wanted to be Elvis Presley when I grew up, I knew that. But the man who really made me feel like I could actually go out and do it was a chap by the name of Lonnie Donegan." – Roger Daltrey[22]
  • "Remember, Lonnie Donegan started it for you." – Jack White's acceptance speech at the Brit Awards.[23]

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

  • Tops with Lonnie (September 1958)
  • More! Tops with Lonnie (April 1961)
  • Golden Age of Donegan (1962) – UK No. 3
  • Golden Age of Donegan Volume 2 (1963) – UK No. 15
  • Putting on the Style (1978) – UK No. 51
  • King of Skiffle (1998)
  • Puttin' on the Style – The Greatest Hits (2003) – UK No. 45[1]
  • This Yere de Story (2004)

Live albums

  • The Great Re-Union Album (1974)
  • The Skiffle Sessions – Live in Belfast (2000) – UK No 14 †
  • The Last Tour (2006)[1]
  • Jubilee Concert 1st Half (2007)
  • Jubilee Concert 2nd Half (2007)
  • Lonnie Live! Rare Tapes from the Late Sixties (2008)
  • Donegan on Stage – Lonnie Donegan at Conway Hall

EPs

  • "Rock Island Line" / "John Henry" / "Digging My Potatoes" / "Bury My Body". 45 rpm, Decca 6345 (1954) †
  • Skiffle Session (EP) (1956) – UK No. 20 †
    • "Railroad Bill" / "Stockalee" / "Ballad of Jesse James" / "Ol' Riley"
  • Backstairs Session (EP) (1956)[24]: 37  – †
    • "Midnight Special" / "New Burying Ground" / "It Takes a Worried Man" / "When the Sun Goes Down".[25]
  • Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight) (1961)

Singles

Year A-side B-side UK US Notes
1955 "Rock Island Line" "John Henry" 8 8
1956 "Diggin' My Potatoes" "Bury My Body"
"Lost John" "Stewball" 2 58
"Bring a Little Water, Sylvie" "Dead or Alive" 7
"On a Christmas Day" "Take My Hand Precious Lord"
1957 "Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O" "I'm Alabammy Bound" 4
"Cumberland Gap" "Love Is Strange" 1
"Gamblin' Man" "Puttin' On the Style" 1
"My Dixie Darlin'" "I'm Just a Rolling Stone" 10
"Jack O' Diamonds" "Ham 'N' Eggs" 14
1958 "The Grand Coulee Dam" "Nobody Loves Like an Irishman" 6
"Midnight Special" "When the Sun Goes Down"
"Sally Don't You Grieve" "Betty, Betty, Betty" 11
"Lonesome Traveller" "Times Are Getting Hard, Boys" 28
"Lonnie's Skiffle Party" "Lonnie Skiffle Party Pt.2" 23
"Tom Dooley" "Rock O' My Soul" 3
1959 "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?)" "Aunt Rhody" 3 5
"Fort Worth Jail" "Whoa Buck" 14
"Bewildered" "Kevin Barry" / "It Is No Secret" / "My Laggan Love"
"The Battle of New Orleans" "Darling Corey" 2
"Sal's Got a Sugar Lip" "Chesapeake Bay" 13
"Hold Back Tomorrow" N/K 26
"San Miguel" "Talking Guitar Blues" 19
1960 "My Old Man's a Dustman" "The Golden Vanity" 1
"I Wanna Go Home (Wreck of the 'John B')" "Jimmy Brown the Newsboy" 5
"Lorelei" "In All My Wildest Dreams" 10
"Rockin' Alone" N/K 44
"Lively" "Black Cat (Cross My Path Today)" 13
"Virgin Mary" "Beyond the Sunset" 27
1961 "(Bury Me) Beneath the Willow" "Leave My Woman Alone"
"Have a Drink on Me" "Seven Daffodils" 8
"Michael, Row the Boat" "Lumbered" 6
"The Comancheros" "Ramblin' Round" 14
1962 "The Party's Over" "Over the Rainbow" 9
"I'll Never Fall in Love Again" "Keep on the Sunny Side"
"Pick a Bale of Cotton" "Steal Away" 11
"The Market Song" "Tit-Bits"
1963 "Losing by a Hair" "Trumpet Sounds"
"It Was a Very Good Year" "Rise Up"
"Lemon Tree" "I've Gotta Girl So Far"
"500 Miles Away From Home" "This Train"
1964 "Beans in My Ears" "It's a Long Road to Travel"
"Fisherman's Luck" "There's a Big Wheel"
1965 "Get Out of My Life" "Won't You Tell Me"
"Louisiana Man" "Bound for Zion"
1966 "World Cup Willie" "Where in This World Are We Going?"
"I Wanna Go Home" "Black Cat (Cross My Path Today)"
1967 "Aunt Maggie's Remedy" "(Ah) My Sweet Marie"
1968 "Toys" "Relax Your Mind"
1969 "My Lovely Juanita" "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?"
1972 "Speak to the Sky" "Get Out of My Life"
1973 "Jump Down Turn Around (Pick a Bale of Cotton)" "Lost John Blues" (Australia only release)
1976 "I've Lost my Little Willie" "Censored"

[1]

Billing

Most of the above records were accredited to Lonnie Donegan; except, as follows:
† Billed as the Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Group
‡ Billed as Lonnie Donegan and his Skiffle Group
¶ Billed as Lonnie Donegan meets Miki & Griff with the Lonnie Donegan Group
↑ Billed as Lonnie Donegan and his Group
↓ Billed as Lonnie Donegan and Wally Stott's Orchestra
♠ Billed as Miki and Griff with the Lonnie Donegan Group[1]

See also

Bibliography

Jeremy Price, "Lonnie Donegan, Rock Island Line » et la corne d’abondance", Volume!, n° 7–2, Nantes, Éditions Mélanie Seteun, 2010. (in French)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 164–165. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  2. ^ a b c "Entertainment | 'Skiffle king' Donegan dies". BBC News. 4 November 2002. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  3. ^ Kelly, Jennifer (20 October 2008). "Hats Off: An Interview with Roy Harper". Pop Matters. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Larkin, Colin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. p. 387. ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "Biography by Bruce Eder". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  6. ^ Bowen, Rick (27 December 2012). "Did you go to school with Lonnie? - king of skiffle's Altrincham link". Messenger. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Rock Legend to Share Memories of Growing Up in Chiswick". Chiswick W4. 13 November 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  8. ^ Denselow, Robin (5 November 2002). "Obituary: Lonnie Donegan". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Peter Donegan: Who is The Voice contestant? Is he Lonnie Donegan's son? Everything you need to know". Heart. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  10. ^ "Lonnie Donegan's Memoriam". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  11. ^ Stout, William (9 May 2016). "William Stout's Legends Of The British Blues: Lonnie Donegan". LOUDER - CLASSIC ROCK. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  12. ^ "'King of skiffle' in hospital". Irish Examiner. 2 May 2002. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  13. ^ a b c Eder, Bruce. "Lonnie Donegan: Music Artist: Videos, News, Photos & Ringtones: MTV". AllMusic. MTV. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
  14. ^ Frame, Pete (2007). The Restless Generation. Rogan House. pp. 57–78. ISBN 978-0-9529540-7-1.
  15. ^ Humphries, Patrick (22 October 2012). Chapter 5 (Lonnie Donegan AND THE BIRTH OF BRITISH ROCK & ROLL - PATRICK HUMPHRIES). ISBN 9781849544764. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  16. ^ Cf. Price, 2010.
  17. ^ "Timeline of Musical Styles & Guitar History". Acousticmusic.org. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Sir Tom Jones & Peter Donegan's 'I'll Never Fall In Love Again' |Blind Auditions| The Voice UK 2019". Retrieved 7 January 2019 – via YouTube.
  19. ^ Bierly, Mandi (20 January 2010). "David Letterman to Jay Leno: 'Don't hang around waitin' for somebody to drop dead'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  20. ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'n' Roll Years. London: Reed International Books. p. 27. CN 5585.
  21. ^ a b Lewis, Randy (5 November 2002). "Lonnie Donegan, 71; His Music Influenced 1960s Rock Bands". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  22. ^ "Lonnie Donegan was born 90 years ago today". Frank Beacham's Journal. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  23. ^ Peel, John (2005). Margrave of the Marshes. London: Bantam Press. p. 47. ISBN 0-593-05252-8.
  24. ^ Harper, Colin (2006) [First published 2000]. Dazzling Stranger: Bert Jansch and the British Folk and Blues Revival (2nd revised ed.). London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 07-4758-725-6.
  25. ^ "Backstairs Session". Discogs. 1956. Retrieved 16 June 2015.

External links

  • Lonnie Donegan Discussion Forum
  • Go Lonnie go – article by Billy Bragg for The Guardian
  • My Memories of Lonnie Donegan by Paul Griggs
  • Lonnie Donegan biography and discography
  • Lonnie Donegan and his Skiffle Group
  • His Old Man’s the Guv’nor – article by Alan Franks
  • My twenty-year love affair with the joy of skiffle, article by Mark Kermode The Observer, 1 June 2008

lonnie, donegan, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, november, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Lonnie Donegan news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message Anthony James Donegan MBE 29 April 1931 3 November 2002 known as Lonnie Donegan was a British skiffle singer songwriter and musician referred to as the King of Skiffle who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians 1 2 3 Born in Scotland and brought up in England Donegan began his career in the British trad jazz revival but transitioned to skiffle in the mid 1950s rising to prominence with a hit recording of the American folk song Rock Island Line which helped spur the broader UK skiffle movement Lonnie DoneganMBEDonegan in the 1970sBackground informationBirth nameAnthony James DoneganAlso known asThe King of SkiffleBorn 1931 04 29 29 April 1931Bridgeton Glasgow ScotlandDied3 November 2002 2002 11 03 aged 71 Market Deeping Lincolnshire EnglandGenresSkiffletraditional popbluesfolkcountryOccupation s SingersongwritermusicianInstrument s GuitarvocalsbanjoYears active1949 2002LabelsOrioleDeccaNixaPyeLondonAtlanticColumbiaParlophoneRCAPhilipsChrysalisUnited ArtistsVirgin Donegan had 31 UK top 30 hit singles 24 were successive hits and three were number one He was the first British male singer with two US top 10 hits 1 Donegan received an Ivor Novello lifetime achievement award in 1995 4 and in 2000 he was made an MBE Donegan was a pivotal figure in the British Invasion due to his influence in the US in the late 1950s Contents 1 Life 2 Trad jazz 3 Skiffle 4 Later career 5 Legacy 5 1 Quotations 6 Discography 6 1 Studio albums 6 2 Compilation albums 6 3 Live albums 6 4 EPs 6 5 Singles 6 6 Billing 7 See also 8 Bibliography 9 References 10 External linksLife EditDonegan was born in Bridgeton Glasgow Scotland on 29 April 1931 4 He was the son of an Irish mother Mary Josephine Deighan and a Scots father Peter John Donegan a professional violinist who had played with the Scottish National Orchestra In 1933 when Donegan was aged 2 the family moved to East Ham in East London 5 Donegan was evacuated to Cheshire to escape the Blitz in the Second World War and attended St Ambrose College in Hale Barns 6 He lived for a while on Chiswick Mall in West London 7 Donegan married three times He had two daughters Fiona and Corrina with his first wife Maureen Tyler divorced 1962 a son and a daughter Anthony and Juanita with his second wife Jill Westlake divorced 1971 and three sons Peter David and Andrew 8 with his third wife Sharon whom he married in 1977 Peter Donegan is also a singer and a musician 9 Lonnie Donegan died on 3 November 2002 aged 71 after having a heart attack in Market Deeping Lincolnshire mid way through a UK tour 10 and before he was due to perform at a memorial concert for George Harrison with the Rolling Stones 11 He had cardiac problems since the 1970s and several heart attacks 12 Trad jazz EditAs a child growing up in the early 1940s Donegan listened mostly to swing jazz and vocal acts and became interested in the guitar 5 Country amp western and blues records particularly by Frank Crumit and Josh White attracted his interest and he bought his first guitar at 14 in 1945 5 He learned songs such as Frankie and Johnny Puttin On the Style and The House of the Rising Sun by listening to BBC radio broadcasts 5 By the end of the 1940s he was playing guitar around London and visiting small jazz clubs 13 Donegan first played in a major band after Chris Barber heard that he was a good banjo player and on a train asked him to audition Donegan had never played the banjo but he bought one for the audition and succeeded more on personality than talent 5 His stint with Barber s trad jazz band was interrupted when he was called up for National Service in 1949 but while in the army at Southampton he was the drummer in Ken Grinyer s Wolverines Jazz Band at a local pub A posting to Vienna brought him into contact with American troops and access to US records and the American Forces Network radio station 13 In 1952 he formed the Tony Donegan Jazzband which played around London On 28 June 1952 at the Royal Festival Hall they opened for the blues musician Lonnie Johnson 5 Donegan adopted his first name as a tribute He used the name at a concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 2 June 1952 14 In 1953 cornetist Ken Colyer was imprisoned in New Orleans for a visa problem He returned to Britain and joined Chris Barber s band They changed the name to Ken Colyer s Jazzmen and made their first public appearance on 11 April 1953 in Copenhagen The following day Chris Albertson recorded Ken Colyer s Jazzmen and the Monty Sunshine Trio Sunshine Barber and Donegan for Storyville Records These were amongst Donegan s first commercial recordings 15 Skiffle EditWhile in Ken Colyer s Jazzmen with Chris Barber Donegan sang and played guitar and banjo in their Dixieland set He began playing with two other band members during the intervals to provide what posters called a skiffle break a name suggested by Ken Colyer s brother Bill after the Dan Burley Skiffle Group of the 1930s 5 In 1954 Colyer left and the band became Chris Barber s Jazz Band 13 With a washboard tea chest bass and a cheap Spanish guitar Donegan played folk and blues songs by artists such as Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie 5 This proved popular and in July 1954 he recorded a fast version of Lead Belly s Rock Island Line 4 featuring a washboard but not a tea chest bass with John Henry on the B side 5 It was a hit in 1956 16 which also later inspired the creation of a full album An Englishman Sings American Folk Songs released in America on the Mercury label in the early 1960s but because it was a band recording Donegan made no money beyond his session fee It was the first debut record to go gold in the UK and it reached the Top Ten in the United States 5 This recording has proved greatly influential on musicians who heard it in their younger days and for whom it seems to have been a catalyst in their musical motivation and careers The Acoustic Music organisation made this comment about Donegan s Rock Island Line It flew up the English charts Donegan had synthesized American southern blues with simple acoustic instruments acoustic guitar washtub bass and washboard rhythm The new style was called Skiffle and referred to music from people with little money for instruments The new style captivated an entire generation of post war youth in England 17 His next single for Decca Diggin My Potatoes was recorded at a concert at the Royal Festival Hall on 30 October 1954 5 Decca dropped Donegan thereafter but within a month he was at the Abbey Road Studios in London recording for EMI s Columbia label He had left the Barber band and by spring 1955 signed a recording contract with Pye His next single Lost John reached No 2 in the UK Singles Chart 5 He appeared on television in the United States on the Perry Como Show and the Paul Winchell Show 5 Returning to the UK he recorded his debut album Lonnie Donegan Showcase in summer 1956 with songs by Lead Belly and Leroy Carr plus I m a Ramblin Man and Wabash Cannonball The LP sold hundreds of thousands 5 The skiffle style encouraged amateurs and one of many groups that followed was the Quarrymen formed in March 1957 by John Lennon Donegan s Gamblin Man Puttin On the Style single was number one in the UK in July 1957 when Lennon first met Paul McCartney 1 Donegan went on to successes such as Cumberland Gap and Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour On the Bedpost Overnight 4 his biggest hit in the US on Dot 5 He turned to music hall style with My Old Man s a Dustman which was not well received by skiffle fans and unsuccessful in America on Atlantic in 1960 4 but it reached number one in the UK 4 Donegan s group had a flexible line up but was generally Denny Wright or Les Bennetts of Les Hobeaux and Days of Skiffle led by singer Dave George playing lead guitar and singing harmony Micky Ashman or Pete Huggett later Steve Jones on upright bass Nick Nichols later Pete Appleby Mark Goodwin and Ken Rodway now a Christian author and minister on drums or percussion and Donegan playing acoustic guitar or banjo and singing the lead 5 His last hit single on the UK chart was his cover version of Pick a Bale of Cotton Ironically or perhaps appropriately his fall from the chart coincided with the rise of The Beatles and the other beat music performers whom he inspired 5 Later career EditDonegan recorded sporadically during the 1960s including sessions at Hickory Records in Nashville with Charlie McCoy Floyd Cramer and the Jordanaires After 1964 he was a record producer for most of the decade at Pye Records Justin Hayward was one of the artists with whom he worked 5 Donegan was not popular through the late 1960s and 1970s although his I ll Never Fall in Love Again was recorded by Tom Jones in 1967 and Elvis Presley in 1976 and he began to play the American cabaret circuit A departure from his normal style was an a cappella recording of The Party s Over citation needed Donegan reunited with the original Chris Barber band for a concert in Croydon in June 1975 A bomb scare meant that the recording had to be finished in the studio after an impromptu concert in the car park citation needed The release was titled The Great Re Union Album 5 He collaborated with Rory Gallagher on several songs notably Rock Island Line with Gallagher performing most of the elaborate guitar work He had his first heart attack in 1976 while in the United States and had quadruple bypass surgery He returned to attention in 1978 when he recorded his early songs with Rory Gallagher Ringo Starr Elton John and Brian May 4 The album was called Putting on the Style 5 A follow up featuring Albert Lee saw Donegan in less familiar country and western vein By 1980 he was making regular concert appearances again and another album with Barber followed In 1983 Donegan toured with Billie Jo Spears and in 1984 he made his theatrical debut in a revival of the 1920 musical Mr Cinders More concert tours followed with a move from Florida to Spain In 1992 he had further bypass surgery following another heart attack 5 In 1994 the Chris Barber band celebrated 40 years with a tour with both bands Pat Halcox was still on trumpet a position he retained until July 2008 The reunion concert and the tour were on CD and DVD Donegan had a late renaissance when in 2000 he appeared on Van Morrison s album The Skiffle Sessions Live in Belfast 1998 an acclaimed album featuring him singing with Morrison and Chris Barber with a guest appearance by Dr John Donegan also played at the Glastonbury Festival in 1999 and was made an MBE in 2000 Donegan also appeared at Fairport Convention s annual music festival on 9 August 2001 His final CD was This Yere de Story Peter Donegan started touring as his father s pianist when he was aged 18 In 2019 Peter appeared on the show The Voice as a contestant and dueted with Tom Jones with a song Lonnie had written for Tom I ll Never Fall in Love Again 18 Anthony Donegan also performs under the name Lonnie Donegan Jr Legacy EditMark Knopfler released a tribute to Lonnie Donegan titled Donegan s Gone on his 2004 album Shangri La and said he was one of his greatest influences 2 Donegan s music formed a musical starring his two sons Lonnie D The Musical took its name from the Chas amp Dave tribute song which started the show Subsequently Peter Donegan formed a band to perform his father s material and has since linked with his father s band from the last 30 years with newcomer Eddie Masters on bass They made an album together in 2009 titled Here We Go Again Lonnie Donegan s eldest son Anthony also formed his own band as Lonnie Donegan Junior who also performed World Cup Willie for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa On his album A Beach Full of Shells Al Stewart paid tribute to Donegan in the song Katherine of Oregon In Class of 58 he describes a British entertainer who is either Donegan or a composite including him Peter Sellers recorded Puttin on the Smile featuring Lenny Goonagain who travels to the Deep South of Brighton and finds an obscure folk song hidden at the top of the American hit parade re records it and reaches number one in the UK David Letterman pretended to try to remember Jimmy Fallon s name during the Tonight Show conflict between Jay Leno and Conan O Brien calling Fallon Lonnie Donegan 19 In the 2019 movie Judy the actor John Dagleish portrays Lonnie Donegan who replaces an ill Judy Garland He is shown in the entirely fictional final scene generously allowing her to make one last appearance on stage Quotations Edit I m trying to sing acceptable folk music I want to widen the audience beyond the artsy craftsy crowd and the pseudo intellectuals but without distorting the music itself NME June 1956 20 In Britain 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 Interview 2002 21 He was the first person we had heard of from Britain to get to the coveted No 1 in the charts and we studied his records avidly We all bought guitars to be in a skiffle group He was the man Paul McCartney 21 He really was at the very cornerstone of English blues and rock Brian May 2 I wanted to be Elvis Presley when I grew up I knew that But the man who really made me feel like I could actually go out and do it was a chap by the name of Lonnie Donegan Roger Daltrey 22 Remember Lonnie Donegan started it for you Jack White s acceptance speech at the Brit Awards 23 Discography EditStudio albums Edit Lonnie Donegan Showcase December 1956 UK 2 UK No 26 Wabash Cannonball How Long How Long Blues Nobody s Child I Shall Not Be Moved I m Alabamy Bound I m a Rambling Man Wreck of the Old 97 Frankie and Johnny Lonnie November 1957 UK No 3 Lonnie Rides Again May 1959 re released in 1960 as Skiffle Folk Songs Sing Hallelujah December 1962 The Lonnie Donegan Folk Album August 1965 Lonniepops Lonnie Donegan Today 1970 Lonnie Donegan Meets Leinemann with Leinemann 1974 Country Roads with Leinemann 1976 Puttin on the Style February 1978 Including guest musicians Rory Gallagher Elton John Brian May Ronnie Wood and Ringo Starr amongst others Sundown May 1979 Muleskinner Blues January 1999 The song Lost John was used to open the John Peel tribute albumCompilation albums Edit Tops with Lonnie September 1958 More Tops with Lonnie April 1961 Golden Age of Donegan 1962 UK No 3 Golden Age of Donegan Volume 2 1963 UK No 15 Putting on the Style 1978 UK No 51 King of Skiffle 1998 Puttin on the Style The Greatest Hits 2003 UK No 45 1 This Yere de Story 2004 Live albums Edit The Great Re Union Album 1974 The Skiffle Sessions Live in Belfast 2000 UK No 14 Recorded November 1998 with Van Morrison Chris Barber and others The Last Tour 2006 1 Jubilee Concert 1st Half 2007 Jubilee Concert 2nd Half 2007 Lonnie Live Rare Tapes from the Late Sixties 2008 Donegan on Stage Lonnie Donegan at Conway HallEPs Edit Rock Island Line John Henry Digging My Potatoes Bury My Body 45 rpm Decca 6345 1954 Skiffle Session EP 1956 UK No 20 Railroad Bill Stockalee Ballad of Jesse James Ol Riley Backstairs Session EP 1956 24 37 Midnight Special New Burying Ground It Takes a Worried Man When the Sun Goes Down 25 Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour On the Bedpost Overnight 1961 Singles Edit Year A side B side UK US Notes1955 Rock Island Line John Henry 8 8 1956 Diggin My Potatoes Bury My Body Lost John Stewball 2 58 Bring a Little Water Sylvie Dead or Alive 7 On a Christmas Day Take My Hand Precious Lord 1957 Don t You Rock Me Daddy O I m Alabammy Bound 4 Cumberland Gap Love Is Strange 1 Gamblin Man Puttin On the Style 1 My Dixie Darlin I m Just a Rolling Stone 10 Jack O Diamonds Ham N Eggs 14 1958 The Grand Coulee Dam Nobody Loves Like an Irishman 6 Midnight Special When the Sun Goes Down Sally Don t You Grieve Betty Betty Betty 11 Lonesome Traveller Times Are Getting Hard Boys 28 Lonnie s Skiffle Party Lonnie Skiffle Party Pt 2 23 Tom Dooley Rock O My Soul 3 1959 Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour On the Bedpost Overnight Aunt Rhody 3 5 Fort Worth Jail Whoa Buck 14 Bewildered Kevin Barry It Is No Secret My Laggan Love The Battle of New Orleans Darling Corey 2 Sal s Got a Sugar Lip Chesapeake Bay 13 Hold Back Tomorrow N K 26 San Miguel Talking Guitar Blues 19 1960 My Old Man s a Dustman The Golden Vanity 1 I Wanna Go Home Wreck of the John B Jimmy Brown the Newsboy 5 Lorelei In All My Wildest Dreams 10 Rockin Alone N K 44 Lively Black Cat Cross My Path Today 13 Virgin Mary Beyond the Sunset 27 1961 Bury Me Beneath the Willow Leave My Woman Alone Have a Drink on Me Seven Daffodils 8 Michael Row the Boat Lumbered 6 The Comancheros Ramblin Round 14 1962 The Party s Over Over the Rainbow 9 I ll Never Fall in Love Again Keep on the Sunny Side Pick a Bale of Cotton Steal Away 11 The Market Song Tit Bits 1963 Losing by a Hair Trumpet Sounds It Was a Very Good Year Rise Up Lemon Tree I ve Gotta Girl So Far 500 Miles Away From Home This Train 1964 Beans in My Ears It s a Long Road to Travel Fisherman s Luck There s a Big Wheel 1965 Get Out of My Life Won t You Tell Me Louisiana Man Bound for Zion 1966 World Cup Willie Where in This World Are We Going I Wanna Go Home Black Cat Cross My Path Today 1967 Aunt Maggie s Remedy Ah My Sweet Marie 1968 Toys Relax Your Mind 1969 My Lovely Juanita Who Knows Where the Time Goes 1972 Speak to the Sky Get Out of My Life 1973 Jump Down Turn Around Pick a Bale of Cotton Lost John Blues Australia only release 1976 I ve Lost my Little Willie Censored 1 Billing Edit Most of the above records were accredited to Lonnie Donegan except as follows Billed as the Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Group Billed as Lonnie Donegan and his Skiffle Group Billed as Lonnie Donegan meets Miki amp Griff with the Lonnie Donegan Group Billed as Lonnie Donegan and his Group Billed as Lonnie Donegan and Wally Stott s Orchestra Billed as Miki and Griff with the Lonnie Donegan Group 1 See also EditList of honorific titles in popular musicBibliography EditJeremy Price Lonnie Donegan Rock Island Line et la corne d abondance Volume n 7 2 Nantes Editions Melanie Seteun 2010 in French References Edit a b c d e f g Roberts David 2006 British Hit Singles amp Albums 19th ed London Guinness World Records Limited pp 164 165 ISBN 1 904994 10 5 a b c Entertainment Skiffle king Donegan dies BBC News 4 November 2002 Retrieved 27 November 2013 Kelly Jennifer 20 October 2008 Hats Off An Interview with Roy Harper Pop Matters Retrieved 20 October 2008 a b c d e f g Larkin Colin ed 1997 The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music Concise ed Virgin Books p 387 ISBN 1 85227 745 9 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Biography by Bruce Eder Allmusic com Retrieved 23 June 2009 Bowen Rick 27 December 2012 Did you go to school with Lonnie king of skiffle s Altrincham link Messenger Retrieved 17 October 2021 Rock Legend to Share Memories of Growing Up in Chiswick Chiswick W4 13 November 2022 Retrieved 14 November 2022 Denselow Robin 5 November 2002 Obituary Lonnie Donegan The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 7 January 2019 Peter Donegan Who is The Voice contestant Is he Lonnie Donegan s son Everything you need to know Heart 4 February 2019 Retrieved 13 April 2019 Lonnie Donegan s Memoriam San Diego Union Tribune Retrieved 5 December 2017 Stout William 9 May 2016 William Stout s Legends Of The British Blues Lonnie Donegan LOUDER CLASSIC ROCK Retrieved 17 October 2021 King of skiffle in hospital Irish Examiner 2 May 2002 Retrieved 17 October 2021 a b c Eder Bruce Lonnie Donegan Music Artist Videos News Photos amp Ringtones MTV AllMusic MTV Retrieved 19 September 2008 Frame Pete 2007 The Restless Generation Rogan House pp 57 78 ISBN 978 0 9529540 7 1 Humphries Patrick 22 October 2012 Chapter 5 Lonnie Donegan AND THE BIRTH OF BRITISH ROCK amp ROLL PATRICK HUMPHRIES ISBN 9781849544764 Retrieved 22 October 2021 Cf Price 2010 Timeline of Musical Styles amp Guitar History Acousticmusic org Retrieved 15 July 2022 Sir Tom Jones amp Peter Donegan s I ll Never Fall In Love Again Blind Auditions The Voice UK 2019 Retrieved 7 January 2019 via YouTube Bierly Mandi 20 January 2010 David Letterman to Jay Leno Don t hang around waitin for somebody to drop dead Entertainment Weekly Retrieved 12 November 2020 Tobler John 1992 NME Rock n Roll Years London Reed International Books p 27 CN 5585 a b Lewis Randy 5 November 2002 Lonnie Donegan 71 His Music Influenced 1960s Rock Bands Los Angeles Times Retrieved 27 October 2021 Lonnie Donegan was born 90 years ago today Frank Beacham s Journal 29 April 2021 Retrieved 27 October 2021 Peel John 2005 Margrave of the Marshes London Bantam Press p 47 ISBN 0 593 05252 8 Harper Colin 2006 First published 2000 Dazzling Stranger Bert Jansch and the British Folk and Blues Revival 2nd revised ed London Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN 07 4758 725 6 Backstairs Session Discogs 1956 Retrieved 16 June 2015 External links EditLonnie Donegan Discussion Forum Go Lonnie go article by Billy Bragg for The Guardian My Memories of Lonnie Donegan by Paul Griggs Lonnie Donegan biography and discography Lonnie Donegan and his Skiffle Group His Old Man s the Guv nor article by Alan Franks My twenty year love affair with the joy of skiffle article by Mark Kermode The Observer 1 June 2008 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Lonnie Donegan amp oldid 1152858532, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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