[Dixielandjazz] Lonnie Donegan

[Jazzjerry@aol.com]

Whilst it is a bit long below is reprinted the obit to Lonnie Donegan which=20
appears in the Guardian newspaper this morning.

For those who are interested practically all of his recordings are still in=20
the catalogue and have been thre almost constantly for the last 45 years!=20
There are not many performers who could claim that!

Cheers,

Jerry Brown,
Norwich,
UK.

Lonnie Donegan=20

The founding father of British pop, he sang his way from traditional jazz=20
through skiffle hits to a novelty song about chewing gum=20

Robin Denselow
Tuesday November 5, 2002
The Guardian=20

Lonnie Donegan, who has died aged 71, was the first British pop superstar,=20
and the founding father of British pop music, the musician who provided the=20
original inspiration for John Lennon, Paul McCartney and a host of others. B=
y=20
the time the Beatles shook up the music world in the mid-1960s, Donegan's=20
glory days were over, and he had retreated into comedy and cabaret, but,=20
between 1956 and 1962, he notched up an incredible 26 hits.=20

Donegan was a musical phenomenon. As the leader of the skiffle craze in the=20
late 1950s, he inspired the formation of literally thousands of=20
do-it-yourself bands across the country, and was directly responsible for th=
e=20
1960s pop explosion that was to severely damage his own career.=20

Ironically, Rock Island Line, the song that transformed his life - and the=20
history of British pop - was neither British nor contemporary. It had been=20
written by the great black American folksinger Huddie Ledbetter, better know=
n=20
as "Leadbelly", and, like so much else of his work, had been rediscovered in=
=20
1933, when the American folklorists John and Alan Lomax stumbled on Leadbell=
y=20
serving time for attempted murder in the Louisiana state penitentiary.=20

Donegan had begun playing the song in the early 1950s, during his days as=20
banjoist with the Chris Barber Jazz Band, which specialised in New Orleans=20
"trad" classics, but also included a splinter-group that bashed away at=20
"skiffle" versions of American folk songs and blues during the intervals=20
between the main band sets.=20

Along with John Henry, another railroad ballad from the days of slavery in=20
the American south, Rock Island Line found its way on to the Barber band's=20
1954 album New Orleans Joys, though it was not until 18 months later that th=
e=20
two tracks were released, under Donegan's name, as a novelty single.=20

The reaction was extraordinary. Rock Island Line sold more than a million=20
copies, and became one of the first British pop records to break into the=20
American top-10 chart. It had a vitality, a rhythmic intensity and an earthy=
=20
simplicity that - at the time - was simply unique in British pop.=20

Using a simple line-up of strummed guitar, double bass and drums, Donegan=20
drawled, and then sang, his way through a story about a train driver on the=20
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad fooling the inspector at a toll=20
gate outside New Orleans. It was an extraordinarily exciting, brave and guts=
y=20
recording (as I remember from the shockwaves it caused among my school=20
friends when we first heard it), and the wonder of it was that anyone with a=
=20
cheap acoustic guitar, and the mastery of three basic chords, could attempt=20
to imitate the Donegan style. British pop had arrived.=20

The man responsible was born Anthony James Donegan in Glasgow. His mother wa=
s=20
Irish and his father Scottish, a violinist who, at one time, played with the=
=20
Scottish Nat- ional Orchestra, and later joined the Merchant Navy. In 1933,=20
the family moved to East Ham, London, and it was there, after the second=20
world war, that the teenage Donegan became an enthusiastic fan of the new,=20
trad jazz movement. He learned to play the guitar and the banjo, and formed=20
the Anthony Donegan - later Tony Donegan - Jazz Band, which he financed=20
through part-time delivery work for a photographer. As an amateur, he=20
practised and performed alongside other fans of New Orleans jazz, including=20
the trombonist Barber, the trumpeter Ken Colyer and the clarinet-player Mont=
y=20
Sunshine, and he kept in touch with them all after he was called up for=20
national service in 1949. In the army, he joined yet another band, the=20
Wolverines, this time as a drummer.=20

After his military discharge, Donegan changed his stage name again, this tim=
e=20
to Lonnie, after his idol, the American blues guitarist Lonnie Johnson, with=
=20
whom he had once played. He then joined his old friends Colyer, Barber and=20
Sunshine as banjo-player in the Ken Colyer Jazzmen, and it was here that the=
=20
skiffle movement was, born.=20

Jazz clubs in the early 1950s were often unlicensed, and the musicians would=
=20
take regular breaks so their audiences could nip out for a drink in the=20
nearest pub. Some entertainment had to be provided for those patrons who=20
remained behind, so Colyer and his band began to play and sing American folk=
=20
blues songs. They took the term "skiffle" from a favourite record, Home Town=
=20
Skiffle, a compilation of American jug band styles and western swing.=20

Before long, however, the Jazzmen split up because of Colyer's insistence=20
that they should play in what he regarded as the correct traditional style,=20
and the entire band, including Donegan, left to regroup themselves as the=20
Chris Barber Jazz Band, which gave its first performance at the 100 Club,=20
London, on May 31 1954. When they recorded the New Orleans Joys album, Barbe=
r=20
insisted that the record should include a full representation of the group's=
=20
work - including skiffle songs, with Donegan singing them.=20

Initially, executives at their record label, Decca, were unimpressed; they=20
chose a whole series of instrumental tracks from the album as singles before=
=20
they reluctantly released Rock Island Line.=20

With its astonishing success, Donegan became a major star, and soon quit the=
=20
Barber band for a solo career, and a contract with Pye Records. He moved awa=
y=20
from blues and jazz to concentrate exclusively on skiffle, transforming=20
dozens of American folk songs by adding in a hefty beat (hefty, at least, by=
=20
mid-1950s standards) and his distinctive nasal twang. For six years,=20
everything he recorded became a hit, and, as songs like Lost John, Bring A=20
Little Water Sylvie, Cumberland Gap and Grand Coolie Dam followed each other=
=20
into the bestseller charts, do-it-yourself skiffle bands sprang up across th=
e=20
country attempting to imitate his style.=20

By the late 1950s, however, it was becoming clear that Donegan was not just=20
interested in popularising the songs of black Americans like Leadbelly, or=20
white Americans like Woody Guthrie. He was evolving into an all-round=20
entertainer and comedian, in the tradition of British music-hall, as he=20
showed in 1957 with his comic song, Putting On The Style, and his first=20
excursion into pantomime.=20

The following year, he appeared at a royal variety performance, and, in 1959=
,=20
recorded his million-selling Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour On The=20
Bedpost Overnight, a new version of a Boy Scout favourite he had sung as a=20
child. It reached number three in the British charts, and number five in the=
=20
United States. In 1960, Donegan sold more than a million records in Britain=20
alone, with another novelty song, My Old Man's A Dustman, a rewrite of a=20
Liverpool folk tune and first world war marching song, updated with cockney=20
jokes and lyrics. It was top of the charts for four weeks.=20

By this time, Donegan had carved out an impressive niche for himself within=20
the pop music world, but the move towards comedy and cabaret also saw the=20
beginnings of his commercial downfall. The British music scene was changing=20
rapidly, as those he had inspired to pick up a guitar looked for something=20
new to follow the limitations of skiffle.=20

Some went on to explore, in greater depth, the works of Leadbelly or Woody=20
Guthrie, and joined the new folk music movement. Others followed the route o=
f=20
Alexis Korner - once, like Donegan, a skiffle player with Ken Colyer - and=20
became immersed in the new British blues scene, which was to inspire bands=20
like the Rolling Stones.=20

Donegan had cut himself off from all that, as he was to learn at the end of=20
1962. He notched up his last big seller, Pick A Bale Of Cotton, in August=20
that year, but, in December, when he released a comic follow-up, The Market=20
Song, recorded with Max Miller, he found his string of hits had suddenly=20
ended. Members of a former skiffle group, called the Quarrymen, had changed=20
their name and style, and made their first chart entry with Love Me Do.=20
Donegan was not amused. "The Beatles' first records were old-fashioned,=20
archaic rock 'n' roll," he told me, "and I was resentful at the way they=20
stopped my cash flow."=20

Donegan's glory days may have been over, but he kept on going. He had set up=
=20
his own music publishing company in the 1950s, and, a decade later, his=20
publishing interests had become extensive. He also kept performing, playing=20
the cabaret circuit in America, Australia and Britain. When I met him in=20
1974, after watching him give a cabaret show at the Penthouse Club, on Park=20
Lane, he was complaining at what had happened to the music scene, and its ne=
w=20
heroes, the "long-haired, pot-smoking pop musicians".=20

Four years later, after his career had suffered a second blow, those=20
musicians attempted to give him a hand up. In 1976, he had moved to the=20
American resort of Lake Tahoe, where he suffered a heart attack and underwen=
t=20
open-heart surgery. He also stopped performing. That might have been the end=
=20
of his career, if those he had once inspired to play guitar had not come to=20
his rescue.=20

So it was that, in 1978, Adam Faith persuaded a gang of rock world=20
celebrities to get together with Donegan and re-record his old hits. Ringo=20
Starr, Elton John, Ronnie Wood, Rory Gallagher and Brian May were among the=20
extraordinary cast who joined him for his comeback album, Puttin' On The=20
Style, which was launched in grand style with a party in the south of France=
.=20

It was - predictably - something of a mess, but it sold reasonably well, and=
=20
Lonnie was persuaded to go back on the road. A later album, Sundown, recorde=
d=20
in 1980 with Doug Kershaw, attempted to mix skiffle with country, though, by=
=20
this time, public interest had faded once again.=20

For the last two decades, Donegan survived on past glories, spending most of=
=20
his time at his house in Malaga, Spain. In 1990, he became a father for the=20
seventh time, when his third wife, Sharon, gave birth to a son. He was still=
=20
plagued by heart problems, and had further bypass surgery in 1992. Musically=
,=20
he seemed unsure of which direction to take, as he swapped between cabaret=20
and skiffle revival shows. He even got back together with the Chris Barber=20
Band for reunion concert tours. And it was on tour, in Peterborough, that he=
=20
died.=20

Lonnie Donegan may have been the godfather of British pop, but, at heart, he=
=20
was an updated music-hall performer, adrift in the wrong era. When I met him=
,=20
he described himself like this: "I'm not a serious musician, because I don't=
=20
have the capability, but I take my music seriously because I love music. And=
=20
I'm a man who loves a laugh. So if there's no laugh, what's the point of=20
getting up there?"=20

He received an Ivor Novello lifetime achievement award in 1997, and was made=
=20
an MBE in 2000. Even towards the end, he retained the respect of many in the=
=20
music business. Eric Clapton had recently invited him to take part in the=20
forthcoming Albert Hall tribute concert to George Harrison, himself once a=20
Donegan fan. He also wrote the Tom Jones hit, I'm Never Gonna Fall In Love=20
Again.=20

Donegan is survived by Sharon and their sons, Peter, David and Andrew; by=20
Fiona and Corrina, the children of his first marriage; and by Anthony and=20
Juanita, the children of his second marriage.=20
=B7 Anthony James 'Lonnie' Donegan, musician and entertainer, born April 29=20
1931; died November 4 2002=20