[Dixielandjazz] Skiffle music

[John Blegen]

David Richoux <tubaman at tubatoast.com> WROTE:

The way I have always understood it (pre-Wikipedia)  is that Skiffle  
is a mostly UK term that covers the musical area somewhere between  
Folk, Blues, Jugband, Jazz and early Rock - with an element of Busking  
thrown in. Late 1950s to early 1960s ish.
The guys who grew up a bit to become The Beatles were in a Skiffle  
Band, as were several other early '60s British bands. Some home made  
guitars, ukes, banjos, other misc. instruments were usually found.

________________


That's how I understood the term.  I ran into a skiffle group from England in 1962 when I was playing in Germany.  The group was called "The New Lost City Ramblers" or something like that, and they defined themselves as a band that played home-made instruments.  For example, the tuba player, whose name was Hennesey, had fastened a piece of flexible tubing to a Victrola speaker horn.  He put a tuba mouthpiece in the tubing and played bass lines.  He called the instrument a spasmaphone and claimed to be listed in the British musician's union as a spasmaphone and Jodpuhr Boot player.  

John Blegen