King of Skiffle [Import]

Lonnie Donegan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 25, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Castle Music UK
• ASIN: B0000088LX
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #805,248 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Rock Island Line

2. Jack O'Diamonds

3. Tom Dooley

4. Puttin' on the Style

5. I'm Alabammy Bound

6. Wabash Cannonball

7. Wreck of the Old '97

8. The Battle of New Orleans

9. Bring a Little Water, Sylvie

10. Nobody Loves Like an Irishman

11. Michael, Row the Boat Ashore

12. Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour On the Bedpost Overnight

13. My Old Man's a Dustman

14. Cumberland Gap

15. Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O

16. Grand Coulee Dam

17. Have a Drink on Me

18. Gamblin' Man

19. Nobody's Child

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest dixiland jazz banjoists, October 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: King of Skiffle (Audio CD)

Lonnie was for many years Chris Barbers banjo and guiter player. I hung around many a "juke box" and have vivid memories of all the songs on this cd. Great Sing along jazz cd. Good one Lonnie. Was a "Skiffle" group if any of you are old enough to know what that was.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Long-Forgotten Skiffle Pioneer, December 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: King of Skiffle (Audio CD)

This man was directly responsible for the guitar craze that became the British Invasion!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some Other Planet, April 21, 2001

By 

David Bradley "David Bradley" (Sterling, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: King of Skiffle (Audio CD)

1950s English and American popular music were light years apart. I'm not saying that one or the other was better or worse, they were just different, different, different.

Try to imagine people in New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, who were seeing Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Patti Page, Dean Martin, etc etc etc on a fairly regular basis, putting Lonnie Donegan on the turntable, and hearing that key-bending introduction to "Jack O'Diamonds."

Boom! Worlds collide.

Lennon said skiffle was a revolution in England, much like the Folk movement which went through America in the late fifties and early sixties. Neither hung around for very long--skiffle was nothing more than a memory by 1964, and Folk was an affect, rather than a movement, in Pop by 1966--but the influence hung around a bit longer.

I prefer the Lonnie Donegan records that aren't pulled directly out of American songbooks. Those are kind of like hearing Elvis doing the French National Anthem, if you follow me.

So my highlights here are "Putting On The Style," "My Old Man's A Dustman," and, of course, "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavor (On The Bedpost Over Night)?" They remind me of a time when pop stars--English ones, at least--were allowed to have a sense of humor.

And, if you really want to hear an authentic Pub sing-a-long song, you can't beat "Have A Drink On Me." Like all good Brit-singers, it drops from major to minor in the bridge, includes a few chuckles, and revolves around the impending death of the narrator. What could be better?

Some of these tracks could be buried at sea and nobody would miss them much. But, for the price this CD is going for, it's well worth it to hear the gems.