Customer Reviews

Rock Island Line

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This is an extraordinary collection, showing the full range of Lonnie's work. The insert notes unfold into a poster with notes on every track, which is an excellent idea. Lonnie's influence on the British music scene is hard to overestimate. He inspired the generation that produced the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, et al. After Lonnie, every young man wanted to be in a group. I was 7 years old when Rock Island Line was released, and I was immediately recruited into my brother's skiffle group, where I banged an upturned cookie tin and scraped a washboard. Throughout Britain, thousands of kids were doing the same. It was a cultural phenomenon that would later blossom into the British Invasion. Be thankful that the latter did not include my banging and scraping. According to Paul McCartney, Lonnie 'was the man'.

What happened was this: Various American folk music traditions - New Orleans jazz, Bluegrass, Blues, Gospel - made their way to Europe in the decades preceding and following World War II. Traditional jazz became extremely popular in Britain. Chris Barber's Jazz Band was perhaps the best. If you are a jazz fan and have not heard them, you should. They are spectacularly good. Lonnie was a member of the band, playing banjo and guitar. He became aware of another tradition, called skiffle. This had originated as 'rent party' music in the southern US, and comprised jazzed-up versions of folk and blues played on improvised instruments. Lonnie played skiffle during intervals at Barber concerts, and found an audience.

After the chart success, on both sides of the Atlantic, of his first single, Rock Island Line, Lonnie and his group gradually separated (on good terms) from the Barber band. They were major stars in Britain until the 60s brought Elvis clones like Adam Faith and then finally the supergroups that Lonnie himself had inspired (Mick Jagger once sang with the Chris Barber band). Sadly, Lonnie never accepted that his time had passed. He released records in whatever style was currently popular and continued touring right up to his death in 2002. Fans see this either as a marvelous testament to his versatility and staying power, or as a sad refusal to accept that his star had faded. In this collection, you can hear his later ballads, like The Party's Over and I'll Never Fall in Love Again. They are remarkably good, as are his ventures into other genres. But there is a sense of desperation about it all.

The early skiffle on this album, a blend of trad jazz and folk, is great. Among the later tracks there are some historical curiosities, like the double track featuring the comedian Max Miller, in which he and Lonnie trade gags. I'm not sure how much that will mean to an American audience (the joke about the 'rubber' will be especially mysterious) but Miller was hugely popular and recordings of him are rare, so to a British listener, this track is pure gold. Another rarity is Kevin Barry, which was released only in Ireland. It was too politically sensitive for a British release, being a pro-Republican song.

You have probably gathered by now that this collection is indispensable to anyone interested in the development of 20th century popular music. The many comedic songs will be largely incomprehensible to American audiences (how many will know that 'daisy roots' is Cockney rhyming slang for 'boots'?) but the rest will touch listeners on both sides of the pond. Don't be wary of an upstart Scot tackling American roots music. He does it full justice. Listen to his version of Leadbelly's Whoa Buck and be amazed.

My introduction to Lonnie Donegan was a pair of folk songs, "500 Miles Away From Home" and "Farewell (Fare Thee Well," so when I found out that he was considered the definitive practioner of Skiffle music in the U.K. That mixture of jazz and country blues originally developed in the U.S. in the 1930s was the type of music that John, Paul and George were weaned on when the future Beatles first picked up their guitars. In the 1950s it was Donegan's recording of "Rock Island Line" which defined the Skiffle revival and explains why that song gives this 1985 3-CD collection of his singles its title and a testament to the fact that in the 1950s before rock & roll took over the world Lonnie Donegan was having as big of an impact on the youth of Britain as Elvis and Bill Haley would have in the U.S.

Donegan was born Anthony James Donegan in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of a classical violinist and when he started playing guitar was fascinated by American blues, which he listened to at the American Embassy in London. He formed the Tony Donegan Jazz Band in 1952 but while playing with blues/jazz guitar legend Lonnie Johnson the announcer told the audience it was "Tony Johnson" on guitar and "Lonnie Donegan" on banjo, and the name stuck. When Donegan recorded a Skiffle album, "Rock Island Line" became a hit because of its infectious rhythm, staying on the charts for 22 weeks, selling three million copies. Playing Skiffle music was pretty easy: all you needed was a guitar or banjo, and washboard for the rhythm section.

This collection brings together 86 tracks recorded by Donegan between 1955 and 1967, which actually makes it the second largest CD collection of his songs (1993's "More Than Pye in the Sky" offers eight CDs, so it is pretty much everything Donegan every recorded). Listening to it makes me think that my introduction to Donegan as a folk singer is pretty much on target, since Skiffle lends itself to lively performances of such traditional songs as "John Henry," "Stewball," "Lonesome Traveler," "Tom Dooley," "Darling Corey," and "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore." Donegan also does songs by Woody Guthrie (e.g., "Gamblin' Man") and the Weavers (e.g., "I Wanna Go Home [The Wreck of the John B.]"). But then you will also find a Ray Charles song here ("Leave My Woman Alone"), so the man will definitely exceed your expectations. The same holds true for "The Party's Over," where he take a turn at being a crooner to show he was more than the "King of Skiffle."

As you listen to these three discs I think you will find that you will end up liking the unfamiliar songs more than Donegan's covers of well-known songs such as "The Battle of New Orleans" and "Lemon Tree." But there is something to be said for hearing him do "Over the Rainbow" and "It Was a Very Good Year." Donegan did a few original songs, most notably "Dead or Alive," "Ham 'n Eggs," and "Nobody Loves Us Like an Irishman," which speak to the charm and humor he could bring to singing a song. In a lot of ways he reminds me of Buddy Holly in terms of the energy and enthusiasm he brings to just about every song, although "My Laggan Love" proves that Donegan could sit down with just a guitar to play and sing a plaintive love song to nice effect (so it seems strange when you hear a horn section as he launches into "Chesapeake Bay"). Granted, there are those of you who will be three tracks into these songs and have heard enough of Lonnie Donegan and Skiffle music to last you the rest of your days, but more likely you will get hooked on the sound and his engaging performance as you get to the point where you can explain why all of these songs do not sound alike.

This is a fantastic album, all the hits and many, many more. Lonnie's music crosses so many bridges and has influenced so many others. If you enjoy music you'll love this set. An excellent addition to any Rock-A-Billy fans collection. Just Great songs, by a great artisit!

The Mean Eyed Cat
KNON Radio 89.3
Dallas, Texas

Could not believe how many tracks I remembered from this three disc Donnegan-fest. All the old favouries plus this some surprising treatments (eg It was a Very Good Year)from this energetic, talented and highly likeable performer.

Brings back many pleasant memories of my early life in England. This is an excellent set and has nearly every one of his great songs - it makes this a great choice.