Lonnie Donegan. King of Skiffle

[TheAkelei]

Thanks for this medley. My father loved him a lot - and later I did, too. Special voice and special banjo.

[jibhorse]

lonnie donegan and his skiffle shenanegans.lol,

[privatefender]

Many thanks for this. I never liked Lonnie Donegan, when I was growing up. The bow ties, the music hall songs and his being embraced by the general public as an all-round entertainer made him a bit of a square, in my book. However, as the years pass, I realise what a fantastic performer he was and how much he influenced popular music. Look at these clips, look beyond the tux and you will see how good he was.

Check out my channel, there's 200 classic music clips and he's in there somewhere.

[JamesMurphyRadio]

I saw and met him just three weeks before he passed away - he was an excellent performer and a gracious and humble man - He was indeed a legend

[Dearhunter43]

@tamkukushka Ironic thing is that The Beatles was originally part of the Skiffle craze. John Lennon is into skiffle at the time. John was in The Quarrymen which was skiffe, Quarrymen lead to The Beatles.

[JimiChristopher]

Just copied ragtime and blues, with made up lyrics on top.

[ThrashRoC]

great music !

[ELLANDRD1966]

Turns out he's just signed for Leeds.

Getting on a bit now, so will only be in goal

[iStarbox93]

i'm studying this for school :o

[Eugarpst]

Yet another example of mid-century Brits stealing American roots music and selling it back to us.

[skitster]

@Eugarpst Which is... good? Because the music he makes it .... good?

[Bartolomeus9]

@Eugarpst them...us...bored by that line of thought...and wasn't capitalism the dominant American Dream then? So you shouldn't complain when it's put to work :-P. Sorry for being mean!

[strawberry3820]

Lonnie was the man who changed the way we looked at music in the late 50s. He changed the whole music scene in England, every one wanted to be in a skiffle group. Thanks Lonnie RIP

[allenparsons31]

Lonnie wasn't the king of skilful ,( he was skilful).... Hick Hick go Donny Lonigan...R.I.P. son love you always..

[Timothydlol]

he's the head off robin williams

[Philcoolphil]

Made me want to play a guitar and sing ,he was just great ,a true king!

[zoubzobzib]

I've loved lonnie donnegan for a while now but i hadn't checked much of this live stuff before.... His recordings were already great but they're NOTHING compared to this. Just amazing

[peterdonegan]

Sometimes i have to come back to this and remind myself of just how good it all really was. Love you dad!!!

[carrywet]

Incredible! Thanks for several rare clips of Lonnie Donegan. Without him, Beatles were not formed possibly.

[shadfan66]

wonderful - greqat memories

[19whitby12]

Can't help feeling that when he released "Puttin' on the style" he left skiffle behind.

Even worse was to come with "My old man's a dustman".

Still, he was great!

Ken from Gata de Gorgos

[MojoyoyoBae]

Increible, se nota que es un maestro del skiffle.

[kiwihans]

Today, Pete 'Kiwi' Keegan has kept the true skiffle tradition alive, since 1957! check out his new CD of 'skiffle & blues' favourites. Can be ordered by just typing his name into google for web page info.

[Tombstone314159]

I'd quite forgotten what an electric performer Lonnie Donegan was. King of Skiffle: he was the king of British popular music for a while, before the rockers arrived. Some achievement. Listen to the other skifflers of the time: LD stands way ahead. Trace the songs back to their origin and LD is no salvish copyist but a first class interpreter. Nice to see Pete Murray and those pretty girls of the time.

[enspectateur]

Thanks so much ! Yes, he paved the way to so many groups and helped so many of "us"(young people fed up with normality) to go on stage and play, just knowing some chords on our guitars ! I was in Soho in the 60's with my own "skiffle group". The City Ramblers were playing too... Great time when everyone was happy singing without much technique or the technical tools of nowadays ! Just for fun. Donegan's smile shows he enjoyed singing. We never missed TVSix Five special". I met him in France.

[bobbybyxby]

Gimme my washboard and tea chest base......Yeah....that's how I started out.

Many moons ago. ;)))

[SwampDaddy7]

The British equivalent of Rockabilly. Cool stuff!

[Mr62ford]

@SwampDaddy7 It is cool stuff but it is actually from the American south. I know it's hard to believe but the south actually has contributed to world culture.

[SwampDaddy7]

@Mr62ford I know . . . the American South has a lot of culture to it, but the connection between Southern Roots and British music is astounding when you think of it.

[Labaron26]

The UK's version of Elvis....He paved the way for the Beatles and other British Rock groups of the 60s.....A Great performer and singing artist.

[Magryd3344]

So glad I found these great songs again! Isn´t is strange I haven´t heard these songs in ages but I remembered the lyrics straight away!!!!Thanks! Playlisted!

♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥

Maggan from Sweden

[dabean100]

ahhh.... and thats why rock n roll was born.

[showaddy11]

if the man resuarected at glastenbury he would have to die again afore they would let him off the stage.

[smokemike75]

great thanks

[joeyboy1951]

Thanks for posting always liked Lonnie, should've been more appreciated

[ZMoulton]

I'm a fan, great vid!

[1510Ronald]

Thank you very much for that Video. Lonnie Donegan has created the Rock'n Roll in a phantastic way. Beautiful favorit-music for me. Thank you.

Ronnie from Germany

[bryanoverturf1]

5 really great bro thank mick for the share bry

[RockyRacooon111]

I absolutely love Lonnie!! He is such a cool wee guy! and he is originally scottish yasss CMON LONNIE

We love ya!!! xXx

[migumusi]

My very first records were: Lonny Donegan - I'm just a Rolling Stone, Gambling Man, My Dixie Darling and Putting on the Style... They were each awesome and important musicians and it's obvious they must've be been such nice folks!

[yardbirdmackay]

@migumusi

Goodness forgot all about,I'm Just A Rolling Stone,loved that as a kid,thank you for reminding me,wonder if its on youtube,must check it out.Donegan was such a major influence in the uk,for certain a LOT of the blues etc numbers he covered,we would never have heard had it not been for him,he changed music forever.

[migumusi]

@yardbirdmackay yes absolutely, and we both know that Yardbird Jimmy Page as a teenager played Skiffle too in those days when Donegan was the King of it! Les Bennets imo also played a certain role regarding their influence with his unique one string guitar playing style.

[yardbirdmackay]

@migumusi

For certain Jimmy Page wouldnt have been the only big name artist,who started out in some sort of skiffle group,I think their were some fab fours from Liverpool for a starters,whilst there were a lot of skiffle groups around ,really skiffle only meant one thing LONNIE DONEGAN ,his influence on the whole 60s beat boom and uk blues scene to be,was immence.,he never got proper acclaim when he was alive.Ask Roger Daltrey,Mark Knoffler etc etc.He was THE MAN who paved the way.

[migumusi]

@yardbirdmackay I absolutely agree with you! Actually my father, who's 71 now, was a huge fan of Lonnie and he played his 7"records for me when I was around 6. Although I am German and previuosly didn't understand the lyrics at all I could sing them all by heart, since I heard Lonnie up and down the whole day ;-)

[yardbirdmackay]

@migumusi

Well,I am in my sixties,which was great in the uk ,living through the rock n roll years,skiffle.beat boom,uk blues boom etc etc etc an amazing time indeed.Back then in the skiffle days I had an uncle who was well into Lonnie I thought that was so cool back then,still do.

[migumusi]

@yardbirdmackay You're lucky, you've experienced the golden area of rock, blues and alternative styles (e.g. progressive rock)! I keep hearing music mostly from the 60's and 70's. Nowadays music I think is mostly crap - i.e. repetitions and imitations. There's rarely innovative music to find, at least in the mainstream.

[yardbirdmackay]

@migumusi

Its a shame,but you are right,a lot of the new decent stuff has an air of "heard it all before" to it.

[leoseries]

I thought Lonnie was great back then but his frantic nasal crescendos at the end of almost every song seem a bit wearing to me now..

[stig194343]

This music still makes your feet tap, We will certainly miss him.

[luckyspooky]

I'm a great Fan :o)

[tomhamilton8]

great songs and singer

[legrande111]

One of the greatest artists of any genre, surely? Skiffle? He stood head and shoulders above all the rest - there really wasn't any competition. Lonnie Donegan shaped popular music as we know it, and the landscape would be very different without him.

A great performer who, along with his always-excellent group, was surely the inspiration behind so many who went on to world-wide success in music.

Thanks, Lonnie....

[buzzkillor]

@legrande111 I don't know.. there were thousands of him in the eastern US before and after. Not noticeably interesting vs anyone else. Watch some early Hee Haw.

[ThrashRoC]

@legrande111

intresting facts 

[JaneEmma09]

something great my dad educated me on lonnies songs always put a smile on my face :)

[heybodiddley]

what a voice

[Wadsleyite]

Wonderful. The years fall away and I am 50 years younger, travelling to London to see Lonnie Donegan (also Miki & Griff and Alma Cogan) at the Hippodrome - 24 June 1957. Lonnie was a truly great performer - definitely the king of skiffle, with highly professional backup from lead guitarists Denny Wright (later Jimmy Currie), drummer "Nick" Nichols and Micky Ashman on double bass. Wonderful, wonderful...

[shakeypitt]

Don't forget Les Bennetts; he played lead guitar on Lonnies "Rides again" LP, and toured with him for some time.

[Wadsleyite]

You're absolutely right, shakeypitt - Les Bennets was an excellent guitarist who replaced Denny Wright in the group. Poor Denny - I heard he was a little too fond of the bottle for Lonnie's liking. He and Les had a lot in common, and - a sad irony - they both died of cancer in the 1990s.

[oldmanHGJ]

ah what a man

[LadyCayenne]

He's so cute and has such a great voice!!

[smokemike75]

super thanks

[RLohkamp]

Very Good!!!

[appollo100]

One of the all time great skiffle artists. I used to live around the corner from his house South Woodford in Essex.