A Golden Age Of Donegan – LONNIE DONEGAN***

Have A Drink On Me/Nobody Loves Like An Irishman/Cumberland Gap/Seven Golden Daffodils/Puttin’ On The Style/Battle Of New Orleans/Rock O’ My Soul/Fort Worth Jail/Grand Coulee Dam/My Old Man’s A Dustman

The King of Skiffle, Lonnie Donegan, placed no fewer than 26 singles in the British top twenty between 1956-62. His first Golden Age album includes some of his best remembered hits. (UK:3)

“Donegan was anti-smooth; his voice was harsh sounding and that, combined with uptempo guitar and drums, created a raw and basic form of music. Although he happily pillaged the full gamut of American traditional music - blues, country, work songs, gospel, etc - he didn't sound anything like a folk singer - in those days the latter was a very polite individual with finger picked guitar. It's worth adding that his song selection was eclectic Putting On The Style, one of his earlier numbers, was old but hardly traditional.”

“Skiffle may appear slightly strange in the history of post war popular music. Instruments made from household utensils. American folk, blues and spirituals sung by Londoners. Although effectively killed off as a movement with the advent of beat music in the early 60s, skiffle was the bridge for young men who looked across the ocean to the exotic sounds of the first rock 'n' rollers with awe and wonder.”

“I guess that Lonnie Donegan's singing voice is not perhaps everyone's cup of tea, but this trip down nostalgia lane made me smile. I got the feeling that Lonnie enjoyed recording these songs as much as I enjoyed listening to them."

“Donegan was a very influential artist in the early 60s Brit rock and blues scene and this is a decent representation of his best work."

“As a young lad in the sixties, skiffle was a way of life and the tracks on this, a kind of tribute album, really reflect the fun we had and the energy that was expended on the dance floors.”

“Whilst skiffle itself was not durable in terms of the public eye it spawned a whole era of music that charts British music history. OK they weren't rock 'n' roll but they were the next best thing.”