British Skiffle Music

Enough on the American political front.  There was certainly a lot more happening in the Summer of 1960 than the lead-up to a US election.  There's British music!  August 1960 would see the Beatles begin a 2-year stint in Hamburg, Germany.  This is a significant period which would see them refine their music, settle on the their band, and develop their early repertoire.  The Beatles would emerge from Hamburg in late 1962 and begin their meteoric rise to stardom.

But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves in this story.   Where did their music come from?   We've already looked at Buddy Holly as a significant influence in the formation of The Beatles' sound.  Now let's have a quick look at the British "Skiffle" scene.

From Wikipedia...

"Skiffle is a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, roots and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, it became popular again in the UK in the 1950s, where it was mainly associated with musician Lonnie Donegan and played a major part in beginning the careers of later eminent jazz, pop, blues, folk and rock musicians."

Lonnie Donegan made a musical living on "Skiffle Revival".  His hits included the great hits of the "Skiffle Genre" from across the pond in the US.

• "John Henry" (1955)
• "Cumberland Gap" (1957) 
• "Gamblin' Man" (1957) - UK #1
• "The Grand Coulee Dam" ('58) 
• "Midnight Special" (1958)
• "Tom Dooley" (1958) 
• "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavour..." 1959) - UK #3
• "Battle of New Orleans" (1959) - UK #2
• "I Wanna Go Home" (1960) - UK #5
• "Michael, Row the Boat" (1961) - UK #6
• "Pick A Bale of Cotton"  (1962) - UK #11 

Wikepedia

"He was the first person we had heard of from Britain to get to the coveted No. 1 in the charts, and we studied his records avidly. We all bought guitars to be in a skiffle group. He was the man." — Paul McCartney

"I wanted to be Elvis Presley when I grew up, I knew that. But the man who really made me feel like I could actually go out and do it was a chap by the name of Lonnie Donegan." — Roger Daltrey

More from Wikipedia...

"A large number of British musicians began their careers playing skiffle in this period and some became leading figures in their respective fields. These included leading Northern Irish musician Van Morrison, British blues pioneer Alexis Korner as well as Ronnie Wood, Alex Harvey and Mick Jagger; folk musicians Martin Carthy, John Renbourn and Ashley Hutchings; rock musicians Roger Daltrey, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Robin Trower and Dave Gilmour; and popular beat music successes Graham Nash and Alan Clarke of The Hollies. Most notably The Beatles evolved from John Lennon's skiffle group The Quarrymen."

How cool is that!!  A few fun "skiffle" clips follow.

SKIFFLE ON!!   Rob; in Vancouver

"Skiffle was a name that was attached to what was, in essence, 

American folk music with a beat."
Van Morrison