Lonnie Donnegan

Heard on the news yesterday that he passed away. I remember his skiffle group way, way back. "My Old man's a dustman", "Has your chewing gum lost it's flavour", "Last train to San Fernando", "Freight Train" etc, etc. They don't make up titles like that up anymore!! Another character gone, reminder of my younger days. Sad!!

Louisa I dont know who he was but I do know the song "My Old Man"

Yep Mark - just us oldies would remember him!! You are far too young!! :-)

Oddly enough we found an old 45 record of My Old Man's a Dustman last month in the attic of my Mom's house.

Seems to be a year for UK celeb obituaries this year.

I heard about this from Wintermoor, and was reminded of the "variations" of his songs that were sung behind the mikes (off the air, in a more conservative time) in many broadcast studios. I have an old 45 of "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor (on the bedpost overnight)". I hope Wintermoor will fill in here, as he seems to have met every performer you can mention from the past 50 years. Odd, since he was only a toddler 50 years ago, huh? As a promoter and a Scotsman, he missed little.

Aimee, my mum used to have an old 78!!! version of that song - from way before Lonnie's time i imagine - which we used to put on her old wind up gramaphone as kids.

Haven't the faintest who that was by, but i can here it now and the way it would slow down when more winding was needed

Philomel, I am impressed! Wasn't it funny to let the player almost run down, then wind it as it was playing and hear it gradually increase speed? Of course, the sound of those old "reproducers" left a lot to be desired, but we didn't know it at the time.

Yes, poor old Lonnie.

Another good Scotsman goes to the big skiffle group in the sky.

Lonnie Donegan was born in Glasgow in 1932, and as a teenager, started his first skiffle group. He, as the forerunner in the UK for this type of music, and his first single "Rock Island Line", brought him immediate success, as he didn't use any conventional instruments apart from a cheap Spanish guitar. The other instruments in the band were:

A Bass Box, which was an old tea-chest with a broom handle sticking in it, and a string attached to the top of the handle then fixed firmly to the chest by means of 2 bolts (with nuts) and a piece of flat-iron. The different notes were produced by leaning the broom handle towards or away from the chest fixture.

A Percussion Section, which consisted of a wash-board played with thimbles, and various pots and pans which gave off different tones when played with either the thimbles or a spoon. A pair of soup spoons. Anything else which made a sound.

Many artists have given Lonnie the 'blame' for starting their careers, since after they heard his music , they almost immediately wanted to be in that whole scene, some of the bands which would never have even started if it wasn't for Lonnie were, The Beatles, The Kinks, the Moody Blues, Herman's Hermits, The Move, Manfred Mann, Spooky Tooth, Status Quo, The Easybeats, Brian Poole & The Tremeloes, and Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders.

Brian May (Queen) and Van Morrison have been influenced by Lonnie throughout their careers, so much so that Van had a double headline tour with Lonnie at the end of the 80's, and they carried on with this partnership well into the 90's, bringing Brian May & George Harrison in as guitarists, Ringo Starr on drums, Gary Brooker (Procol Harum) on keyboards, and occassionally Bill Wyman (The Rolling Stones) on Bass.
Van's first ever band used the exact instruments as Lonnie's skiffle group, and they called themselves 'The Sputniks', after the Russian space-capsule.

Lonnie died last week of heart failure, after undergoing many operations over the last 25 years. At his bedside was his eldest son (eldest of 7 children), and his third wife.

The entire music industry (worldwide) is paying its respects to Lonnie .... one man who gave so many so much.

Thank you Lonnie.

And thank you , Barry, for sharing this with the entire garden. Oh, the stories you could tell. (Did I hear that wicked laugh just there in the wings?)

Thanks Barry. A fitting tribute I would say!! I remember all his songs. By the way, isn't Brian May the guy with the really long hair in Queen and if so did he marry 'Angie' from Eastenders of barmaid fame? I know they had been an item for quite a while. Or am I thinking of someone else in the band?