The Beatles, The Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Tom Jones - BASICALLY EVERY SINGLE GROUP/ARTIST WHO WERE ALL PART OF "THE BRITISH INVASION" (ie: the music/soundtrack of the sixties and seventies - you have the man above to thank for that!!! Lonnie Donegan was responsible for the British Invasion; Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry were responsible for the American equivalent!! FACTS.) MAY ALL THREE MEN REST IN HARMONIOUS PEACE!! 🤍🌹🕊️
Just learned of Lonnie watching a Lead Belly video wherein George Harrison is quoted, "Without Lead Belly, there'd be no Lonnie Donegan; with no Lonnie, there'd be no Beatles." HTF am I just now @ age 54 yrs learning of Lonnie? He was awesome!
I was a teen in '61, living in Minneapolis. I remember hearing "Rock Island Line" on local radio back then. And THEN - "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor On The Bedpost Overnight" exploded. Magic - I've been a fan ever since.
I have to assume my feet were moving, since my legs have no feeling from the knees down, these days. But I know my heart was beating faster! LOVE Lonnie!
This song was part of my childhood in the mid-fifties, heard on the wireless. We had no TV and I asked my dad what Lonnie Donegan looked like. He screwed his eyes up and pulled his lips back to show his clenched teeth. I didn't believe him, but later when I saw Lonnie belting out the Rock Island Line lyrics at full pace I saw my dad was right. Still love Lonnie's version of that song. Great performer.
It was Roger Daltrey who said that Elvis turned everyone onto Rock and Roll but that it was Lonnie Donegan who opened it up for everyone to go out and form groups. He was a huge influence on a huge number of British bands of the late 50s and early 60s
I worked on several concerts over the years with Lonnie, mostly at the Chris Barber re-union tours, and was at his funeral to pay my last respects to the great man. Joe Brown did the eulogy and looking towards the coffin at the end said, " Such a small casket for such a great man ".. Just about summed him up really..
I’m named after Lonnie Donegan!! But my mum wanted to spell it Loni! I’m so glad I’ve come across this and actually taken the time to listen to Lonnie! I absolutely love it and I’ll be listening to more!!
Im 80 now and was inspired to form a skiffle group after listing to LD. The Beatles.were also.influenced by him and many other 60s bands. Thanks to LD for bringing music to life and influencing so many. As Joe Brown said at LD's funeral, "Such a small casket to contain such a huge talent"
But! I'm 76 now, and I'd be thrilled to join @JohnRawlinsonCyprus ' new band. I always wanted to form an instrumental 'surf' music band, and call us 'The Dentures'. Can't find any personnel, tho.@@tedtimmis8135
It’s amazing because here he is playing pure American folk blues on telly years before the stones etc “discovered” it. I think his comedy stuff did get in the way of just how revolutionary he was. I LOVED his comedy stuff as a kid, this came later 🎶👍🏼👍🏼
My Grandad died a week ago yesterday, wish I knew the man better than I did but while talking to my Mum and my Nan recently and learning more, I learnt of my Grandad’s love for skiffle. I’d never heard of it, or Lonnie... I’m glad I have now. Cheers Grandad Ray, I’ll have a drink on you x
Lonnie Donegan spread rock music into the UK/Europe, he had a huge stage presence with the relaxation to use some humour to get the message across. Thanks!
You know, in the US, we don't even know who Lonnie Donegan is. People who are into music know his name as the guy who inspired John, Paul, and George to start a skiffle band, and that's about it. My God, I love this man. He is absolutely wonderful.
Half of America have never seen the ocean and believe in something called god! Why would they have the inclination to search out a Scottish icon? I've had to tell Pensylvanians about Johhny Appleseed. Sorry man, but America is the fattest most ignorant nation on earth. By the way, I work with a revolving door of international sportspeople. I commend you on your taste. Lonnie was from Glasgow, Scotland, like myself. Rock on. 👊
@@strexus Your ridiculous alcohol fueled insults aside, Skiffle never made it to America. We were the musical influencers at the time, rather than the influenced. Bill Haley, Little Richard, blues artists, and then came the movie, "The Girl Can't Help It", which effectively put Skiffle in the ground and replaced it with Rock N Roll. From there, British youth embraced rock, made it their own and influenced the world.
I have watched The Voice video of Peter Donegan with Tom Jones about 6 times, its wondeful brought tears to my eyes every time. I live in Canada now so missed it last Saturday but thank goodness for Face Book & RU-vid.
this song was big on Chicago radio around 1960. It is one that certainly shaped my life. the trains coming into Chicago were awesome. Gosh, yes! So was Lonnie Donegan.
Being the son of a train man, this song was a hit when I was a youngster. A ride in a '56 Buick with my teenage buddy, on the old 2-lane out to Elgin, Illinois, his Mom swaying in the back seat as we cruised across the country.
Lonnie Donegan also wrote the song "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" and collaborated with Tom Jones on the recording. It became Tom Jones greatest hit, and brought him to the forefront.| This Performance of "Rock Island Line" was seen by Johnny Cash who tried to imitate it in everyway. He said Lonnie Donegan was brilliant. I saw a video of his son Peter Donegan performing on "the Voice" and Tom Jones was a judge, and they ended up singing part of the song together. Yeah, I cried.
I remember it like it was yesterday, but I'd never seen him perform it. He gave it his all and made novelty songs sound great. PS If you don't know him his other big hit from the day was Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavor On The Bedpost Overnight
Stunning! Never realized a British man could sing such American music as we as any in America. He did it his way. Musical genius. He seems so nervous here. He defined British bluegrass, it seems to me, and they called it Skiffle. I have bought some CDs to listen to him in respectable sound quality. A great discovery after 45 years of loving music.
I came here because I was checking a post on social media about trains and saw the Rock Island Line. I remembered a version of this from a movie called The General's Daughter.
I remember learning that song in the second grade, well over 50 years ago! Of course we sang it at a much slower beat, but it was considered a classic folk song!
Right around this time my best friend in High School memorized this and made me sing it along ith him, Along with a few Robert Johnson tunes like Hell Hound on my TRail,
There would be no Beatles, Stones, Zepplin, Queen, Bee Gees etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc without this man inspiring so many young British kids to pick up a guitar and make music their life...
On this day in 1956 {May 19th} Lonnie Donegan and his Skiffle Group performed "Rock Island Line" on the NBC-TV program 'The Perry Como Show'... At the time the song was at #24 on Billboard's Top 100 chart; one month earlier on April 5th, 1956 it had peaked at #8 {for 1 week} on Billboard's Best Sellers in Stores chart and stayed on the Top 100 for 17 weeks... The group had two other records make the Top 100; "Lost John" (#58 in 1956) and "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavor (On the Bedpost Overnight)" (#5 in 1961)... R.I.P. Mr. Donegan, born Anthony James Donegan MBE, {1931 - 2002}...
I came here after seeing this on the BBC documentary, 12.4.19. I am old enough to remember Lonnie but strangely enough not this particular song. Cumberland Gap and Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour On the Bedpost Overnight....I recall well. His son Peter even sounds like Lonnie when he is talking. When Peter sang with Tom Jones it was a fantastic moment, I got goosebumps on me goosebumps!!
In 1956 or 7, I hired an old car with really bad steering (90 degress play), and after school at Melton Mowbray drove to Grantham Drill Hall, with Gerry Woodcock to see Chris Barber, and his singer wife (forget her name for the moment), Lonnie and his skiffle group played this in a spot, complete with tea-chest bass! Absolutely wonderful. Thanks for the memory.
I remember seeing Lonnie Donagan at the Liverpool Empire in the early 60s. Des O'Conner was on the same blill. Lonnie was different from the American pop music we where subjected to at that time. His music inspired a lot of people.
I did! I did! ✋✋! Tom is the best ever and and Lonnie's son, Peter, will b a legend in his own rite. Good advise his father gave him-to write his own music.
I was heavily influenced as a child when I was a small scout, and the Rovers, the elder brethren, (they were eighteen years old!) played skiffle behind closed doors in the HQ. Of course, I remember "Rock Island Line" but the first song that really struck me was "Midnight Special" played by a skiffle group at a church youth club party! I was hooked and I still get asked now to play the King of Skiffle
Lonnie was born into an age when TV was in it's infancy. Nowadays, Lonnie would have been HUGE! Musical, Funny, Personality in Spades, great voice......the BBC would have signed him up on a £10,000,000.00 contract. Then they would have made him a Quiz Show Host.....😵
This is a Freedom song. In July 1954 Englishman Lonnie Donegan recorded a fast version of Leadbelly's "Rock Island Line". It was a hit in 1956. Donegan made no money because it was a bandsong. It was the first debut record to go gold in the UK. It reached the US Top Ten. It proved greatly influential on musicians in their younger days and was a catalyst in their musical motivation and careers. The skiffle style encouraged amateurs and one of many groups that followed was the Quarrymen, formed in March 1957 by John Lennon.
