Like any grammar school essay, this review will start with a Wikipedia definition "Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments". It became immensely popular in the UK during the late 50's, to be subsequently forgotten; but not before leaving an important legacy in its wake: the success of skiffle convinced British youths that one doesn't have to be black to play jazz and blues, or a hillbilly to play country; if a Scotsman like Lonnie Donegan can do it, they thought, so can we. So they went on and bought themselves their first guitar - or made themselves one from scratch, using a cigar box and some wires. Thus, in 1956 Liverpool, John Lennon started a skiffle group called The Quarrymen; pretty soon Paul McCartney and George Harrison joined in. The skiffle craze passed the Irish sea, infecting Rory Gallagher and Van Morrison who also proceeded to form bands playing in this idiom. Individual Rolling Stones started their career playing with Alexis Korner, who was Chris Barber's guitarist at the time. Barber introduced trad jazz to the UK; his idea to include folk and blues songs into his repertoire is what gave birth to British Skiffle music. Donegan, a former member of Barber's band, struck out on his own, and had a huge hit in 1955 with a sped-up version of traditional folk blues "Rock Island Line". For a few short years, he was the biggest star of British radio, to be subsequently completely forgotten - by everyone, it seems, except Van Morrison, who organised his reunion with Chris Barber's band for this concert and CD. It's obviously a work of love, a most warm and convivial affair. Barber plays bass and trombone, while Donegan and Morrison share the lead vocal duties; if the latter is the better singer, the former's voice carries more authenticity to the project. Dr. John adds his New Orleans-style piano on two songs, "Good Morning Blues" and "Goin' Home". The presence of an American could be construed as an anomaly in an album that offers homage to a British phenomenon, but, seeing as it all began as an attempt to bring the music of New Orleans to Britain, one can see it as the closing of a circle: an American jazzman paying tribute to Brits paying tribute to American jazz and folk. The material leans heavier on jazz and blues than folk and country, somewhat inverting the analogy of original skiffle. The choice of overtly familiar material (traditionals, songs by Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Jimmie Rodgers etc.) is the weakest feature of this collection; one can immediately recall a better-known (or better performed) version of each tune here. I was surprised to hear them close the CD with "I Wanna Go Home", which I knew as The Beach Boys' "Sloop John B" from Pet Sounds. Little did I know that it's a traditional Bahamian tune which has been recorded by various folk singers over the years - Donegan's own version predated The Beach Boys' by 5 years. According to the liner notes, the concert is unrehearsed, which sounds unbelievable considering the perfect coordination between the musicians. I guess the lack of rehearsal time accounts for the fact that they chose these famous songs that everybody was already very familiar with. Ultimately, there's not much here that's novel or particularly interesting; just a fun, good-natured, exercise in nostalgia by the progenitors of British blues and rock - which is enough for me. It certainly was nice to see Donegan rise from decades of obscurity; this (his last ever) recording, together with a honorary MBE by the Queen in the same year, served as belated recognition of his important contribution to British music before his sudden death from a heart attack in 2002.
**** for It Takes A Worried Man, Goin' Home, Good Morning Blues, Outskirts Of Town, Goodnight Irene, I Wanna Go Home
*** for Lost John, Don't You Rock Me Daddio, Midnight Special, Dead Or Alive, Frankie & Johnny, Railroad Bill, Muleskinner's Blues, The Ballad Of Jesse James
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