Died On This Date (November 3, 2002) Lonnie Donegan / The King Of Skiffle
themusicsover Anthony “Lonnie” Donegan
April 29, 1931 – November 3, 2002
Lonnie Donegan was one of the most popular performers of the ’50s and early ’60s skiffle scene of the UK. Skiffle was a raved up version of traditional folk, blues, jazz and country influences from the US. British Invasion bands like the Beatles rose out of the skiffle scene and claim Donegan as a direct influence. Donegan began playing guitar at the age of 14, and in 1952, he formed his first band, the Tony Donegan Jazz Band. He switched to “Lonnie” a few years later and began playing in bands that were evolving into skiffle music by adding such instruments as banjo and washboard. His first recording was a 1956 rave up of Lead Belly’s “Rock Island Line” which became a massive hit, selling in excess of three million copies. Donegan continued to release UK high-charting records into the early ’60s, but his sound never really caught on in the U.S. He struggled to stay relevant during the ’70s and ’80s even with such fans as Elton John, Brian May and Ronnie Wood paying tribute to his work. His last shots of major exposure came in 2000 when he appeared on Van Morrison’s acclaimed The Skiffle Sessions album, and peformed at the Glatonbury Festival. On November 3, 2002, Lonnie Donegan, 71, suffered what would be his final of at least three heart attacks in his later years, this last one being fatal.
What You Should Own
Although he was small in stature, picked the guitar lightly, and sang almost in a whisper, Mississippi John Hurt’s influence on folk and blues was huge. He learned to play the guitar before he was ten, and by the early 1920s, he had already been playing in front of crowds at local barn dances. In 1928, and on the recommendation of a friend who had recently won an Okeh Records contract in a talent contest, Hurt was asked to audition for the label. He was signed that same year and given two recording sessions that produced collection of sides that sadly, never had a chance to develop since Okeh soon went under due to the Great Depression. Hurt soon retired from the music business and went back to his life as a sharecropper. Fast forward about 35 years to 1963. The folk revival was in full swing when music historian, Tom Hoskins heard those old recordings and sought out to find Hurt. He tracked him down still living in Avalon, Mississippi and convinced him to move to Washington DC and relaunch his music career. Hurt’s set at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival was that of legend, and he was subsequently signed to legendary folk label, Vanguard Records. He went on to tour the country and even perform on the Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. Hurt’s music influenced a new generation of singer-songwriters from blues to country to folk. Mississippi John Hurt died of a heart attack on November 2, 1966. In 2001, Morgana Kennedy and the folks at Vanguard records released Avalon Blues: A Tribute to the Music of Mississippi John Hurt. It contained versions of John Hurt songs by the likes of Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Ben Harper, Beck and John Hiatt.
Nathaniel Mayer was a Detroit R&B singer who first surfaced in the early ’60s when he was signed to the legendary Fortune Records. Mayer made several records for Fortune, including 1962’s “Village of Love,” which became a Top 40 hit and continues to be a favorite cover song to this day. Six years after signing to the label, Mayer left the music business and all but vanished, becoming a part of blues folklore and urban legend. He did resurface in the early ’80s to cut one side, but was gone again until 2002. It was that year that reissue specialists, Norton Records released a previously unissued 34 year-old track by Mayer, prompting him to come out of his self-imposed exile. He mounted his biggest tour ever and signed with hip indie label, Fat Possum Records. He toured with the Black Keys in 2005, turning on a new generation of fans with his raunchy and energetic live show. Just three years into his renaissance, Nathaniel Mayer, 64, died following a series of strokes.
