View source for Skiffle

{{Short description|Genre of folk music}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Skiffle
| stylistic_origins = {{hlist|[[Bluegrass music|Bluegrass]]|[[blues]]|[[country music|country]]|[[folk music|folk]]|[[jazz]]}}
| cultural_origins  = [[Southern United States]]
| derivatives       = {{hlist|[[Beat music]]|[[British blues]]|[[British rock]]|[[British folk revival]]}}
| subgenrelist      =
| subgenres         =
| fusiongenres      =
| regional_scenes   = [[United Kingdom]]
| other_topics      = [[Jug band]]
}}
'''Skiffle''' is a [[music genre|genre of folk music]] with influences from [[American folk music]], [[blues]], [[Country music|country]], [[Bluegrass music|bluegrass]], and [[jazz]], generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments.
Originating as a form in the United States in the first half of the 20th century, it became extremely popular in the United Kingdom in the 1950s, where it was played by such artists as [[Lonnie Donegan]], [[the Vipers Skiffle Group]], [[Ken Colyer]], and [[Chas McDevitt]].
Skiffle was a major part of the early careers of some musicians who later became prominent in other genres, including [[the Quarrymen]] (who were later renamed [[the Beatles]]) and [[Rory Gallagher]]. The skiffle style has been seen as a critical stepping stone to the [[British folk revival#Second revival 1945–69|second British folk revival]], the [[British blues boom]], and the [[British Invasion]] of American popular music.
==Origins in the United States==
[[Image:Cannon'sJugStompers.jpg|thumb|[[Gus Cannon]]'s Jug Stompers, c.&nbsp;1928]]
The origins of skiffle are obscure but generally thought to lie in African-American musical culture in the early 20th century. Skiffle is often said to have developed from [[New Orleans]] jazz, but this claim has been disputed.<ref name=Broken2003>M. Brocken, ''The British folk revival, 1944–2002'' (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003), pp. 69–80.</ref> Improvised [[jug band]]s playing blues and jazz were common across the American South in the early decades of the 20th century.<ref>L. R. Broer and J. D. Walther, ''Dancing Fools and Weary Blues: the Great Escape of the Twenties'' (Popular Press, 1990), p. 149.</ref> They used instruments such as the [[Washboard (musical instrument)|washboard]], [[Jug (musical instrument)|jugs]], [[washtub bass]], [[Cigar box guitar|cigar-box fiddle]], [[musical saw]] and [[comb-and-paper]] [[kazoo]]s, as well as more conventional instruments, such as [[Steel-string guitar|acoustic guitar]] and [[banjo]].<ref>J. R. Brown., ''A Concise History of Jazz'' (Mel Bay Publications, 2004), p. 142.</ref>
The origin of the English word ''skiffle'' is unknown. However, in the dialect of the west of England ''to make a skiffle'', meaning to make a mess of any business, is attested from 1873.<ref>''A Glossary of Provincial Words & Phrases in Use in Somersetshire'' (Longmans, London: 1873), 33.</ref> In early 20th century America the term ''skiffle'' was one of many [[slang]] phrases for a [[rent party]], a social event with a small charge designed to pay rent on a house.<ref>J. Simpson and E. Weiner, eds, ''The Oxford English Dictionary'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2nd edn., 1989), c.f. "skiffle".</ref> It was first recorded in [[Chicago]] in the 1920s and may have been brought there as part of the African-American migration to northern industrial cities.<ref name=Broken2003/>
The first use of the term on record was in 1925 in the name of [[Jimmy O'Bryant]] and his Chicago Skifflers. Most often it was used to describe [[country blues]] music records, which included the compositions "Hometown Skiffle" (1929) and "Skiffle Blues" (1946) by [[Dan Burley|Dan Burley & his Skiffle Boys]].<ref>J. Minton, ''78 Blues: Folksongs and Phonographs in the American South'' (University Press of Mississippi, 2008), pp. 119–20.</ref> It was used by [[Ma Rainey]] (1886–1939) to describe her repertoire to rural audiences.<ref name=Broken2003/> The term ''skiffle'' disappeared from American music in the 1940s.
==Revival in the United Kingdom==
Skiffle was a relatively obscure genre, and it might have been largely forgotten if not for its revival in the United Kingdom in the 1950s and the success of its main proponent, [[Lonnie Donegan]]. British skiffle grew out of the developing post-war [[British jazz]] scene, which saw a move away from [[swing music]] and towards [[trad jazz]].<ref name=Broken2003/> Among these bands were [[Bill Bailey Skiffle Group]] and [[Ken Colyer]]'s Jazzmen, a band formed by [[Chris Barber]]. Lonnie Donegan played banjo for the Jazzmen, and also performed skiffle music during intervals. He would sing and play guitar with accompaniment of two other members, usually on [[Washboard (musical instrument)|washboard]] and [[tea-chest bass]]. They played a variety of American folk and blues songs, particularly those derived from the recordings of [[Lead Belly]], in a lively style that emulated American [[jug band]]s. These were listed on posters as "skiffle" breaks, a name suggested by Ken Colyer's brother Bill after recalling the [[Dan Burley]] Skiffle Group.<ref name=Cohen2006/> Soon the breaks were as popular as the traditional jazz. After disagreements in 1954, Colyer left to form a new outfit, and the band became Chris Barber's Jazz Band.<ref name=Broken2003/>
The first British recordings of skiffle were carried out by Colyer's new band in 1954, but it was the release by [[Decca Records|Decca]] of two skiffle tracks by Barber's Jazz Band under the name of the "Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Group" that transformed the fortunes of skiffle in late 1955.<ref name=Broken2003/> Donegan's fast-tempo version of [[Lead Belly]]'s "[[Rock Island Line (song)|Rock Island Line]]" was a major hit in 1956, featuring a [[Washboard (musical instrument)|washboard]] (but not a tea-chest bass), with "[[John Henry (folklore)|John Henry]]" on the B-side. It spent eight months in the Top 20, peaking at No. 6 (and No. 8 in the U.S.). It was the first debut record to go [[gold album|gold]] in Britain, selling over a million copies worldwide.<ref name=Broken2003/>
The Acoustic Music organization makes this comment about Donegan's "Rock Island Line". "It flew up the English charts. Donegan had synthesized American Southern Blues with simple acoustic instruments: acoustic guitar, washtub bass and washboard rhythm. The new style was called 'Skiffle' ....  and referred to music from people with little money for instruments. The new style captivated an entire generation of post-war youth in England."<ref name="acousticmusic.org">{{Cite web|url=https://acousticmusic.org/research/history/timeline-of-musical-styles-guitar-history/|title=Timeline of Musical Styles & Guitar History|website=Acousticmusic.org|access-date=15 July 2022}}</ref>  After splitting from Barber, Donegan went on to make a series of popular records as "Lonnie Donegan's Skiffle Group", with successes including "[[Cumberland Gap (folk song)|Cumberland Gap]]" (1957), "[[Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?)|Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour]]" (1958) and "[[My Old Man's a Dustman]]" (1960).<ref name=Broken2003/>
It was the success of Donegan's "Rock Island Line" and the lack of a need for expensive instruments or high levels of musicianship that set off the British skiffle craze. A few bands enjoyed chart success in the skiffle craze, including the [[Chas McDevitt|Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group]] ("[[Freight Train (song)|Freight Train]]"),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chasmcdevitt.com/Skiffle.htm |title=RIDIN' THE FREIGHT TRAIN WITH CHAS McDEVITT (Archived copy) |access-date=2013-04-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524021114/http://www.chasmcdevitt.com/Skiffle.htm |archive-date=2013-05-24 }} Chas McDevitt: Skiffle</ref> [[Johnny Duncan (bluegrass musician)|Johnny Duncan]] and the Bluegrass Boys, and [[The Vipers Skiffle Group|the Vipers]], but the main impact of skiffle was as a grassroots amateur movement, particularly popular among [[working class]] men, who could cheaply buy, improvise, or build their own instruments and who have been seen as reacting against the drab austerity of post-war Britain.<ref name=Broken2003/><ref>J. P. Ward, ''Britain and the American South: From Colonialism to Rock and Roll'' (University Press of Mississippi, 2009), pp. 192–6.</ref> The craze probably reached its height with the broadcasting of the BBC TV programme ''[[Six-Five Special]]'' from 1957. It was the first British youth music programme, using a skiffle song as its title music and showcasing many skiffle acts.<ref name=Broken2003/>  However, the [[British rock#Early British rock and roll|British rock and roll]] scene was starting to take off, producing home-grown stars like [[Tommy Steele]], [[Marty Wilde]] and [[Cliff Richard]] and [[the Shadows]] (themselves originally involved in skiffle). By February 1958, [[Pete Murray (DJ)|Pete Murray]], host of ''Six-Five Special'', noted a trend of groups wishing to "play down that word skiffle", considering it limiting.<ref name="murray">{{cite journal |last1=Murray |first1=Pete |title=Over the points |journal=Disc |date=22 February 1958 |page=15 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Disc/1958/DISC-1958-02-22.pdf |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref> By the end of 1958, the boom was over as enthusiasts either abandoned music for more stable employment or moved into some of the forms of music that it had first suggested, including folk, blues and rock and roll. As a result, it has been seen as a critical stepping stone to the second folk revival, blues boom and the [[British Invasion]] of the US popular music scene.<ref name=Broken2003/> Donegan continued his career in skiffle until his death in 2002.<ref name=obit>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2400229.stm|title='Skiffle king' Donegan dies|date=4 November 2002|access-date=15 July 2022|website=News.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>
It has been estimated that in the late 1950s, there were 30,000–50,000 skiffle groups in Britain.<ref name=Cohen2006>R. D. Cohen, ''Folk Music: the Basics'' (CRC Press, 2006), p. 98.</ref> Sales of guitars grew rapidly, and other musicians were able to perform on improvised bass and percussion in venues such as church halls and cafes and in the flourishing coffee bars of [[Soho]], London, like [[the 2i's Coffee Bar]], [[the Cat's Whisker]] and nightspots like Coconut Grove and Churchill's, without having to aspire to musical perfection or virtuosity.<ref name=Broken2003/> A large number of British musicians began their careers playing skiffle in this period, and some became leading figures in their fields. These included leading Northern Irish musician [[Van Morrison]] and British blues pioneer [[Alexis Korner]], as well as [[Ronnie Wood]], [[Alex Harvey (musician)|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 [[David Gilmour]]; and popular [[Beat music|Beat-music]] successes [[Graham Nash]] and [[Allan Clarke (singer)|Allan Clarke]] of [[the Hollies]].<ref>C. McDevitt, ''Skiffle: The Roots of UK Rock'' (Robson Books, 1998).</ref> Most notably, [[the Beatles]] developed from [[John Lennon]]'s 1957 skiffle group [[the Quarrymen]];<ref>J. Roberts, ''The Beatles'' (Lerner Publications, 2001), p. 13.</ref> [[Paul McCartney]] was added after a few months and [[George Harrison]] joined in 1958.<ref name="acousticmusic.org"/> Similarly, the [[Bee Gees]] developed from [[Barry Gibb]]'s skiffle group [[The Rattlesnakes (1955 band)|The Rattlesnakes]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=co_YAAAAMAAJ&q=barry+gibb+the+rattlesnakes+1955 |title=The Unofficial Encyclopedia of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame |last=Talevski |first=Nick |year=1998 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9780313300325 |access-date=31 March 2015}}</ref>
During summer 1970, the skiffle-like song "[[In the Summertime]]" by British band [[Mungo Jerry]] reached the top of the charts in several countries around the world.  In 2017, performer [[Billy Bragg]]'s book ''Roots, Radicals and Rockers'', a history of the skiffle movement, was published.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jun/28/roots-radicals-and-rockers-by-billy-bragg-review-skiffle  Richard Williams, "Roots, Radicals and Rockers by Billy Bragg review – the skiffle moment and how it changed music", ''The Guardian'', 28 June 2017]. Retrieved 20 April 2018</ref>  Bragg has compared the development of skiffle in Britain in the 1950s to [[punk rock]] in the 1970s, noting that skiffle was a revolt by young people against the culture of their parents, and allowed them to create their own style of music without expensive equipment or great musical virtuosity.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/14m685MfWqvtz9LNr4W9BVp/skiffle-the-musical-revolution-that-time-forgot  "Skiffle: The musical revolution that time forgot", ''BBC Arts'', 25 February 2018]. Retrieved 20 April 2018</ref>
==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}
==External links==
*[http://music.guardian.co.uk/rock/story/0,,2283223,00.html My 20-year love affair with the joy of skiffle]
{{folk music}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Skiffle| ]]
[[Category:1950s fads and trends]]
[[Category:African-American music]]
[[Category:World music genres]]
[[Category:Blues music genres]]
[[Category:Folk music genres]]
[[Category:Jazz genres]]