Thursday music corner: Lonnie Donegan (b. Glasgow 1931, d. Lincolnshire 2002) was a pioneering singer-songwriter who led the pre-Beatles skiffle craze in Britain, interpreting American jazz, blues and folk for British audiences in a low-fi rock 'n roll ethos. Starting with a cover of the plantation spiritual Rock Island Line in 1955 Donegan had 30 UK top 40 singles or EPs through to his final success with Pick A Bale Of Cotton in 1962. Three of his singles topped the UK charts: Cumberland Gap and Gamblin' Man (both 1957) and the novelty number My Old Man's A Dustman in 1960. The latter also reached number one in Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Two of Donegan's albums were major UK chart successes, with 1956's Lonnie Donegan Showcase reaching number 2 and 1958's Lonnie reaching number 3.
Frankie and Johnny is a traditional American murder ballad first recorded in 1912 and with roots in a St Louis, Missouri, murder trial from 1899. The increasingly frenzied and incendiary Donegan version appeared as the closing track on his successful 1956 Lonnie Donegan Showcase album. This performance is from a 1961 TV special.
Lonnie Donegan - Frankie & Johnny (live, 1961)
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