Donegan was born as Anthony James Donegan in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of a professional violinist. His ethnic mix was Scottish/Irish. He moved with his mother to London at an early age, after his parents divorced. Inspired by blues music and New Orleans jazz bands he heard on the radio, he resolved to learn the guitar, and bought his first at the age of fourteen.
The first band he ever played in was the trad jazz band led by Chris Barber, who approached him on a train asking him if he wanted to audition for his group. Barber had heard that Donegan was a good banjo player; in fact, Donegan had never played the banjo at this point, but he bought one and managed to bluff his way through the audition. His stint in this group was interrupted, however, when he was called up for National Service in 1949. He also played in Ken Colyer's group
In 1952, he formed his first own group, the Tony Donegan Jazzband, which found some work around London. On one occasion they opened for the blues musician Lonnie Johnson at the Royal Festival Hall. Donegan was a big fan of Johnson, and took his first name as a tribute to him. The story goes that the host at the concert got the musicians' names confused, calling them "Tony Johnson" and "Lonnie Donegan", and Donegan was happy to keep the name.
With a washboard, a tea-chest bass and a cheap Spanish guitar, Donegan entertained audiences with folk and blues songs by artists such as Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie. This proved so popular that in July 1954 he recorded a fast-tempoed version of Leadbelly's "Rock Island Line", featuring a washboard but not a tea-chest bass, with "John Henry" on the B-side. It was an enormous hit in 1956 (which also later inspired the creation of a full album, An Englishman Sings American Folk Songs, released in America on the Mercury label in the early 1960s) but ironically, because it was a band recording, Donegan made no money from this recording beyond his original session fee. (Nevertheless, Donegan received considerable music publishing royalties from "Rock Island" simply by claiming the British copyright on an unregistered song which was considered to be in the Public Domain. This led to the peculiar situation that any "cover" version of "Rock Island Line" which was released on record in Britain from 1956 showed the song composition credited to Lonnie Donegan.) It was the first debut record to go gold in the UK, and reached the Top Ten in the United States. His next single for Decca, "Diggin' My Potatoes", was recorded at a concert at the Royal Festival Hall on 30 October 1954.[4] Decca dropped Donegan thereafter, but within a month he was at the Abbey Road Studios in London recording for EMI's Columbia label. He had left the Barber band by then, and by the spring of 1955, Donegan signed a recording contract with Pye. His next single "Lost John" reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart.
His success at the time saw Donegan sent to the United States, where he appeared on television on both Perry Como Show and Paul Winchell Show. Returning to the UK, Donegan recorded his debut album, Lonnie Donegan Showcase, in the summer of 1956, which featured songs by Lead Belly and Leroy Carr, plus "I'm a Ramblin' Man" and "Wabash Cannonball". The LP was a hit, securing sales in the hundreds of thousands.[4] The popular skiffle style encouraged amateurs to get started, and one of the many skiffle groups that followed was The Quarrymen formed in March 1957 by John Lennon. Donegan's "Gamblin' Man" / "Puttin' On the Style" single was number one on the UK chart in July 1957, when Lennon first met Paul McCartney.
Donegan went on to make a series of popular records with successes including "Cumberland Gap" and, particularly "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavour (On The Bedpost Over Night)", his only hit song in the U.S., released on Dot. He turned to a music hall style with "My Old Man's a Dustman" which was not well received by skiffle fans, or in an attempted but ultimately unsuccessful American release by Atlantic in 1960, but it reached number one in the UK Singles Chart. Donegan's group had a flexible line-up, but was generally formed by Denny Wright or Les Bennetts (of Les Hobeaux and Chas McDevitt's skiffle groups) playing lead guitar and singing harmony vocals, Micky Ashman or Pete Huggett - later Steve Jones - on upright bass, Nick Nichols - later Pete Appleby and Mark Goodwin - on drums or percussion and Donegan playing acoustic guitar or banjo and singing the lead.
He continued to appear regularly in the UK charts until 1962, before succumbing to the arrival of The Beatles and beat music.
Add 1: In the early fifties after Donegan was demobbed from National Service he joined Chris Barber and Ken Colyer and others called Ken Colyer's Jazzmen which consisted of Ken Colyer (trumpet), Chris Barber (trombone), Monty Sunshine (clarinet), Lonnie Donegan (banjo), Jim Bray (bass) Dickie Bishop (Guitar) and Ron Bowden (drums). This group recorded two excellent blues numbers with Lonnie Donegan as vocal called "In the evening when de sun go down" and "The Midnight Special" After a year, Ken colyer stormed out of the group and Chris Barber took over.
http://www.p.griggsy.btinternet.co.uk/Untitled/Lonnie.html (Memories of Lonnie Donegan by Paul Griggs)
Goodnight Irene
Lonnie Donegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Me and my wife settled down
But me and my wife have parted
I'm gonna take another stroll downtown
Irene goodnight (goodnight Irene)
Irene goodnight
Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll get you in my dream
Stop your ramblin'
Stop your gamblin'
Stop stayin' out late, late at night
Go home to your wife and your family
Sit down by your fireside so bright
Irene goodnight (Irene)
Irene goodnight
Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll get you in my dream
I love Irene and I swear I do (yes)
Love 'er, love 'er, love 'er, love 'er, love 'er
Love 'er, love 'er, love 'er, love 'er
Still the sea runs dry
And if Irene ever turns her back on me
I'm gonna take morphine and die
Irene goodnight
Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight
Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight
Irene goodnight
Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I'll get you in my dream
The lyrics of Lonnie Donegan's "Goodnight Irene" may seem a bit confusing. The first two verses describe the singer's recent marriage and subsequent separation from their partner, which has led them to go out and wander the streets. In contrast, the chorus is a farewell to "Irene," who the singer seems to have loved, with the repeated phrase "goodnight Irene" serving as a kind of goodbye to this absent beloved. The final verse speaks to the singer's deep love for Irene, implying that it is stronger than the singer's desire to live, with the line "I'm gonna take morphine and die" leaving the listener with a sense of the singer's desperation.
However, the song can also be interpreted on a broader level as a reflection of the African American experience in the early 20th century. The character of Irene may represent the freedom and respite from hardship that African Americans found in music, nightlife, and other forms of recreation. However, the song's admonishments to "stop your ramblin', stop your gamblin'" and "go home to your wife and your family" can be seen as a commentary on the societal pressures to conform to white norms, to renounce the freedom that African Americans found in forms of pleasure that were deemed inappropriate and to attempt to fit into the structure of society by conforming to white values.
Line by Line Meaning
Last Saturday night I got married
I recently got married.
Me and my wife settled down
My wife and I started a new life together.
But me and my wife have parted
Unfortunately, we have separated.
I'm gonna take another stroll downtown
I plan to go out and have some fun.
Irene goodnight (goodnight Irene)
I bid farewell to Irene.
Stop your ramblin'
Stop wandering aimlessly.
Stop your gamblin'
Stop taking unnecessary risks.
Stop stayin' out late, late at night
Stop staying out late at night.
Go home to your wife and your family
Return home to your loved ones.
Sit down by your fireside so bright
Relax and spend time with your family by the fireplace.
Irene goodnight (Irene)
I say goodbye to Irene once again.
I love Irene and I swear I do (yes)
I truly love Irene.
Love 'er, love 'er, love 'er, love 'er, love 'er
I express my deep love for her repeatedly.
Love 'er, love 'er, love 'er, love 'er
I can never love her enough.
Still the sea runs dry
My love for Irene will never fade.
And if Irene ever turns her back on me
If Irene rejects me,
I'm gonna take morphine and die
I will resort to taking morphine and end my life.
Irene goodnight
Once again, goodbye to Irene.
Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight
I bid a final farewell to Irene.
Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight
I say goodnight to Irene repeatedly.
Irene goodnight
My last goodbye to Irene.
Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I finally say goodnight to Irene.
I'll get you in my dream
I will dream of Irene tonight.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Huddie Ledbetter, John Lomax
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mara Karetsos
Wonderful
🎼🎸⭐️
Peter Piper
Love this song. Van & Jerry Lee Lewis do a great version too...Thanks Wooly...
Woolhall
Yes PP , Jerry L adds some brilliant piano on that version , great piece of film
Barbara Adams
I'm enjoying watching these videos, they are great. Thank you. ✨ 🌠 🌌
mario7frankielee
an old time favorite
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
nissi
Thanks A ! Some cool harmonies in this one !✨🤍✨
targarosko
a great happiness this morning with the great Van ....." i'm gonna take my coffee and live " not morphine now !!!!!!i wish you a great day if you are always in Honfleur good sun dear Woolhy ♥♥♥
Steve Duncan
Why can't I find the Lonnie Donegan version??
Bar None
Is this a rehearsal?
Richard Bishop
Ur style u must been thinking about Irene!!!!