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)
She Was T-Bone Talking Woman
Lonnie Donegan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You sure look good to me and I'd like to make you my baby
She said swell I felt good I thought I ought to keep her
But the price of eggs went up that day and they ain't never got no cheaper
She was a T-bone talkin' woman but she had a hotdog heart-heart-heart
She was a T-bone talkin' woman but she had a hotdog heart
Well, diamonds look like glass, a star looks like a planet
A heart of gold weights about the same as a heart that's made of granite
And you can't tell a queen these days from some old high-class floozy
I ain't a king but I know by now I should-a been a little more choosy
Hee-hee
She was a T-bone talkin' woman but she had a hotdog heart-heart-heart
She was a T-bone talkin' woman but she had a hotdog heart
Now, I'm not an educated feller I didn't go to a fancy school
But I can count and read and write and tell a horse from a mule
Hee-hee-hee, ha-ha-ha!
Don't try to judge a woman boy its bound to bring you tears
There's many different kinds my boy but they all got the same size ears
She was a T-bone talkin' woman but she had a hotdog heart-heart-heart
She was a T-bone talkin' woman but she had a hotdog heart
She was a T-bone talkin' woman but she had a hotdog heart
The lyrics of Lonnie Donegan's song "She Was T-Bone Talking Woman" describe the singer's encounter with a woman on the street who caught his eye. He approaches her and expresses his interest in her, but the relationship falters due to unforeseen circumstances, such as the rising price of eggs. The woman is described as a "T-bone talkin' woman," meaning that she talks a big game or portrays herself as something she's not, but deep down has a "hotdog heart," indicating that she may not be as genuine as she seems.
The song's lyrics convey a theme of not judging a book by its cover or relying on surface level appearances alone. The singer references how diamonds can be mistaken for glass and how one cannot tell a queen from an old high-class floozy in the modern age. He conveys a message that one should look beyond the superficial and not be fooled by someone's facade.
Line by Line Meaning
Walking down the street one day I said, Hey there m'lady
I approached a woman on the street and greeted her
You sure look good to me and I'd like to make you my baby
I found her attractive and expressed interest in a romantic relationship
She said swell I felt good I thought I ought to keep her
She responded positively to my advances and I considered pursuing her further
But the price of eggs went up that day and they ain't never got no cheaper
However, due to unforeseen circumstances (rising egg prices), I decided against a relationship
Well, diamonds look like glass, a star looks like a planet
It can be difficult to distinguish between things that appear similar (diamonds and glass, stars and planets)
A heart of gold weights about the same as a heart that's made of granite
A person's outward appearance or reputation doesn't necessarily reflect their true nature or character
And you can't tell a queen these days from some old high-class floozy
It's becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between someone who is truly noble and someone who only appears to be
I ain't a king but I know by now I should-a been a little more choosy
I may not be royalty, but I've learned that I should be more careful in my romantic pursuits
Don't try to judge a woman boy its bound to bring you tears
It's unwise to make assumptions or judgments about women, as it often leads to disappointment or pain
There's many different kinds my boy but they all got the same size ears
Women come in many varieties, but they are all human beings and should be treated with respect and fairness
She was a T-bone talkin' woman but she had a hotdog heart-heart-heart
She appeared confident and assertive, but her inner nature was more base or common
She was a T-bone talkin' woman but she had a hotdog heart
Similar to the previous line, she presented herself one way but was actually different on the inside
Contributed by Arianna V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Mike Hannon
on Wabash Cannonball
If you want the donegan lyrics from the recording this link has provided instead of the johnny cash ones they are as fallows;
Wabash Cannonball
by Lonnie Donegan
She came down from Birmingham, one cold December day
As she rolled into the station, you could hear the people say
That train from Indiana, she's long and she's tall...
That’s a combination called the Wabash Cannonball
Listen to the jingle, the rumble and the roar
As she comes down the mountains through the hills and by the shore
Hear the mighty rush of the engine, hear the lonesome hobos call
He’s racing through the jungle on the Wabash Cannon Ball
From the great Atlantic Ocean to the wide Pacific shore
From the green and flowing mountains to the old mill by the moor
She's long and handsome, and quite well known by all...
That’s a combination called the Wabash Cannonball
Listen to the jingle, the rumble and the roar
As she comes down the mountains through the hills and by the shore
Hear the mighty rush of the engine, hear the lonesome hobos call
He’s racing through the jungle on the Wabash Cannon Ball
Well here's to that old engineer his name will ever stand
And always be remembered in the courts throughout the land
When his mighty race is over and the curtains 'round him fall...
It'll carry him back to dixie on the Wabash Cannon Ball
Listen to the jingle, the rumble and the roar
As she comes down the mountains through the hills and by the shore
Hear the mighty rush of the engine, hear the lonesome hobos call
Yeah he’s racing through the jungle on the Wabash Cannon Ball