THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

484-The Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Group-Rock Island Line.

1955-Number 8 single.

Best Bit-At 1.09. No exaggeration, this is one of the most important songs in the development of ‘Pop’ music, as it influenced many of the next generations top musicians.

The musical genre of ‘Skiffle’ is ‘Folk’ music, with influences of ‘Jazz,’ and ‘Blues,’ that developed in the early part of the 20th Century in America. Artists who performed ‘Skiffle’ would use homemade, or improvised instruments such as the ‘washboard,’ ‘musical saw,’ and ‘comb and paper kazoos,’ by the 1940’s the term ‘Skiffle’ had disappeared from American music.

‘Skiffle’ was all but forgotten until it’s revival in the mid 1950’s, by it’s main proponent Lonnie Donegan (1931-2002) (see also best songs 136.) British teenagers saw that it was possible to form bands, and make music with a very low cost budget. Among those who were influenced was future ‘Beatle’ John Lennon, (1940-1980) (see also best songs 927-599-473-456-319-238-218-168-141-80-51-20-10 and 5) who formed the ‘Skiffle’ group the ‘Quarrymen’ in 1956. The English singer/songwriter Billy Bragg in his 2017 book ‘Roots, Radicals and Rockers, a history of the skiffle movement,’ has compared the development of ‘Skiffle’ in Britain in the 1950’s to ‘Punk Rock’ in the 1970’s, 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.’ 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, can be traced back to 1873. In early 20th Century in America the term ‘skiffle’ was one of many slang phrases for a ‘rent party,’ which was a social event with a small charge designed to pay rent on a house. Tenants would hire a musician or band to play, and pass the hat around to raise money to pay their rent, this originated in Harlem during the 1920’s.

‘Rock Island Line’ is an American Folk song that was written in 1929 by Clarence Wilson, who was a member of the ‘Rock Island Colored Booster Quartet,’ a singing group which was made up of employees of the ‘Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad.’ The original lyrics bare little resemblance to later versions, including Lonnie Donegan’s cover, as artists would develop the song in their own way over the years. Lonnie Donegan got to know about the ‘Rock Island Line’ song after hearing it performed on record by the ‘Blues’ musician ‘Lead Belly’ (1888-1949) (see also best songs 431.) According to ‘The Penguin Book Of American Folk Songs’ published in 1964, they say of ‘Rock Island Line,’ ‘John A. Lomax (1867-1948) (see also best songs 781) recorded this song at the ‘Cummins State Prison farm,’ Gould, Arkansas, in 1934 from its convict composer, Kelly Pace. The Negro singer, Lead Belly, heard it, rearranged it in his own style, and made commercial phonograph recordings of it in the 1940’s. One of these recordings was studied and imitated phrase by phrase, by a young English singer of American Folk songs, (referring to Lonnie Donegan) who subsequently recorded it for an English company. The record sold in the hundreds of thousands in the U.S. and England, and this Arkansas Negro convict song, as adapted by Lead Belly, was published as a personal copyright, words and music, by someone whose contact with the Rock Island Line was entirely through the grooves of a phonograph record.’

‘Rock Island Line’ was recorded in July 1954 by Lonnie Donegan, (guitar and vocal) Chris Barber, (1930-2021) (bass) and Beryl Bryden (1920-1998) (washboard) and released as ‘The Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Group.’ The song was the first debut single record to be certified gold in the UK, where it triggered the ‘Skiffle’ craze. In the UK the song reached Number 8, while in America on Billboard it also peaked at Number 8, and eventually went on to sell in excess of one million copies worldwide. It is said that after recording ‘Rock Island Line’ the trio accepted a flat session fee of £50 rather than a royalty on every copy sold. Lonnie Donegan lived to regret that decision, and complained throughout his career about his lack of financial reward for cutting the song, although he was compensated by re-recording it on more than one occasion.

‘The Acoustic Music’ organisation has said about Lonnie Donegan’s version. ‘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.’

‘Well if you want to ride you gotta ride it like you find it. Get your ticket at the station of the rock island line. Well I may be right, I may be wrong, you’re gonna miss me when I’m gone.’