The Skiffle Craze [Paperback]

"Ace book."

"Anyone interested in cultural history, particularly the huge presence in most people's lives of pop music in the second half of the twentieth century, will find this book an absorbing read."

In 1956 the Skiffle Craze attracted DIY music-making teenagers from all over Britain who used guitars, washboards and tea-chests to play this folk music with a beat. Mike Dewe has written a book that encapsulates a chunk of pop history.

1956 was the Year - Lonnie Donegan was the Hero - Skiffle was the Music. The skiffle craze attracted DIY music-making teenagers from all over Britain, who used guitars, a washboard and tea-chest bass to play this folk music with a beat. These were the first teenagers, playing the original pop music. But what were skiffle's origins? Its attraction for young people? Its importance for Sixties music? Who were the stars? Are people still skiffling today? The Skiffle Craze answers all these questions and more. It includes a discography, select bibliography, a comprehensive index and contemporary illustrations, many of which have never been seen before. This book encapsulates a remarkable chunk of pop history and has a foreword by Chris Barber.

Fifties skiffler Mike Dewe lectured in librarianship at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth from 1975 to 1996. He continues to live in Aberystwyth, now working as a free-lance consultant, writer and indexer.

Improvised instruments depended very much on ingenuity, and on preferences for a particular sound or playing method. The British version of the tub bass, for example, consisted of an upended tea-chest to act as a resonator (that is with its open end downwards) with a hole drilled in the middle of the top. A piece of string or twine was passed through the hole and kept in place by a knot in its end. The free end of the string was then taken up over the top of an upright - a broomstick or wooden batten - and fastened in place. The bottom of the broomstick was not fixed to the tea-chest and could be located behind a small block of wood to stop it slipping when plucked. The instrument was played by holding the tea-chest firmly down by placing the foot on one corner, grasping the top of the batten or broomstick in one hand,and plucking the string with the other. Pulling the broomstick back raised the note, releasing the tension lowered it. To save wear and tear on the fingers, the player might wear a glove or use a bass-sized "plectrum" - a beer mat might do in an emergency. A fixed upright, with a "fretted" tuned string, is a more sophisticated version of DIY bass construction. Bob Cort encoraged people to get hold of a proper string bass, even an old cracked one, as it would give a better sound. He compared playing the tea-chest bass to whistling, easy to do if you can but difficult to explain to those who can't. "To me it seems impossible, but I've heard many a man who really does get good, clear notes from his box bass." The keen tea-chest player might be challenged to make an instrument that resembled the string bass, equipped with one or more strings. The Soho Skiffle Group had such a bass as do today's Black Sheep Skiffle Group from Leeds.