Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In his first book, musician, left-wing activist, and sonic archivist Bragg has crafted a remarkable history of skiffle, a particularly British music genre. Initiated by amateur players obsessed with the blues, jazz, and folk, skiffle lured teenagers obsessed with all things American and eager to dance away post-WWII conformity and deprivation. With a DIY ethos and three-chord tunes, skiffle inspired a generation of British lads to pick up guitars, including among them Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page, and a young extraterrestrial who would later take the name "David Bowie." Roughly a cross between folk and R&B, skiffle quickly succumbed to the other two genres and faded from the charts, even as its former disciples led the British Invasion. Bragg impresses throughout with engaging prose and painstaking research. He further enlivens the text with personal insights and witty asides that give the material a unique cast few professional writers would dare. The introduction of dozens of new figures in the last third of the book diffuses the narrative but that's a minor demerit to an accomplished work. Ending with a flourish, Bragg convincingly argues for the emotional connection between skiffle and punk rock, something Bragg would know about better than most. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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Review by Library Journal Review
Anyone yearning for an overview with plenty of details on the evolution of the music genre skiffle (a combination of traditional jazz, blues, folk, and country, to name a few) should read this title by Bragg (The Lover Sings). A musician himself, Bragg states that skiffle is often left out of musician biographies as a recognized influence, which in turn leaves a hole in the acknowledgement of the style as its own genre. He meticulously researches the music and musicians who influenced skiffle, explaining that while it is a blend of many genres, it could still stand alone. Exploring the music that was crucial to British teenagers of the 1950-60s, who were looking for an outlet of expression in a postwar world, this book fills a void of available material about skiffle, of which there is currently very little. VERDICT Skiffle musicians, fans, and even readers who are not musically inclined will appreciate what this book has to offer.-Elizabeth Berndt-Morris, Boston P.L. © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Superb account, by British folk-punker Bragg (A Lover Sings: Selected Lyrics, 2016, etc.), of the politically aware, working-class skiffle craze of the 1950s.The so-called British Invasion of the 1960s was a repurposing of American music, a mix of blues, jazz, and country, that young people on the other side of the pond were hearing over American Armed Forces Radio and on records brought by Yankee ships. Yet there was a forgotten intermediary: skiffle. Born of old-school British takes on jazz, it added a rebellious racket, with a strong rhythm section built on bass, drums, and often washboard; throw thunderous guitars into the mix in the place of trombones and clarinets, and you have a homegrown recasting of an alien art form, one populated by unsung heroes and forgotten moments. Bragg finds skiffle on what he calls the "dead ground of British pop culture," and he aims to sing of those heroes and to recall their gloriesand glories they were, marking a movement that anticipated punk in its insistence on DIY performances hampered largely by a lack of outlets for recorded music. The author traces skiffle to the early '50s, giving pride of place to Lonnie Donegan, a player whose recording of the old Lead Belly song "Rock Island Line"covered at about the same time by Elvis Presley in the U.S.was a kind of declaration of skiffle's intent. It took some time for the moment to get going; as Bragg writes, "David Whitfield and Mantovani could sleep soundly in their beds," at least for a little while, until skiffle overwhelmed their easy-listening ways. But when it did, there was little to stop the likes of Alexis Korner and the Ghouls from raising a ruckusand after them not just the Beatles, famously founded on skiffle, but also the Rolling Stones, whose founders cut their teeth on the skiffle sound. Writing with an expert practitioner's appreciation for music, Bragg tells the story of British rock-'n'-roll's forerunner with verve and great intelligence. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
