According to Billy Bragg's book "Roots, radicals and rockers", Lonnie Donegan Showcase was the only album by a British artist to ever enter the singles chart! He goes on to quote what John Peel said about this track:
"one of the most astonishing performances in all recorded music".
You can forget Chewing Gum and Dustman, this was real Donegan. Love him or hate him - I don't know anybody who hated him - you really got value for money.
Lonnie is right up there with Tina Turner when you say, "There'll never be another one." I can still remember buying 'Rock Island Line' while in high school and totally playing it to death.......The Beatles probably would NEVER HAVE BEEN if Lonnie hadn't paved the way.
Probably Donegan's best, still honing his trade in the mid 50s. The intro is brilliant. Note the mistake in the 3rd verse where he has Frankie leaving (and "...I'm your man", when clearly she's not). The 1978 R & B rerecording rocks but is not as good in its way as this (the Van Morrison/skiffle sessions remake doesn't come near either). In 1978 he left out the rubber-tired hearses verse, a verse that links the song to its Southern/Irish roots. Many thanks to markowee for uploading.
One of the best, if not THE best version. I heard that although Lonnie made a few mistakes in the names while recording, both the studio A & R man and the record producer left the recording AS IS - as they thought the feeling and emotion that Lonnie illustrated could not be repeated. GREAT RECORDING!
