Steve Pank, Third Ear Band's former manager and driver, close friend of Glen Sweeney, Carolyn Looker, and Dave Tomlin, Ursula Smith's husband as well, kindly sent me these memories about the Anacondas Skiffle Group era...
"Putting ‘Anacondas skiffle’ into google, I came across an amazing collection of press cuttings about the Anacondas skiffle group, and about the skiffle craze triggered by Lonnie Donegan. Glen Sweeney was a member of Anacondas and he was seen as the ace washboard player of the Croydon area, his first experience of stardom. I remember when I took Glen to see his mother, and he was telling her about the success of the Third Ear Band, and she replied ‘Is this like when you won the Tommy Steele Cup?' I knew that he had played in a skiffle group, the name ‘Anacondas’ was chosen to match the ‘Vipers’ group who had a hit single with ‘Freight Train’.
Skiffle was originally a traditional music that was played in Louisiana and along the Mississippi, using domestic instruments like washboards and jugs. When Trumpet player Ken Colyer returned from New Orleans, and joined the Chris Barber jazz band, he brought the idea of skiffle with him. On Barber’s first LP, guitar player Lonnie Donegan recorded the Leadbelly song ‘Rock Island Line’, backed jazz singer Beryl Bryden playing washboard and Chris Barber on double bass. The washboard was a corrugated plate of metal that was played wearing thimbles on the fingers. When issued as a single, Rock Island Line became big success in Britain and America and it launched the skiffle craze. Sales of acoustic guitars skyrocketed, and tea chests, rectangular plywood boxes, that were used for importing tea and were only used once, could be utilised as bass instruments. All of those in the later British Rock movement of the ‘60s had been influenced in some way or another by skiffle.
When Lonnie Donegan played three nights in Liverpool, George Harrison went there every night. Paul MaCartney first met John Lennon at a fete/garden party at Peter’s Church in Woolton Liverpool where John was playing with his skiffle group, The Quarrymen. Ringo Starr also played in a skiffle group. He said his first experience of playing music on a snare drum was with a friend on a tea chest bass. Newspaper research showed that at its peak, there were 5000 skiffle groups in Britain. Between 1956 and 1963 Lonnie Donegan had 31 top 30 singles and three were number ones.
On June22nd 1957 in Croydon Civic Hall, in front of 800 fans, and out of 12 contesting groups, The Anacondas won the skiffle contest and were awarded the Tommy Steel Cup. In order to choose the winner, the organisers use a ‘clapometer’ to measure the level of applause! The Anacondas also played in jazz clubs alongside bands like Mike Daniels Delta Jazzmen. They were a large group, with eight members. I remember Glen telling me that he had an influence in the group because he was that bit older than the other members.
I still meet people who tell me that their first experience of playing music was with a skiffle group. The first record I ever bought was ‘The Rock Island line’."
Read my researches on the Anacondas here:
https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-anacondas-skiffle-group-stone-age.html (part 1)
https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-anacondas-skiffle-group-story-some.html (part 2)
https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-anacondas-skiffle-group-story-end.html (part 3)
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