Skiffle era
| Skiffle | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | African Americans in the United States |
| Typical instruments |
|
| Derivative forms | |
| Regional scenes | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Other topics | |
| Jug band | |
Skiffle is a music genre with jazz, blues, folk and American folk influences, usually using a combination of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the 20th century, it became popular again in the UK in the 1950s, where it was associated with artists such as Lonnie Donegan, The Vipers Skiffle Group, Ken Colyer and Chas McDevitt. Skiffle played a major part in beginning the careers of later eminent jazz, pop, blues, folk and rock musicians and has been seen as a critical stepping stone to the second British folk revival, blues boom and British Invasion of the US popular music scene.
The origins of skiffle are obscure but are generally thought to lie in African-American musical culture in the early 20th century. Skiffle is often said to have developed from New Orleans jazz, but this claim has been disputed. Improvised jug bands playing blues and jazz were common across the American South in the early decades of the 20th century. They used instruments such as the washboard, jugs, washtub bass, cigar-box fiddle, musical saw and comb-and-paper kazoos, as well as more conventional instruments, such as acoustic guitar and banjo.
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 is attested from 1873. In early 20th century America the term skiffle was one of many slang phrases for a rent party, a social event with a small charge designed to pay rent on a house. It was first recorded in Chicago in the 1920s and may have been brought there as part of the African-American migration to northern industrial cities.
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