My own influences are not much different from the people who started the British Revolution in the Swinging Sixties that changed the face of Rock music for ever. I had grown up listening to music of many varied types & some of my first memories are of the big bands & a young Frank Sinatra trying to revamp his career just after WWII.
I first became aware of Rock 'n Roll through American artists like the much-maligned Bill Hayley & the Comets & of course Elvis Presley but my greatest influence was Scottish singer & musician Lonnie Donnegan. Lonnie started out as guitarist & banjo player for the Chris Barber band playing New Orleans style jazz which was then very popular in Britain & called Trad Jazz. He introduced what I think is a British phenomenon called Skiffle which was basically his version of traditional Deep South Blues & American folk music played on very basic instruments. His first hit "Rock Island Line" even reached number one in the US hit parade in 1956 which was very rare for any Brit artist in those days. Suddenly, thousands of young lads all over the UK realised that they could do the same themselves. The most prized possessions became an old tea chest with a broom handle to make a single string tea-chest bass & an old-fashioned washboard with a few thimbles raided from Mum's needlework box became the drums. If someone had a harmonica or an old guitar they could play a few chords on they were in business.
I wasn't aware of too many US artists then as due to a Musicians Union agreement they had to employ British musicians when on tour. This meant that if they did try their luck over here they sounded quite different to what they did on their records. That's if we got to hear the records as imports were expensive & difficult to get hold of. Very often a British artist would make a cover version of a US hit which was what we got to hear on the radio. My biggest influences were the Crickets (that we later found out had a singer named Buddy Holly) & also Eddie Cochran who both came over on tour. Sadly both were to die tragically not long afterwards & Cochran was killed in a road accident during his first British tour in 1960. Joe Brown was a young British guitarist on tour with Eddie Cochran who showed him a few tips & tricks by using different gauge strings on his guitar so notes could be bent easier. Joe was also house guitarist on the popular TV show "Boy Meets Girls" & others were soon copying him. I was also very impressed by a young guitarist on Ricky Nelson's records named James Burton. I had never heard an electric guitar (think he used a Fender Telecaster) sound so sweet & beautiful ever before. (Listening to some of his solos on those old records still sends a shiver up my spine today.) Others must have thought the same as they soon started imitating his style. A chap with the strange name of Hank B Marvin was to become known in London's Soho district as the British James Burton although he later developed his own unique style. I think Hank was the first British musician to own a Fender Strat & Jet Harris (Shadows bass player) was almost certainly the first one to own a Fender Precision bass guitar & use it on recordings. Before that, bass players had always used the old bull fiddle which is still an important part of genuine old-fashioned Rock 'n Roll. There were many others like Jerry Lee Lewis & Little Richard but these were my main influences, not Elvis Presley.
Liverpool groups like the Beatles had much the same background but as Liverpool was a big international port they also had access to the latest American music. The same was true in places like London & the Rolling Stones were soon playing their version of Memphis Blues. This gives some idea of how it all started in this country & Lonnie Donegan played a major part in it.
PS. All you ever wanted to know about the late great Lonnie Donegan, the King of Skiffle. http://www.lonniedoneganinc.com/biography.htm
