What does everyone think about Lonnie Donegan? I am of the opinion that if you have recordings by Leadbelly, then you don't need Lonnie. However, he was a major influence in the UK, maybe more so than Alexys Korner. Lonnie encouraged people to take up the guitar, including a young and impressionalble John Lennon, and he opened up people's ears to American roots music, the blues in particular. He may also have started up the folk revival. A major figure, undoubtedly. However, listening to a few things he has done, I find his delivery infuriatingly enthusiastic, rather like a blues equivelant of a happy-clappy born again Evangelical, which is often at odds with the tone of the lyrics. He upset a lot of his fans by recording novelty songs, although I quite like them as he was plugging into his Music Hall roots, an updated version of George Formby if you like.

Am I being unfair to Lonnie? Does his version of Rock Island Line bring something new to the song, or is his value to make people aware of something better than himself? So watcha all fink?