Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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Tagged: Vipers Skiffle Group

1940s, Folk

Loddy Lo

Written and first recorded (as “Hey Lolly Lolly”) by Woody Guthrie (1944, released 1952).
Also recorded by Pete Seeger (as “Hey Li-Lee”, 1954), The Vipers Skiffle Group (sa “Hey Liley Liley Lo”, 1957), The Limeliters (as “Hey Li Lee Li Lee”, 1961).
Hit version by Chubby Checker (US #12/R&B #4 1963).

From the wiki: “Woody Guthrie recorded a version of “Hey Lolly Lolly” in 1944 which was not released until 1952. Pete Seeger recorded ‘Hey Li-Lee’ in 1954 but the song did not first gain wide familiarity until The Limeliters recorded their variation, ‘Hey Li Lee Li Lee’, during the early ’60s Folk music revival. Chubby Checker further adapted the song, recording ‘Hey Lolly Lolly’ in 1963 and going Top 20 with it on the Billboard Hot 100 and Top 5 US R&B charts.”

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1900s, Pop

Bring Back My Bonnie to Me

First recorded by Hayden Quartet (1901).
Hit versions by Alma Gluck & the Orpheus Quartet (US #10 1919), Vipers Skiffle Group (1955), Duane Eddy (as “Bonnie Come Back”, US #23/UK #12 1960), Tony Sheridan & the Beat Brothers (as “My Bonnie”, GER #5 1961 |UK #48 1963 |US #26 1964), Bonnie Brooks (as “Bring Back My Beatles (to Me)”, 1964).

From the wiki: “In 1881, under the duo of pseudonyms H.J. Fuller and J.T. Wood, Charles E. Pratt published sheet music for ‘Bring Back My Bonnie to Me’. The first recording of the song was done in 1901 by the Hayden Quartet. Alma Gluck charted with her 1919 recording. A Duane Eddy rock ‘n roll instrumental cover in 1960 charted in both the UK and the US.

“‘My Bonnie …’ became a part of the UK skiffle craze repertoire in the mid-1950s when recorded by Vipers Skiffle Group in 1955. In popular culture, though, the song is now best remembered as the one that caught Brian Epstein’s attention in 1962: the 1961 recording by Tony Sheridan backed by the Beatles (recording as ‘The Beat Brothers’). The Beatles were familiar with the Vipers’ recordings, having themselves evolved from the Liverpool skiffle group, the Quarrymen, and would go on to record another Vipers song in 1969 – Maggie May – that would appear on the album Abbey Road.

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1950s, Folk

Maggie May (The Beatles)

Originally recorded by The Vipers Skiffle Group (1957).
Also recorded by Judy Garland (1964), and The Beatles (1969).

From the wiki: “Banned by BBC Radio on its release because of the sexual content of the lyrics, ‘Maggie May’ (also known as ‘Maggie Mae’) is a traditional Liverpool folk song about a prostitute who robbed a ‘homeward bounder’: a sailor coming home from a round-trip. The song specifies several real streets in Liverpool, notably Lime Street in the center of the town.

“The Vipers Skiffle Group formed in the spring of 1956 in central London, originally as a trio of singer-guitarists, including future radio and TV personality Wally Whyton. The group became the resident band at the 2i’s Coffee Bar in Soho. After a number of hit records produced by future Beatles producer George Martin, including Whyton’s song ‘Don’t You Rock Me Daddy-O’, the group split up in 1960, and Whyton moved into television work. (Martin would later comment that working with the Vipers gave him important experience in working with an ‘informally trained but enthusiastic group of musicians.’)

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