The Intro

Puttin’ On the Style/Gamblin’ Man, was the first ever double A-side to top the charts. It wasn’t until The Beatles and Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out in 1965 that this became an official phenomenon… in 1957, an intended B-side could become known as the A-side simply because it was requested more in the shops. Double A-sides must have simply had equal requests (which is why the next few years contain many Elvis double-A-sides).

Before

Donegan’s second number 1 release was also the first live recordings to reach number 1 in the UK (recorded at the London Palladium), and the last single to rule the charts issued exclusively on the 78 rpm format. The 7-inch, 45 rpm format, which had first been released in 1949, had become the norm.

Reviews

Gamblin’ Man, credited to original performer Woody Guthrie and Donegan, starts off much gentler than Donegan’s previous incendiary number 1, Cumberland Gap. A tale of a no-good gambler stealing the heart of a mother’s girl, at first Donegan’s trademark bleat is laid over a casual strum. However, just before you start to wonder when Donegan lost his fire, the song picks up, and like Cumberland Gap, it gets faster and faster, Donegan stumbling over the words as he tries to keep up with another blistering performance. The song ends with Donegan’s drummer smashing down repeatedly on the drums. No number 1 had ever ended like this before.

By comparison, the traditional number Puttin’ On the Style is rather sedate. It’s not without it’s charm, however. It’s a cheeky strum-along, offering a wry look at how youths show off to impress – perhaps Donegan’s attempt to charm the older generation, who might have been scared off by the skiffle movement? It is perhaps a sign of things to come for Donegan, whose next number 1, several years later, appalled skiffle aficionados. And me.

The Outro

A genre like skiffle was, like punk, never supposed to last long before it burnt out, but it had left its mark. The genre would not make it to number 1 again. Meanwhile, one of music’s biggest superstars had been troubling the upper reaches of the UK top 30 for quite some time, and the top spot was about to finally be his.

The Info

Written by

Gamblin’ Man: Woody Guthrie & Lonnie Donegan/Puttin’ On the Style: Traditional

Producers

Alan A Freeman & Michael Barclay

Weeks at number 1

2 (28 June-11 July)

Trivia

Births

9 July: Singer Marc Almond/Comedian Paul Merton

Meanwhile…

6 July: Scouse teenagers John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time at a garden fête at St. Peter’s Church, Woolton. Lennon’s skiffle group, The Quarrymen, were performing when McCartney arrived for the afternoon show, and they were introduced to each other afterwards by mutual friend Ivan Vaughan. McCartney tried to impress Lennon, performing Eddie Cochran’s Twenty Flight Rock while The Quarrymen set up for their evening set. It must have worked as at the end of the night, Lennon decided he should ask McCartney to join the band.

McCartney had left before their second set, but one of the songs they performed was Puttin’ on the Style.