John Franklin Duncan (September 7, 1932 – July 15, 2000) was an American bluegrass and skiffle musician. He became popular in Britain in 1957 with "Last Train to San Fernando", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart.
Duncan was born in the Windrock coal-mining camp overlooking the town of Oliver Springs, Tennessee. He sang with his local church choir and later with a gospel quartet, In his teens he moved to Texas where he learned guitar and mandolin, and played in a hillbilly trio. He served in the US Air Force, and in 1952 was garrisoned in Cambridgeshire, England, where he met and married Betty Gardner, a local girl. After a brief return to the US, her illness and homesickness brought them back, and he briefly worked on her father's market clothes stall in Huntingdon market while she recovered.
Guided by record producer Denis Preston, Duncan then formed a new band, the Blue Grass Boys, comprising of bassist Jack Fallon, drummer Lennie Hastings, and guitarist Bryan Daly, who was later replaced by top-flight jazz player Denny Wright, a veteran of Donegan's band. The group was christened the Blue Grass Boys, in "honour" of Bill Monroe's group.
Duncan soon gained a recording contract with Columbia and the band began appearing regularly on a new BBC radio show, Saturday Skiffle Club (later Saturday Club). Their first recording was a commercially unsuccessful cover version of Hank Williams'"Kaw-Liga". In 1957 their second release "Last Train To San
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Fernando" perhaps fell into the same railroad category as the earlier skiffle classics "Rock Island Line" and "Freight Train". Despite, or possibly because of, this the British public loved it and sent it almost to the top. The track was arranged by Wright and Fallon, who gave the piece a strong "country" feel in the erroneous belief that San Fernando was in Texas rather than Trinidad.
Fernando" perhaps fell into the same railroad category as the earlier skiffle classics "Rock Island Line" and "Freight Train". Despite, or possibly because of, this the British public loved it and sent it almost to the top. The track was arranged by Wright and Fallon, who gave the piece a strong "country" feel in the erroneous belief that San Fernando was in Texas rather than Trinidad.Duncan briefly became a star in Britain, touring with Wee Willie Harris, Cliff Richard, and American singer Marvin Rainwater, and appearing regularly on BBC radio and the TV show Six-Five Special, produced by Jack Good.
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Duncan had two other entries in the UK Singles Chart in 1957, with "Blue, Blue Heartaches" (#27) and "Footprints in the Snow" (#22). Unfortunately, Duncan was unable to find another substantial hit to consolidate himself as a long term recording artist. Also he never got much recognition in his native US. Despite this the group remained popular in the UK for a long time after interest in his big hit had waned.
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Wee Willie Harris - Johnny Duncan - Cliff Richard |
Johnny Duncan and the Blue Grass Boys are now regularly classified as participants in the skiffle craze that hit the UK at the end of the 1950s. In fact Johnny Duncan had a much more distinctive sound than any regular skiffler and his choice of material was closer to true 'Hillbilly' country music than was being played in any of London's coffee bars of the day.
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Duncan's style may have owed a lot to the fact that he was an American and could therefore carry a country and western style with more confidence than could most of his British contemporaries.
Duncan lived in the United States in the 1960s; at which time he had separated from Betty before returning to England where he recorded two albums in the 1970s. Following his divorce he toured Australia in 1972, and subsequently emigrated to New South Wales. Later he met his new partner, Heather Walls, and slipped back contentedly into country life. In the last decade, a reassessment of skiffle renewed interest in his work.
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By this time Duncan’s health was fading. Some of his recordings were re-released, and Duncan, enthusiasm rekindled, recorded a few more sides just before he died from cancer on July 15 2000.
(Edited from Wikipedia, www.45rpm & the Guardian)