Chas McDevitt
{{Short description|Scottish musician (born 1934)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
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| name = Chas McDevitt
| image = Chas McDevitt Aldershot 2017.jpg
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| caption = Chas McDevitt in 2017
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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1934|12|4|df=y}}
| birth_place = Eaglesham, Glasgow, Scotland
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| occupation = Musician
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Charles James McDevitt (born 4 December 1934) is a Scottish musician{{Cite web|url=http://chasmcdevitt.co.uk/page2_aboutchas.html|title=Early Days|website=Chasmcdevitt.co.uk|accessdate=7 October 2019}} who was one of the leading lights of the skiffle genre which was highly influential and popular in the United Kingdom in the mid-to-late 1950s.J. P. Ward, Britain and the American South: From Colonialism to Rock and Roll, University Press of Mississippi, 2009, pp. 192–6.
Biography
McDevitt was born in Eaglesham, Glasgow, Scotland.{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|page=817}} His family moved to Camberley, Surrey, when he was a child. As a teenager he taught himself the banjo, and began corresponding with blues artists including Josh White. He also joined a local Dixieland jazz group. By 1955, he had moved to London, and began playing with the Crane River Jazz Band. At the same time, he formed a small skiffle group, which busked and performed in coffee bars and jazz clubs in Soho. It won a talent contest, organised by Radio Luxembourg.
In late 1956, whilst recording the song "Freight Train" – written by folk blues singer Elizabeth Cotten – for Oriole Records, studio owner Bill Varley suggested they should add a female singer.{{cite web |url=http://www.chasmcdevitt.com/Skiffle.htm |title=RIDIN' THE FREIGHT TRAIN WITH CHAS McDEVITT (Archived copy) |accessdate=2013-04-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524021114/http://www.chasmcdevitt.com/Skiffle.htm |archivedate=2013-05-24 }} Chas McDevitt: Skiffle As a result, folk singer Nancy Whiskey was invited to join the Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group, and they re-recorded the song with her vocals. The record became a hit in the UK in 1957 at the height of the skiffle boom, reaching Number 5 in the UK Singles Chart.{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| pages= 338}}
In the United States, the song was covered by Rusty Draper, who had the bigger hit. Nevertheless, McDevitt's group appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, their record became a million seller,{{cite book
| first= Joseph
| last= Murrells
| year= 1978
| title= The Book of Golden Discs
| url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr
| url-access= registration
| edition= 2nd
| publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd
| location= London
| page= [https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/96 96]
| isbn= 0-214-20512-6}} and their success led them to tour with acts such as Slim Whitman and Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers. They also replaced Jerry Lee Lewis on his ill-fated 1958 tour of the UK. The Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group was the only British skiffle group, other than Lonnie Donegan's, to achieve international success.{{citation needed|date=August 2008}}
After Whiskey left in 1957, McDevitt had less commercial success, and his group disbanded around 1959. He then formed a duo with his wife Shirley Douglas, until their professional and personal relationship ended in the 1970s. Since then, McDevitt has continued to perform as the leader of a re-formed group, and also remains active in charitable work, including through his membership of the showbusiness charity the Grand Order of Water Rats.
Nancy Whiskey died in February 2003. More recently McDevitt appeared on the BBC Television show, Never Mind The Buzzcocks.{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0905855/fullcredits|title="Never Mind the Buzzcocks" Episode #19.4 (TV Episode 2006) |website=IMDb.com|accessdate=7 October 2019}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.chasmcdevitt.co.uk/ Official website]
- [http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirc/chasm.htm More information at 45-rpm.org]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McDevitt, Chas}}