Wally Whyton

Whyton was born in London, England, and grew up listening to jazz, blues and folk music, and learned to play first the piano, then trombone, and finally guitar. In 1956, while working in advertising,{{Cite web|url=http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirv/vipers.htm|title=Vipers Skiffle Group|website=45-rpm.org.uk}} he formed the Vipers Skiffle Group, which became the resident band at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WCylBAAAQBAJ&q=Vipers+Skiffle+Group+resident+band+The+2i%27s+Coffee+Bar&pg=PT67|title=Life After Dark: A History of British Nightclubs & Music Venues|first=Dave|last=Haslam|date=13 August 2015|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9780857207005|via=Google Books}} After a number of hit records produced by 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.{{Cite web|url=https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/369684|title=Original versions of Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O by The Vipers Skiffle Group |website=Secondhandsongs.com}}

Photogenic and with a soft-spoken voice, Whyton normally wore a cardigan as he presented the children's programmes, Small Time, Lucky Dip, Tuesday Rendezvous (on which The Beatles made their second television appearance, performing "Love Me Do"), Five O'Clock Club, Ollie and Fred's Five O'Clock Club and Five O'Clock Funfair for Associated-Rediffusion and Rediffusion London.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2bad8ecf80|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810133346/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2bad8ecf80|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 August 2019|title=Wally Whyton|website=Bfi.org.uk}} Whyton normally performed a song while playing his guitar on the children's shows. He was also a presenter on the BBC's Play School (1966) and Play Away (1973).Here's A House: The Story of Play School, Volume 1, Paul R Jackson, 2010

Subsequently, he was the host of Granada TV's Time for a Laugh.{{Cite web|url=https://www.transdiffusion.org/2005/09/03/small|title=From Small Time to big time - ITV - Transdiffusion Broadcasting System|website=Transdiffusion.org}} From the 1960s to the 1990s he was a presenter on BBC Radio 2, mainly fronting folk and country music programmes. One of these was Hello Folk and another Country Club.{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/5587574d5dce48fab474b60c2ade8573|title=Wally Whyton's Country Club|date=15 January 1976|issue=2722|pages=48|via=BBC Genome}} In the 1970s Hello Folk was rebroadcast (coming live from London on tape) on BFBS.{{Cite web|url=http://bfbs-radio.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_24.html|title=BFBS Radio Show Archive: Folk Music Shows|website=Bfbs-radio.blogspot.com}} In 1976, he toured Germany, visiting the Forces Folk clubs presenting The McCalmans and Mike Harding.

Despite his busy schedule as a broadcaster, Whyton continued to find time to record. As well as recording an album of Woody Guthrie songs, Children's Songs of Woody Guthrie, he wrote and recorded the conservation anthem, Leave Them a Flower.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/wally-whyton-mn0000235309|title=Wally Whyton | Biography & History|website=AllMusic}} The song was translated into Dutch for Flemish singer Louis Neefs who recorded it as Laat ons een bloem. His version became one of the biggest hits of his career and remains a favourite song in various all-time lists of best Flemish songs ever recorded. In February 2022, Laat ons een bloem finished 9th in the BeNe Top 1000, a list of 1000 best songs originating from the Netherlands and (Flemish) Belgium, as voted for by listeners of Flemish Radio 2.{{Cite web|title=Radio2.be (Flemish Radio 2, in Dutch)|url=https://radio2.be/artikels/luister-elke-dag-vanaf-10u-live-naar-de-radio-2-bene-bene-1000|access-date=2022-02-01|website=radio2.be|language=nl}}

Meanwhile, Whyton also recorded an album titled Growing Up with Wally Whyton including medleys of songs for children.

The cover of Whyton's It's Me, Mum! appeared on Steve Carter's Worst Album Covers Ever Created.{{Cite web|url=https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/what-were-they-thinking-the-worst-album-covers-of-all-time|title=Documenting All Things Hideous|website=Trendhunter.com}}

Whyton presented a regular show for the BBC World Service until a few weeks before his death from lung cancer in January 1997.{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=2002|edition=Third|isbn=1-85227-937-0|pages=491/2}}

It's Me, Mum! (sic) (Fontana, STL5476) was released in 1968 and featured Whyton playing 12-string guitar and singing contemporary and traditional folk songs from the United States, an old music-hall song, and a couple of his own songs: "Selma, Alabama (April 1965)", and "When Winter Comes". Also appearing were John Mark (guitar), Phil Bates (bass) and Terry Cox (drums).{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Wally-Whyton-Its-Me-Mum/release/8321778|title=Wally Whyton - It's Me, Mum!|website=Discogs.com|year=1968 }}

• Track listing:
• Side 1
• "Gentle on My Mind" (John Hartford)
• "Ballad of the Boll Weavil" (trad. arr Whyton)
• "Little Red Hen" (Malvina Reynolds)
• "Don't Send My Mother to Prison" (tune by Whyton, words by Geoffries/Jones)
• "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" (Bob Dylan)
• "The Urge for Going" (Joni Mitchell)
• "1913 Massacre" (Woody Guthrie)
• Side 2
• "San Francisco Bay Blues" (Jesse Fuller)
• "Greenback Dollar" (Hoyt Axton)
• "When Winter Comes" (Whyton)
• "900 Miles from Home" (trad. arr Whyton)
• "Underground Train" (Egbert Moore)
• "Leaving on a Jet Plane" (John Denver)
• "Selma, Alabama (April 1965)" (Whyton){{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/its-me-mum!-mw0000977337|title=It's Me, Mum! - Wally Whyton | Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic|accessdate=29 October 2019}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{AllMusic}}
• [http://www.stevecarter.com/albumcovers.htm Worst Album Covers Ever Created?]
• {{YouTube|bB_O3JaVQyY|Leave Them a Flower}}

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Category:1929 births

Category:1997 deaths

Category:BBC Radio 2 presenters

Category:British television presenters

Category:British radio personalities

Category:British radio DJs

Category:British radio people

Category:Skiffle musicians

Category:20th-century British musicians

Category:Musicians from London