Images may be subject to copyright
On this day, 7 February 1957, Skiffle legend Lonnie Donegan played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens. Also on the bill were Alex Welsh's Dixielanders.
The concert was moved to Cardiff after the concert due to take place at Swansea’s Brangwyn Hall was cancelled by the local corporation with Donegan’s music described as “Unsuitable” for the Hall.
He recorded his debut album, Lonnie Donegan Showcase, in summer 1956, with songs by Lead Belly and Leroy Carr, plus "I'm a Ramblin' Man" and "Wabash Cannonball". The LP sold hundreds of thousands.
The skiffle style encouraged amateurs and one of many groups that followed was the Quarrymen, formed in March 1957 by John Lennon. Donegan's "Gamblin' Man"/"Puttin' On the Style" single was number one in the UK in July 1957, when Lennon first met Paul McCartney.
Donegan went on to successes such as "Cumberland Gap" and "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?)", his biggest hit in the US, on Dot.
He turned to music hall style with "My Old Man's a Dustman" which was not well received by skiffle fans and unsuccessful in America on Atlantic in 1960, but it reached number one in the UK.
