John Franklin Duncan (September 7, 1932 – July 15, 2000) was an American bluegrass and

skiffle Skiffle is a genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, country, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a form in the United States ...

musician. He became popular in Britain in 1957 with " Last Train to San Fernando", which reached number two in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Biography

Duncan was born in the Windrock coal-mining camp overlooking the town of Oliver Springs,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, United States. In his teens he moved to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

where he learned guitar and mandolin, and played in a

hillbilly Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas west ...

trio. He served in the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

, and in 1952 was garrisoned in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

, England, where he met and married a local girl, Betty, in 1953. When performing for American servicemen at

Bushey Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It has a population of over 25,000 inhabitants. Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow re ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, in 1956, he was seen by Dickie Bishop, banjoist in

Chris Barber Donald Christopher "Chris" Barber OBE (17 April 1930 – 2 March 2021) was an English jazz musician, best known as a bandleader and trombonist. He helped many musicians with their careers and had a UK top twenty trad jazz hit with " Petite Fl ...

Dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...

jazz band. Barber was looking for a new vocalist to replace

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002), known as Lonnie Donegan, was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the "King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotl ...

, who had started a solo career, and Duncan took over the role for several months before leaving Barber's band in early 1957. Billy Bragg, ''Roots, Radicals and Rockers: How Skiffle Changed the World''
Faber & Faber, 2017, pp. 295-296 Guided by

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Denis Preston Sidney Denis Preston (''né'' Prechner, 16 November 1916 – 21 October 1979) was a British record producer, recording studio owner, radio presenter and music critic. He was particularly influential in the British jazz and associated skiff ...

, Duncan then formed a new band, the Blue Grass Boys, with Donegan's former guitarist

Denny Wright Denys Justin Wright (6 May 1924 – 8 February 1992), known professionally as Denny Wright, was a British jazz guitarist. A session musician for many years, Wright frequently acted as arranger and "fixer" for recording sessions. He was a proli ...

together with drummer

Lennie Hastings Leonard "Lennie" Hastings (5 January 1927 – 14 July 1978) was an English jazz drummer. Biography Hastings started out playing in military bands during World War II in the 1940s, which included Micky Bryan's Rug Cutters in 1942. He then playe ...

and bassist

Jack Fallon Jack Patrick Fallon (October 13, 1915 – May 22, 2006) was a British jazz bassist born in Canada. Fallon played violin and studied with London Symphony Orchestra founder Bruce Sharpe before making double-bass his primary instrument in 1935 when ...

. They began appearing regularly on a new BBC radio show, '' Saturday Skiffle Club'' (later ''Saturday Club''). Their first

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

was a commercially unsuccessful

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

' "

Kaw-Liga "Kaw-Liga" ( ) is a country music song written by Hank Williams and Fred Rose. Background "Kaw-Liga" is one of just a handful of songs that Williams wrote with Fred Rose, who produced his records and published his songs through his company A ...

". In 1957, their recording of a calypso called " Last Train to San Fernando" – originally co-written by

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

ian musician Mighty Dictator (Kenneth St. Bernard) and recorded by

The Duke of Iron The Duke of Iron (born Cecil Anderson, 22 November 1906 – 17 November 1968) was a calypsonian, nightclub and concert entertainer, and recording artist from the 1930s through the 1960s. Born in Trinidad and working mainly in the United States, ...

,Bragg, 2017, pp. 323-324 was personally disliked by Duncan. The track was arranged by Wright and Fallon, who gave the piece a strong "

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

" feel in the erroneous belief that San Fernando was in Texas or the Los Angeles, California suburb, rather than Trinidad, although Wright's guitar solo has a strong Trinidadian feel to it. Duncan briefly became a star in Britain, touring with

Wee Willie Harris Charles William Harris (born 25 March 1933), better known by his stage name of Wee Willie Harris, is an English rock and roll singer. He is best known for his energetic stage shows and TV performances since the 1950s, when he was known as "Bri ...

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

, and American singer

Marvin Rainwater Marvin Karlton Rainwater (July 2, 1925 – September 17, 2013) was an American country and rockabilly singer and songwriter who had several hits during the late 1950s, including " Gonna Find Me a Bluebird" and " Whole Lotta Woman," which hit #1 o ...

, and appearing regularly on BBC radio and the TV show ''

Six-Five Special ''Six-Five Special'' is a British television programme launched in February 1957 when both television and rock and roll were in their infancy in Britain. Description ''Six-Five Special'' was the BBC's first attempt at a rock-and-roll programme. ...

'', produced by Jack Good. Duncan had two other entries in the

in 1957, with "Blue, Blue Heartaches" (No. 27) and "Footprints in the Snow" (No. 22). Although Duncan continued to record for a period of time, the skiffle fad faded and so did his success. Duncan lived in the United States in the 1960s, before returning to England where he recorded two albums in the 1970s. Following his

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, briefly returned to the United Kingdom, and then back to Australia where he married for a second time. He retired from the music industry and suffered from ill health, but made some further recordings in the 1990s after a revival of interest in his 1950s recordings. He died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in Australia, in 2000.

References

External links

Mini biography @ Oshistorical.comCover story, BMG magazine March 1958
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Johnny 1932 births 2000 deaths People from Oliver Springs, Tennessee Singers from Tennessee Skiffle musicians 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers Deaths from cancer in New South Wales United States Air Force airmen American emigrants to Australia