The Vipers Skiffle Group

In September of 1956, a quintet consisting of Wally Whyton (guitar, vocals), Johnny Booker (guitar, vocals), Jean Van Der Bosch (vocals, guitar), Tony Tolhurst (bass), and John Pilgrim (washboard) played an audition at Abbey Road for the head of Parlophone Records, George Martin. They were duly signed up and, in January of 1957, their second single, an original song by Whyton called "Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O," entered the British charts for a run that brought it up to the No. 10 position. It was the first of several hits for a group that, until the Beatles came along, marked George Martin's biggest success in reaching British teenagers. The Vipers were, after Lonnie Donegan, the most successful skiffle act in England, charting a half-dozen singles between November of 1956 and October of 1958. During that time, they became one of the biggest stage attractions among British groups and, in the bargain, also saw such future British rock legends as Hank Marvin, Jet Harris, and Tony Meehan of the Drifters pass through their line-up. They were formed in the spring of 1956, at the Bread Basket Coffee Bar in Central London. Wally Whyton (b. 1929) listened to a lot of jazz and blues growing up, including Bessie Smith, Charlie Barnet, Woody Herman, and Louis Armstrong, and later gravitated to the big bands of the period. By the time he was in his teens, he was immersed in every conceivable type of music, including early Calypso, African tribal music, and West Indian music. He also got to see American blues singer Josh White in a performance in England immediately after the end of the war, where Whyton was spellbound by White's showmanship. His other major influences included Pete Seeger and the Weavers, whose musicianship and dexterity dazzled him. Whyton had started in music on...