Chas McDevitt
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Chas McDevitt (b Charles James McDevitt, Glasgow, Scotland, 4 December 1934) is a British musician, one of the leading lights of the skiffle genre which was highly influential and popular in the UK in the mid to late 1950s.
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 Crave 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.
In late 1956, while 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. 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 big hit in the UK in 1957 at the height of the skiffle boom, reaching # 5 in the charts. In the USA, the record 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, 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. McDevitt’s was the only British skiffle group, other than Lonnie Donegan’s, to achieve international success.
After Whiskey left in 1957, McDevitt had less commercial success, and his group disbanded around 1959. He then formed a duo with 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.
