Biography
Formed in 1956, the group comprised various members, including Wally Whyton (23 September 1929, London, England, d. 23 January 1997, London, England), John Martyn Booker (b. 17 July 1934, London, England, d. 19 March 2007, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), Tommy Steele, Hank Marvin, Jet Harris, Bruce Welch. It grew out of the ‘frothy coffee’ scene, centred at the 2i’s Coffee Bar in London’s Soho district in the late 50s. Whyton was the musical brains, and with Bill Varley, wrote the group’s first hit, ‘Don’t You Rock Me Daddy-O’, which was even more successful for the ‘King Of Skiffle’, Lonnie Donegan. After having their ‘cleaned up’ version of ‘Maggie May’ banned by the BBC, the Vipers had two other UK chart entries in 1957 - ‘Cumberland Gap’ and ‘Streamline Train’. However, the whole skiffle craze was short-lived, and before long Steele had become an ‘all-round...
Read the Full Biography of Vipers Skiffle Group
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