LAST TRAIN TO SAN FERNANDO
JOHNNY DUNCAN
& THE BLUE GRASS BOYS
JOHNNY DUNCAN
& THE BLUE GRASS BOYS
Written by: De Vere/Padmore
Recorded by: Johnny Duncan & The Blue Grass Boys (1957)
Recorded by: Johnny Duncan & The Blue Grass Boys (1957)
AWEIRD AND WONDERFUL EXERCISE
in multiculturalism, ‘Last Train
To San Fernando’ was a skiffle
hit in Britain for Tennessee-born Texas resident
Johnny Duncan who found himself drafted and
then stationed in England in 1952. He was a
country and bluegrass fan proficient on guitar and
mandolin. He married a British woman, eventually
made his home in England and played occasional
gigs in and around London. Performing at The
American Club in Bushey, Hertfordshire, Duncan
was spotted by a member of Chris Barber’s Jazz
Band which had recently lost Lonnie Donegan
following his solo success with ‘Rock Island Line’.
Duncan was hired as his replacement for a year,
after which he set up his own skiffle backing group,
The Blue Grass Boys, comprising session men
Lennie Hastings, Denny Wright, Jack Fallon and
Danny Levan. Their first single, a Hank Williams
number, failed, but their second, ‘Last Train To
San Fernando’ was a big hit, reaching number two
in the UK charts. Improbably enough it was based
on a topical calypso originally recorded by New
York-based ex-pat Trinidadian Cecil Anderson,
professionally known as The Duke Of Iron, and it
celebrated the last train to run from Port-of-Spain
to San Fernando, Trinidad. An accomplished and
in multiculturalism, ‘Last Train
To San Fernando’ was a skiffle
hit in Britain for Tennessee-born Texas resident
Johnny Duncan who found himself drafted and
then stationed in England in 1952. He was a
country and bluegrass fan proficient on guitar and
mandolin. He married a British woman, eventually
made his home in England and played occasional
gigs in and around London. Performing at The
American Club in Bushey, Hertfordshire, Duncan
was spotted by a member of Chris Barber’s Jazz
Band which had recently lost Lonnie Donegan
following his solo success with ‘Rock Island Line’.
Duncan was hired as his replacement for a year,
after which he set up his own skiffle backing group,
The Blue Grass Boys, comprising session men
Lennie Hastings, Denny Wright, Jack Fallon and
Danny Levan. Their first single, a Hank Williams
number, failed, but their second, ‘Last Train To
San Fernando’ was a big hit, reaching number two
in the UK charts. Improbably enough it was based
on a topical calypso originally recorded by New
York-based ex-pat Trinidadian Cecil Anderson,
professionally known as The Duke Of Iron, and it
celebrated the last train to run from Port-of-Spain
to San Fernando, Trinidad. An accomplished and
slick recording, Duncan’s bluegrassy version of a
Caribbean song was even less authentic as skiffle
than Lonnie Donegan’s reheated American folk
tunes although Duncan himself was at least a
genuine US native. On the record Denny Wright
this time contributes a memorable electric guitar
solo which young George Harrison learned to
play note-for-note. The rest of The Quarrymen
liked it too and Lennon, McCartney and Harrison
all went to see Johnny Duncan perform it live in
Liverpool. Along with ‘Freight Train’ this recycled
calypso was to provide Lennon and McCartney
with another reason to write a railroad-themed
skiffle song during their first joint song writing
attempt. As a convoluted footnote to the Johnny
Duncan story, the Chris Barber band member who
spotted him at The American Club was Dickie
Bishop who co-wrote the song ‘No Other Baby’,
a number in The Vipers skiffle group repertoire
and an American pop hit for Bobby Helms in
1959. It was revived by Paul McCartney on his
1999 Run Devil Run album. “I’ve no idea how this
one got so embedded in my memory,” McCartney
noted. “I never had the record, still haven’t.”
Caribbean song was even less authentic as skiffle
than Lonnie Donegan’s reheated American folk
tunes although Duncan himself was at least a
genuine US native. On the record Denny Wright
this time contributes a memorable electric guitar
solo which young George Harrison learned to
play note-for-note. The rest of The Quarrymen
liked it too and Lennon, McCartney and Harrison
all went to see Johnny Duncan perform it live in
Liverpool. Along with ‘Freight Train’ this recycled
calypso was to provide Lennon and McCartney
with another reason to write a railroad-themed
skiffle song during their first joint song writing
attempt. As a convoluted footnote to the Johnny
Duncan story, the Chris Barber band member who
spotted him at The American Club was Dickie
Bishop who co-wrote the song ‘No Other Baby’,
a number in The Vipers skiffle group repertoire
and an American pop hit for Bobby Helms in
1959. It was revived by Paul McCartney on his
1999 Run Devil Run album. “I’ve no idea how this
one got so embedded in my memory,” McCartney
noted. “I never had the record, still haven’t.”
Johnny Duncan was a real live Americanmusician working the 1950s circuit in
Britain. His only hit was, ironically enough,
a Trinidadian calypso pressed into service as
a bluegrass-flavoured skiffle number.