# Chas McDevitt > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chas_McDevitt > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chas_McDevitt.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chas_McDevitt > Source revision: 1356130100 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Scottish musician (born 1934)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Chas McDevitt | image = Chas McDevitt Aldershot 2017.jpg | alt = | caption = Chas McDevitt in 2017 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1934|12|4|df=y}} | birth_place = [Eaglesham](/source/Eaglesham), [Glasgow](/source/Glasgow), Scotland | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = | citizenship = | other_names = | current_member_of = The Chas Dewitt Skiffle Group | education = | alma_mater = | employer = | occupation = [Musician](/source/Musician) | instruments = Banjo | genre = Skiffle, Dixiland Jazz | label = Oriole Records | years_active = | height = | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | opponents = | boards = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relations = | callsign = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Charles James McDevitt''' (born 4 December 1934) is a Scottish musician{{Cite web|url=http://chasmcdevitt.co.uk/page2_aboutchas.html|title=Early Days|website=Chasmcdevitt.co.uk|accessdate=7 October 2019}} who was one of the leading lights of the [skiffle](/source/skiffle) genre which was highly influential and popular in the United Kingdom in the mid-to-late 1950s.J. P. Ward, ''Britain and the American South: From Colonialism to Rock and Roll'', [University Press of Mississippi](/source/University_Press_of_Mississippi), 2009, pp. 192–6. ==Biography== ===Early life=== McDevitt was born in [Eaglesham](/source/Eaglesham), [Glasgow](/source/Glasgow), Scotland.{{cite book|title=[The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music](/source/Encyclopedia_of_Popular_Music)|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[Virgin Books](/source/Virgin_Books)|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|page=817}} His family moved to [Camberley](/source/Camberley), Surrey, when he was a child. As a teenager he taught himself the [banjo](/source/banjo), and began corresponding with [blues](/source/blues) artists including [Josh White](/source/Josh_White). He also joined a local [Dixieland](/source/Dixieland) jazz group. ===Music career=== Dewitt moved to London in 1955, and began playing with the Crane River Jazz Band. At the same time, he formed a small skiffle group, which [busked](/source/busking) and performed in coffee bars and jazz clubs in [Soho](/source/Soho). It won a talent contest, organised by [Radio Luxembourg](/source/Radio_Luxembourg). In late 1956, whilst recording the song "[Freight Train](/source/Freight_Train_(song))" – written by folk blues singer [Elizabeth Cotten](/source/Elizabeth_Cotten) – for [Oriole Records](/source/Oriole_Records_(UK)), studio owner Bill Varley suggested they should add a female singer.{{cite web |url=http://www.chasmcdevitt.com/Skiffle.htm |title=RIDIN' THE FREIGHT TRAIN WITH CHAS McDEVITT (Archived copy) |accessdate=2013-04-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524021114/http://www.chasmcdevitt.com/Skiffle.htm |archivedate=2013-05-24 }} Chas McDevitt: Skiffle As a result, folk singer [Nancy Whiskey](/source/Nancy_Whiskey) was invited to join the Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group, and they re-recorded the song with her vocals. The record became a hit in the UK in 1957 at the height of the skiffle boom, reaching Number 5 in the [UK Singles Chart](/source/UK_Singles_Chart).{{cite book | first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= [British Hit Singles & Albums](/source/British_Hit_Singles_%26_Albums) | edition= 19th | publisher= [Guinness World Records Limited](/source/Guinness_World_Records_Limited) | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | pages= 338}} In the United States, the song was covered by [Rusty Draper](/source/Rusty_Draper), who had the bigger hit. Nevertheless, McDevitt's group appeared on ''[The Ed Sullivan Show](/source/The_Ed_Sullivan_Show)'', their record became a million seller,{{cite book | first= Joseph | last= Murrells | year= 1978 | title= The Book of Golden Discs | url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr | url-access= registration | edition= 2nd | publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd | location= London | page= [https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/96 96] | isbn= 0-214-20512-6}} and their success led them to tour with acts such as [Slim Whitman](/source/Slim_Whitman) and [Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers](/source/Frankie_Lymon_%26_The_Teenagers). They also replaced [Jerry Lee Lewis](/source/Jerry_Lee_Lewis) on his ill-fated 1958 tour of the UK. The Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group was the only British skiffle group, other than [Lonnie Donegan](/source/Lonnie_Donegan)'s, to achieve international success.{{citation needed|date=August 2008}} After Whiskey left in 1957, McDevitt had less commercial success, and his group disbanded around 1959. He then formed a duo with his 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, including through his membership of the showbusiness charity the [Grand Order of Water Rats](/source/Grand_Order_of_Water_Rats). Nancy Whiskey died in February 2003. In 2006, McDevitt appeared on the [BBC](/source/BBC) television quiz show ''[Never Mind the Buzzcocks](/source/Never_Mind_the_Buzzcocks)''.{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0905855/fullcredits|title="Never Mind the Buzzcocks" Episode #19.4 (TV Episode 2006) |website=IMDb.com|accessdate=7 October 2019}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.chasmcdevitt.co.uk/ Official website] *[http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/dirc/chasm.htm More information at 45-rpm.org] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:McDevitt, Chas}} Category:1934 births Category:Living people Category:Scottish banjoists Category:Entertainers from Camberley Category:Skiffle musicians Category:Oriole Records (UK) artists --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Chas McDevitt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chas_McDevitt) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chas_McDevitt?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.