Biography
Born Anne Alexandra Young Wilson on 4 March 1935 in Glasgow, Scotland, the singer who later became known as Nancy Whiskey died on 1 February 2003 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. She began by performing and singing traditional material, yet the skiffle surge of the 1950s prompted her to relocate southward in the company of jazz pianist Bob Kelly, her partner at the time, while retaining a body of Scottish folk songs. The Whiskey surname arose once she became linked with “The Calton Weaver,” a number whose refrain contains the repeated phrase “Whiskey, Whiskey, Nancy Whiskey.”
An EP issued by Topic Records under the title Nancy Whiskey Sings listed the Irish rebel song “The Bold Fenian Men,” yet the track was ultimately omitted and replaced before release. Her principal moment of recognition arrived in 1957 when the Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group, with Nancy Whiskey featured, reached the UK Top 5 and the US Top 40 with “Freight Train.” A follow-up single, “Greenback Dollar,” also charted that year, attaining the UK Top 30. In 1958 she departed the ensemble and was succeeded by Shirley Douglas.
A short recording stint on the Oriole label followed, during which she cut several singles backed by the studio ensemble the Skifflers. Her liaison with the still-married Kelly attracted coverage in the British tabloid press. She maintained an active presence on the folk circuit and periodically rejoined McDevitt, appearing on British television in 1991 and again six years afterward at a large-scale tribute to the skiffle movement held at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
An EP issued by Topic Records under the title Nancy Whiskey Sings listed the Irish rebel song “The Bold Fenian Men,” yet the track was ultimately omitted and replaced before release. Her principal moment of recognition arrived in 1957 when the Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group, with Nancy Whiskey featured, reached the UK Top 5 and the US Top 40 with “Freight Train.” A follow-up single, “Greenback Dollar,” also charted that year, attaining the UK Top 30. In 1958 she departed the ensemble and was succeeded by Shirley Douglas.
A short recording stint on the Oriole label followed, during which she cut several singles backed by the studio ensemble the Skifflers. Her liaison with the still-married Kelly attracted coverage in the British tabloid press. She maintained an active presence on the folk circuit and periodically rejoined McDevitt, appearing on British television in 1991 and again six years afterward at a large-scale tribute to the skiffle movement held at the Royal Albert Hall in London.