Biography
In September 1956 a five-piece ensemble—Wally Whyton on guitar and vocals, Johnny Booker on guitar and vocals, Jean Van Der Bosch on vocals and guitar, Tony Tolhurst on bass, and John Pilgrim on washboard—performed an audition at Abbey Road for Parlophone chief George Martin. The label promptly signed them, and by January 1957 their follow-up 45, the Whyton original “Don’t You Rock Me Daddy-O,” had climbed the British singles chart to number ten. Until the Beatles arrived, that track stood as Martin’s most notable success with British youth.
After Lonnie Donegan, the Vipers ranked as England’s leading skiffle outfit, placing six singles on the charts from November 1956 through October 1958. During those years they ranked among the country’s most popular live acts, and their shifting roster at one point or another featured future members of the Shadows—Hank Marvin, Jet Harris, and Tony Meehan.
The group coalesced in spring 1956 inside London’s Bread Basket Coffee Bar. Whyton, born in 1929, had absorbed jazz and blues from Bessie Smith, Charlie Barnet, Woody Herman, and Louis Armstrong before moving on to the big-band sound of the era; by his teens he was also steeped in calypso, African tribal music, and West Indian styles. A postwar London appearance by Josh White left a lasting impression, as did the instrumental precision of Pete Seeger and the Weavers. Although he began on piano and later tried trombone, Whyton ultimately concentrated on guitar and developed considerable skill.
He joined forces with Johnny Booker, then running the Gyre and Gimbal Coffee Bar, and together with Van den Bosch they established the Vipers. Three months later, in July 1956, the trio became the resident act at Soho’s celebrated Two I’s Coffee Bar on New Compton Street. After Tommy Steele’s discovery there and subsequent Decca contract, the venue turned into the prime spot for emerging talent.
Spotted at the Two I’s that September, the group earned a Parlophone audition with Martin, whose imprint was the smallest of EMI’s labels. Their first official sessions took place in October 1956, launching a run of hits that lasted two years. Expanded to a quintet anchored by Whyton, Booker (born Johnny Martyn), Van den Bosch, and Pilgrim on washboard, plus a rotating cast of bassists, the band remained a skiffle mainstay even after Donegan had shifted toward other styles. Whyton’s arrangement of “Don’t You Rock Me Daddy-O” also succeeded for Donegan and ranked among the scene’s strongest originals, while his adaptation of Red Nelson’s “Streamline Train” reached the Top 30; their reading of “Cumberland Gap” stands as one of the most energetic documents of the entire skiffle period.
Whyton and Booker proved accomplished enough to record an album, The Original Soho Skiffle Group, for the American Time label, spotlighting the traditional folk-and-blues strand of the music and featuring liner notes by Nat Hentoff.
By 1958 the skiffle wave had subsided. The Vipers’ commercial peak had already passed in late 1957, and they quietly dropped “Skiffle Group” from their name on posters. In May 1958 their releases veered sharply toward mainstream pop. The brief presence of Marvin on guitar, Harris on bass, and Meehan on drums—soon to form the Shadows—could not reverse the decline in attendance or sales. Whyton kept the Vipers name alive into 1960, well after the original lineup had dissolved and their recording deal had ended.
The group never attained Donegan’s household-name status and never charted in the United States, yet Whyton and Booker counted among skiffle’s most skilled practitioners; their handling of traditional American repertoire remained focused and often gripping. Beyond supplying future Shadows personnel, the band supplied Martin with valuable experience shaping raw yet energetic musicians, an apprenticeship he later credited with easing his work with the Beatles after signing them in late 1962.
The Vipers’ output continues to appeal to admirers of early British rock & roll as well as country, folk, and blues listeners. Their driving rhythms, assured guitar work, and fervent American-inflected vocals imparted a tougher edge than most of Donegan’s post-1957 sides, securing the band’s place, alongside Donegan, as the definitive late-1950s skiffle act.
After Lonnie Donegan, the Vipers ranked as England’s leading skiffle outfit, placing six singles on the charts from November 1956 through October 1958. During those years they ranked among the country’s most popular live acts, and their shifting roster at one point or another featured future members of the Shadows—Hank Marvin, Jet Harris, and Tony Meehan.
The group coalesced in spring 1956 inside London’s Bread Basket Coffee Bar. Whyton, born in 1929, had absorbed jazz and blues from Bessie Smith, Charlie Barnet, Woody Herman, and Louis Armstrong before moving on to the big-band sound of the era; by his teens he was also steeped in calypso, African tribal music, and West Indian styles. A postwar London appearance by Josh White left a lasting impression, as did the instrumental precision of Pete Seeger and the Weavers. Although he began on piano and later tried trombone, Whyton ultimately concentrated on guitar and developed considerable skill.
He joined forces with Johnny Booker, then running the Gyre and Gimbal Coffee Bar, and together with Van den Bosch they established the Vipers. Three months later, in July 1956, the trio became the resident act at Soho’s celebrated Two I’s Coffee Bar on New Compton Street. After Tommy Steele’s discovery there and subsequent Decca contract, the venue turned into the prime spot for emerging talent.
Spotted at the Two I’s that September, the group earned a Parlophone audition with Martin, whose imprint was the smallest of EMI’s labels. Their first official sessions took place in October 1956, launching a run of hits that lasted two years. Expanded to a quintet anchored by Whyton, Booker (born Johnny Martyn), Van den Bosch, and Pilgrim on washboard, plus a rotating cast of bassists, the band remained a skiffle mainstay even after Donegan had shifted toward other styles. Whyton’s arrangement of “Don’t You Rock Me Daddy-O” also succeeded for Donegan and ranked among the scene’s strongest originals, while his adaptation of Red Nelson’s “Streamline Train” reached the Top 30; their reading of “Cumberland Gap” stands as one of the most energetic documents of the entire skiffle period.
Whyton and Booker proved accomplished enough to record an album, The Original Soho Skiffle Group, for the American Time label, spotlighting the traditional folk-and-blues strand of the music and featuring liner notes by Nat Hentoff.
By 1958 the skiffle wave had subsided. The Vipers’ commercial peak had already passed in late 1957, and they quietly dropped “Skiffle Group” from their name on posters. In May 1958 their releases veered sharply toward mainstream pop. The brief presence of Marvin on guitar, Harris on bass, and Meehan on drums—soon to form the Shadows—could not reverse the decline in attendance or sales. Whyton kept the Vipers name alive into 1960, well after the original lineup had dissolved and their recording deal had ended.
The group never attained Donegan’s household-name status and never charted in the United States, yet Whyton and Booker counted among skiffle’s most skilled practitioners; their handling of traditional American repertoire remained focused and often gripping. Beyond supplying future Shadows personnel, the band supplied Martin with valuable experience shaping raw yet energetic musicians, an apprenticeship he later credited with easing his work with the Beatles after signing them in late 1962.
The Vipers’ output continues to appeal to admirers of early British rock & roll as well as country, folk, and blues listeners. Their driving rhythms, assured guitar work, and fervent American-inflected vocals imparted a tougher edge than most of Donegan’s post-1957 sides, securing the band’s place, alongside Donegan, as the definitive late-1950s skiffle act.
Albums