Hilton Valentine brings skiffle to Salt

BYRAM — It's not everyday that a Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame musician plays at a local venue, and rarer still, with a free cover charge.

To celebrate the 50 year anniversary of the Animals, Salt Gastropub gave local residents an opportunity last Thursday night to hear Hilton Valentine perform.

The 69-year-old singer-songwriter took to the stage with his band Skiffledog and entertained the audience with skiffle, a type of music that has been around since the 1920's, as well as playing some of the legendary songs he helped make famous.

Skiffle can be difficult to describe but is a mix of jazz, blues and folk. It is known as a "working man's music" utilizing instruments including jugs, washboards and saws along with a homemade bass and fiddles from tea chests and cigar boxes. Building instruments on limited means allowed blue collar kids to learn to create and play a new style of music.

"Skiffle was the easiest thing to play and you didn't have to have great instruments, it was all acoustic," said Valentine. "The time in England when skiffle was popular was the same time that rock n' roll was just forming with records from likes of Little Richard, Gene Vincent, Bill Haley, Eddie Cochran, so it was a natural progression. The kids didn't differentiate, to us it was all great stuff. Whatever we heard on the radio, we copied."

Valentine learned to play guitar at age 13 and his roots are with skiffle. During the course of his life, he has transitioned from his first skiffle band called "The Heppers" to blues and rock n' roll with the Animals and now back to skiffle again.

When asked who his three major musical influences were, he replied without hesitation, "Lonnie Donegan, Lonnie Donegan, and Lonnie Donegan" — who is known as the King of Skiffle.

With Valentine on lead vocals and lead guitar, the Skiffledogs consist of Germaine Valentine, Hilton's wife on percussion including the washboard, Brian Martin on second guitar, David Hurd playing a Hofner left-handed bass guitar like Paul McCartney and George Gall on drums.

"Now I've circled back," said Valentine. "It's giving me a chance to get back to singing and also being able to perform songs I've written over the past 40 to 50 years."

In addition to his original songs, Valentine brought back his distinctive and recognizable guitar sound from the Animals and fond memories for so many in the crowd by playing "House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."

"It was a fun night," said John S. "We were watching and listening to true talent, instead of hearing music that's been fabricated."

John's friend, "Flip" Talley of Lake Hopatcong, ecstatically proclaimed, "That was unbelievable! It was beyond expectations! I grew up with this music in the 60's; the Beatles, the Animals, and Gerry & The Pacemakers. They are my foundation. It's music that can't be duplicated by today's artists."

Mark and Marlene Middleton who live within two miles of Salt were also thrilled by the performance. "We know he's an Animal" referring to Valentine's time with the group. "People of that caliber play such great music and not just the hits everyone knows. It's fun-it's music from our era."