Lonnie Donegan had played with the Chris Barber jazz band when he had his first hit with "Rock Island Line"/"John Henry" in 1955.

He had been a childhood influence on Van Morrison, who had performed in his own skiffle band with schoolmates when he was twelve years old in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

This was Donegan's second album in twenty years, reviving his career until his death in 2002.

Recorded on 20 and 21 November 1998 at Whitla Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

In 1977, Morrison had discussed recording an album of skiffle music with Dr. John, "because I started off in a skiffle group and there must be millions of other musicians who also began their careers playing that kind of music..." In preparation for this recording, he went to see Donegan perform and invited him to dinner and after a second meeting they arranged to record the sessions live.