Donegan was the father of the British skiffle movement of the '50s and early '60s. He combined jugband music, New Orleans jazz, country, folk, and blues in a driving, highly rhythmic style that relied strictly on acoustic instruments including banjo, washboard, and washtub bass. Donegan's sound--sort of a parallel universe version of early rock & roll--was one of the primary influences on the Beatles and other British Invasion acts.