There are two good web sites for those interested in Vince Eager - Vince's own, and Raised On Rock, which publicises his 2001 tour.

The Raised On Rock show included several of Billy's numbers, and in June, 2001, Vince issued a live CD from his tour performances. Real Audio files of Maybe Tomorrow and Halfway To Paradise will be found on Paradise Place on this site.

The CD is an excellent £10-worth and demonstrates why Vince has been pulling the crowds for more than 40 years. It also features Eddie Cochran and some very big Elvis numbers, climaxing in American Trilogy and Suspicious Minds. My only regret was that the sound engineer did not have a microphone in the auditorium, so you have to be ready to provide your own audience participation sequences.

Vince was once Billy's flatmate, and during the tour, he told a few tales of their times together.

I'm sure Vince will not mind if I quote one passage from an e-mail to me, in which he says: "Billy was a very dear friend and colleague in those early years. He was someone I admired tremendously as both an artist and a human being."

I saw Vince performing at an outdoor event at Lincoln in summer 2000. His talent has matured and grown, and he has a dynamic stage presence. The Raised On Rock tour is not to be missed, and I hope we're going to see a lot more of one of the authentic rock and rollers in the years to come..

I recommend you to spend some time on his web site as well. It's a fascinating, literate presentation.

Vince is pictured above in action near his home in Radcliffe, Notts, in 2000.

I've also acquired a 7 inch vinyl EP, published in 2000, of the first four tracks recorded by Vince (then still Roy Taylor) and the Vagabonds in 1958. The group comprised bassist Roy Locking (who later replaced Jet Harris in The Shadows), Roy Clark on guitar and drummer Mickey Fretwell.

The tracks for the EP were recorded in a small studio over the HMV record store in Oxford Street, London. The two-hour session cost them £8 - over £100 in today's money.

About 50 copies of a privately-pressed single of two of the tracks, Be Bop A Lula and Money Honey, were sold for 4s 6d each in Grantham.

This EP, digitally remastered from the original acetates and produced by Roller Coast Records (RCEP 132) adds My Dixie Darling and Cotton Fields. It arrived in the post at my home on a Friday afternoon, and I put it on the turntable to give it a cursory first listen while I was packing to go away.

Money Honey stopped me in my tracks and Be Bop A Lula just knocked me back. The raw energy in Vince's voice is overwhelming. I have to tell you that my copy of this EP was played only once more - when I copied it to a CD prior to putting it safely away.

I honestly consider Money Honey as one of the best tracks by any British rock performer that I have heard from that era.

The EP is available for only £5.