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The claims to fame of the town
of Grantham, Lincs, England are Sir Isaac Newton, man of gravity, the
Dambusters whose raid was orchestrated from St Vincents, a manor house
situated in the town, and Margaret Roberts, daughter of a well known grocer,
who became Margaret Thatcher and the "Iron Lady" Prime Minister
of Great Britain.
There was also Roy Taylor, a local school boy whose lanky 6'3" frame (at 14) was to prove a handful when it came to distance running. As a 14 year old his idols were Gordon Pirie and Emile Zatopek, two of the most exciting distance runners of all time.
The outcome was for Roy Taylor to become VINCE EAGER. This was followed by a tour and the making of an extended play record, "Vince Eager & The Vagabonds". Roy Clark and Mick Fretwell returned to Grantham and bass player Brian Liquorice Locking remained in London in search of his personal fame which he found as a member of Cliff Richard's backing group, The Shadows.
It was Vince's stage appearances that made Vince into a musical force to be reckoned with. Touring with Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Marty Wilde, Jerry Lee Lewis, Billy Fury and many more top pop names gave Vince the opportunity to hone the stage skills which still serve him to this day.
In the years that followed the Parnes era, Vince was prolific on the British and overseas cabaret circuit, theatre, pantomime and for 5 years he starred in the Sir Laurence Olivier Award winning West End musical "ELVIS". In 1986 Vince took up residency in Fort Lauderdale, Florida when, for twelve years, he became a Cruise Director on American luxury cruise ships. Along with his wife Anette, Vince is now based in rural Nottinghamshire close to his two sons Simon and Christie and their families. |
However,
his idols soon changed when he teamed up with two pals to form the "Harmonica
Vagabonds", later to be the "Vagabonds Skiffle Group".
Roy became infatuated with skiffle king Lonnie Donegan's music and the
Vagabonds became the local teenage flavor of the decade as they filled
the Grantham and district dance halls and clubs with their music and contagious
personalities.
The
Vagabonds were to spread their wings when they entered the World Skiffle
Championships which saw them reach the televised final on BBC Television's
Come Dancing. A disappointing second place did not deter the boys and
they were offered a residency at the famous 2 I's Coffee Bar in London's
West End. It was not long before they were booked by pop Svengali Larry
Parnes, manager of Tommy Steele and Marty Wilde, for a Sunday concert.
Vince
became a household name with over 100 TV appearances on shows such as
Drumbeat, Six Five Special and Oh Boy. Whilst his recording career was
dogged by the conflict which was to develop between him and Larry Parnes,
Vince did release 14 singles and 5 albums. Many of today's compilation
CD's feature Vince's 1959 - 61 recordings.
The
death of his best friend Eddie Cochran in a car crash on Easter Sunday
1960 was to prove a turning point in Vince's career. He was disgusted
with the manner in which Parnes sought to gain publicity from the accident
and he began the process of getting away from the "Parnes Stable"
of popsters.