Back to the Florrie youth club, I discovered that some of the lads at the club also played and we decided to form a skiffle group, only three of us could play guitar, Alec Randell (who went on to appear in films with Freddie Starr), Gerry Marsden (I wonder what happened to him) and myself.

Two of my friends also joined Matty Summers on tea chest bass and Brian O’Hara on maracas and vocals, Brian at that time did not play guitar at all. 

We only ever did one show but that was for the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, and the Florrie was packed solid.

Brian O’ Hara and I formed a duo and did a few things around Liverpool, we then got asked to do a show at the Empire Theatre with Adam Faith, we were billed as “The O’Hara boys with their guitars”, of course we thought we had made it.

Brian was at school with a lad named Billy Hatton who at that time was about the best guitar player we had ever heard, so Brian asked him to join us with a drummer named Brian Redman.

We decided on the name ‘The Four Jays’ because we all had a J in our first or second names.

Billy Hatton was such a good guitar player that years before joining us he had taught Billy Fury to play and had played all the guitar on Billy Fury’s demo tape to Larry Parnes.

We realized early on that we were all on the same wave length when it came to playing and also had the same sense of humour, and realized our comedy touches and quips made us different from other local groups, and decided to work on and increase that side of the band.

We also decided to share the vocals and add backing harmonies, and where ever possible to find songs no other local band would do.

We did the local clubs for a couple of years and during this time I was still football training whenever I was not out with the band or rehearsing, and playing football every Saturday and Sunday, sometimes going straight from football to the gig.

After a few years of this I decided to give up the band to get married, and my place was taken by Mike Millward, and Brian Redmond left to be replaced by Dave Lovelady.

I was still doing my painting and decorating job during the day when I was with the band, and decided to stay with that and again concentrate on my football, without sounding conceited I knew I was a good goalkeeper, and when I was 16 I was asked to play in the over 18’s league which I did and played at Anfield (a dream come true) in the Lancashire Amateur Cup and won 3-2. We also won a lot of league titles.

Later in the football side of my life I was asked for trials with a number of clubs but I only wanted to play for Liverpool, in those days it never entered my head I could play for another team and work my way up hopefully to Liverpool.

One day a guy asked me after a game if I would sign for Halifax Town, I turned him down and found out later it was Alan Ball’s dad.

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