Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock have been friends since the swinging sixties and to celebrate their 50th anniversary of playing together and being mates they have recorded their first original album and are back on tour.

The album sees Chas & Dave “going back to their roots“, the music they were listening to and playing as youngsters, before they even knew each other, when Chas was in Edmonton and Dave in Ponders End.

“It was the producer Joe Henry’s idea,“ explains Chas, “and me and Dave were up for it. I put Railroad Bill on there – that was a bit of a blast from the past! It’s nice to re-do some of the stuff we were doing back when we were kids.

“The whole album has turned out good, we’re pleased and proud of it.“

Chas quotes his musical heroes as being his mum Daisy and Jerry Lee Lewis, who he went to see in concert in 1958.

“He came to play the Edmonton Regal, and that’s when I vowed ‘I’ve got to learn the piano’,“ Chas remembers.

Chas was playing the bass guitar at that point and turned professional when he was 16, going on tour as the bassist for Jerry Lee Lewis on his British and European tour in 1963, and supporting The Beatles in 1966 with his then band Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers.

Chas formed the duo that has made him famous with Dave Peacock in 1972, and Chas & Dave started life touring London playing all the pubs and clubs that would have them.

“We used to travel in Dave’s mini,“ Chas laughs, “with our little amp in the back, and we built it all the way up from there – things have changed quite a lot since then! Our last big gig, last year, was selling out the Royal Albert Hall!“

The duo has won a legion of new young fans in recent years and Chas says the majority of audiences at their gigs are now in their 20s.

“We’re getting new fans all the time, it keeps us invigorated – it’s like we’ve just started.“

Chas & Dave are at the Wyllyotts Theatre, Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, on Saturday, January 31 at 8pm. Details: 01707 645005, wyllyottstheatre.co.uk