Most bored teenage boys on a summer holiday with their parents desperately want a guitar.

Well that was what it was like for bass player Nick Simper when he travelled to the Channel Islands with his mum and dad aged 15.

Simper, like all of his friends, wanted to be Hank Marvin, but was refused a guitar time and again.

A guitar costs money and the likelihood of it going unused after a few months was too high, his parents chided.

After watching an older boy finger pluck his way through the ballad Jesse James in a talent quest, Simper made a heartfelt appeal to his dad, who finally gave in.

Fast forward 53 years and Simper has played with some of rocks greatest. He switched to bass early in his career, when he realised there were many better guitar players than him and too few bass players in the industry.

One of the original members of Deep Purple, Simper has been playing and touring as a professional musician since he was 18.

A week ago he played an Austrian rock festival and got to see his favourite band ZZ Top, who he said have not aged a bit.

Gigging with the Good Old Boys since 1984 in between touring with his “proper” band, Simper says he has had “some good times”.

He says: “The whole idea of the Good Old Boys is to have a good time, it’s not like we’re going to make any money out of it.”

The Good Old Boys are Peter Parks, Alan Barratt, Simon Bishop, Nick Simper and Richard Hudston, who between them have a huge back catalogue.

Simper says: “You start off playing for fun and you end up playing for fun. When you get to our ages that’s what it’s all about.”

The Good Old Boys; Eel Pie Club at The Patch, London Road, Twickenham, Thursday, August 1. Doors open 8.30pm, with music from 9.15pm-11pm. Tickets £10 (£8 members) and available on the door or via eelpieclub.com.