Vince Eager, one of the pioneers of the UK’s response to the rock ‘n’ roll sounds emanating from the United States, is back with an album that pays tribute to a number of performers from the fields of rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll. The knowing wink of the album title is, in fact, far wide of the mark for anyone fortunate enough to have seen Vince Eager perform at last year’s tenth anniversary celebrations of Western Star Records, as he peeled back the years with a standout performance. The title of the record also alludes to the reputation a lot of the original rockers held when wreaking havoc with their wild sounds and blooming popularity that was driving the local populace in any given town wild with excitement or cause for concern, depending on which side of the fence one was situated. With a nifty primal beat and sharpness of lyrics, ‘Rockabilly Dinosaur’ recollects this emerging sound and the impact felt to great effect. Much respect is given to the original compositions throughout ‘Rockabilly Dinosaur’, and there is a real sense of enjoyment from each and every song through to the memories recollected by Vince Eager in the accompanying booklet that makes for fascinating reading for those less familiar with his exploits. All of this, however, would not have been possible without the Western All-Stars (Alan Wilson, Steve Whitehouse, Liz Avent, Geoff Barker et al) adding their backing to such engaging renditions of Don Gibson’s ‘Don’t Tell Me Your Troubles’, Tommy Sand’s ‘The Worrying Kind’, Hank Snow’s ‘I’m Movin’ On’ and Peanut Wilson’s ‘Cast Iron Arm’ complete with stonking sax via Rachel Hutchinson. ‘Rockabilly Dinosaur’ is a reminder of the legend that is Vince Eager, but also one that pays homage to a variety of former artists and their songs admirably.