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Jools Holland has been playing
rhythm and blues for more than 30 years. Jan Goodey uncovers
the brains behind Later…
 You could count on the fingers
of one hand popular musicians with an interest in Palladian
mansions, discounting the superstar set, who probably live in
them anyway. Leave that aside and Jools Holland is the one man
you would definitely have down as serious dilettante material,
so serious in fact that he's had his entire south London
studio complex built along the lines of scaled down
Rennaissance Italiante. And let's hear no tittle-tattle of
'nouveau riche arriviste just off the boat from tax exile',
Jools most definitely rules when it comes to genuine artistic
appreciation backed up by the requisite wherewithal: he'd be
just as at home fronting a one-hour documentary on art and
design as his BBC2 music show Later.
This love of buildings comes
from a Greenwich upbringing, where he would spend hours gazing
out from the Observatory over vistas stretching from the Royal
Naval College and National Maritime Museum to St Paul's
Cathedral. The Rennaisance bent, came from a fascination with
the architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis who oversaw the
Italiante styling of Port Meirion, setting for the cult TV
series The Prisoner. "There is a definite link between
harmonics in music and styles of architecture," says
Holland who studied music and harmonics at college.
Not the natural jump I'd make,
but then Holland is full of surprises. For someone so at ease
in front of camera he's a private man who won't do interviews
at the drop of a hat and is very protective of his family and
loyal to his friends. When Paula Yates (with whom he
co-presented The Tube) died he was inconsolable. Bono who sang
Blue Skies at her funeral was accompanied by Holland on piano.
These important relationships go far beyond the schmaltz of
the music industry. You certainly won't find him schmoozing
the bar of The Groucho, he'll be more likely to be down the
local with friends. Born in Deptford into a large musical
family Holland remains true to his roots. He seems to have had
a pleasant and very happy childhood. Traits which have stayed
with him well into adulthood and sit somewhat awkwardly with
his cosmopolitan leanings, are the very English customs of
having tea at four and an interest in classic cars.
He recently teamed up with
George Harrison, member of a very English band. They recorded
a track for the current album, Jools Holland his Rhythm and
Blues Orchestra and Friends: Small World Big Band. Harrison
was in Switzerland recovering from the very latest in
treatment for cancer. The song Horse to Water was co-written
with Harrison's son Dhani. "I was thrilled and delighted
that George has been part of the album," says Holland.
"Not only is he one of the most important musicians of
the 20th century, he was the lead guitarist in an incredibly
popular group, and he was also of course in The Beatles! I was
so honoured, when I was looking for people to do this record
with me, that he agreed. We recorded the track in London and
then I took it out to him to put a vocal on."
The laid back approach Holland
adopts in dealing with the big names, whether on Later or the
Glastonbury slots, is endearing if occasionally unctuous. An
accomplished musician himself (you'd be hard pushed to find a
finer exponent of boogie-woogie piano this side of the
Mississippi delta) he doesn't have that initial 'awe factor'
to deal with, he's part of the family.
It's testament to the highly esteemed position he holds among
his peers that many took time out of busy schedules to travel
to his south London studio for the new album. Some chose to
cover timeless classics like Billy Preston's Will It Go Round
In Circles (Paul Weller); The Beatle's Revolution (Stereophonics);
Screaming Jay Hawkins' I Put A Spell On You (David Gilmour
& Mica Paris); Louis Armstrong & Luis Carl-Russell's
Way Back O'Town (Van Morrison); T'Bone Walker's T-Bone Shuffle
(Mick Hucknall); and Ray Charles's What Would I Do Without You
(Eric Clapton).
Tellingly it's the more
unusual, not quite so well known names whom he wants to talk
about. "The Hand That Changed Its Mind, with Dr.John:
we'd written this song years ago when we were both signed to
A&M Records. I said 'We've got to write a surrealist
boogie-woogie song.' He said 'You mean like 'Hello Dali?',
which I didn't get at first. So we've done it and it's great,
it's about a hand, and you're not really sure if it's a hand
that pats your knee or if it's a hand of cards."
It's the kind of anecdote he'll
draw out in the cosy style of interviewing he's perfected on
Later. Stripping away all the stuff and nonsense, Holland
reveals qualities in the interviewee which are totally
unrehearsed or prompted by the PR machine. This is what we
like, it's the slightly nasal rambling we can do without; it
can take over without warning and get in the way of the witty
one-liners.
Suggs from Madness is the cause
of another tale, "I said to Suggs, 'Let's write a song
together featuring Rico Rodriguez' the trombone player and
ex-Specials legend and also celebrating the life of Ian Dury.
You wouldn't realise it at first but that's what it's about.
So it's this upbeat ska thing, Oranges and Lemons, which I
think is one of the catchiest tunes on the record. It was very
funny, when we finished writing it Suggs said, 'I think that's
about three and a half minutes long.' I said 'I like a song to
be three minutes, ideally.' He said 'You're tough,' and I said
'You've got to be tough on time.' He said 'You've got to be
tough on time, tough on the causes of time.'" Boom boom!
Inspiring is the one word which
sums up this album, and it's also something Holland's been
doing for no fewer than 18 series on Later. Indeed he must
hold some kind of record for presenting more music programmes
for TV than any other host: four series of Night Music made in
New York, three series of The Happening filmed at London's
Astoria, two series of Name That Tune, six Hootenanny shows,
one series of Beat Route filmed all over the world and six
series of The Tube. And talking of records, although Squeeze
(the band to which he formerly belonged) sold millions, the
most successful track he's ever played on was Good Thing by
The Fine Young Cannibals, which reached number one in 17
countries. He was paid the statutory session fee of £150 -
ouch!
While you draw breath on all
that, it's worth remembering that Holland, 43, is a band
leader by trade. "We're the only group that plays big
band blues music with a full-time orchestra," he says.
"People come out and do it with us when we're playing
near them. It's nice that they come out and support that kind
of music. We try the songs live a few times, and then we get
the guests to sing them. It's all largely one take - most of
the people I like are all one-take people, because they all
play all the time. The spirit is the same as on Later.
Capturing that moment is like trying to catch lightning in a
bottle." In London alone they perform live to around
30,000 people in any one year with shows at The Royal Albert
Hall, Kew Gardens, and his hometown Greenwich Park.
Which takes us back full circle
to where it all began: his Gran's front room taking piano
lessons with his mum and uncle. From that to BB King's
assessment of him some 35 years later "I didn't think
anybody could play like that. Jools has got that left hand
that never stops."
Jools Holland plays the
Brighton Centre, Dec 23 at 7pm, tickets £19.50, 0870 900
9100.
copyright New Insight 2000
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