Product Description

Jools Holland has had a fascinating life. From playing on bomb sites as a boy in the East End, to skiving off school and then selling millions of records with Squeeze, the first twenty years of his life were eventful, chaotic and colourful. Then came The Tube with Paula Yates, the seminal live music programme that propelled him to fame. Over the following three decades, Jools succeeded in placing himself at the epicentre of a global community comprising just about anybody who is anybody in music. Through Later with Jools Holland, the longest-running music programme on television, he has given British TV debuts to countless now world famous bands. Packed with hilarious anecdotes written in Holland’s own inimitable style and laced with quirky insights and deliciously acute detail, this autobiography by one of Britain’s most gifted and debonaire musicians is not just for music fans, but for anyone who is looking for something several cuts above the conventional showbiz memoir.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18539 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

About the Author
Jools Holland is a virtuoso pianist, bandleader, television presenter, architectural eccentric and music enthusiast. He was awarded an OBE in 2003 for his services to the British music industry. He lives in Kent.

Customer Reviews

Couldn't put it down
This book was wonderful, an honest and touching story of a gifted lad from a humble background who survived excesses of the pop industry and who has grown to be a pillar of the musical establishment. He's got a 'live and let live' attitude and is rarely critical of others, seeing good in many. His insights of the great and good of music are fascinating and his fondness for Paula Yates stands out. He heaps praise on many, including Bono, Bob Geldof and George Harrison. It was a great read.

Sticking up for Jools
Dear Pyewakt,
You are not really qualified to review the book because it is obvious that you have not read it and just listened to one of the short extracts on Radio 4. You describe Jools Holland as "the pianist turned presenter" but if you had even bothered to read the synopsis you would know that he has never given-up the piano, and far from having a "limited talent" he is undoubtedly one of the most skilled Pianists alive today. The great BB King once said: "I didn't think anybody could play like that. Jools has got that left hand that never stops. When the likes of Pete Johnson died, I wondered if I'd ever see that kind of playing again." And I for one thoroughly enjoy his music,
The book is pretty good too, and really does not deserve the savage attack that you have given it.

I am not a psychologist but from what you have written below it sounds like maybe you are bitter that you were never part of his "scene" when he was on the tube.

No real boasts
Some great anecdotes here, including the time he first met Bob Dylan at George Harrison's house.

Jools' humble manner is such that he drops names like Dylan and Harrison with the same love and affection that he recalls pub landlords, and friends and neighbours.

As a great fan of his music, I loved his insights on the music, and those he has worked with throughout the years.

One (small) gripe is the way that the last 15 or so years are crammed into about 20 pages, (possibly) leaving scope for a second half of the memoirs?

You get an overall sense of the honesty, and humble upbringing of Jools throughout, and I found it very hard to put this one down.