Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11099 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Synopsis
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.

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

An optimist and a gentleman
Ever since watching him on The Tube years ago, I have disliked Jools Holland. Although in later years his highly lauded BBC2 music showcase, Later with Jools Holland, as almost gained him the title 'national treasure' his snide & cocky persona on The Tube and have stuck in my memory and helped form my low opinion of him.

After reading this book I know now that I have grossly misjudged him. Far from being arrogant or a 'boaster' as he calls himself (he never mentions the large amount of charity work he does), Jools Holland, as well as being a man that has a deep passion for music, appears to be a perfect gentleman, rarely critical of the people he meets, always prefering to write about their good side instead. He is clearly well liked and respected in the music business; this book makes it is easy to understand why.

If I have one minor criticism of the book it is that because Jools Holland is an optimist by nature he tends not to dwell on the downside of his life - for example, his families financial difficulties as a child or his fathers imprisonment for the theft of Jool's wifes jewellery - preferring instead to put these down to experience when I would have liked to read a little more about Jools feelings at the time and how they affected him.

A very enjoyable and entertaining book.

Squeezing the Tube
I first came across Jools Holland as the somewhat eccentric pianist with the wonderful Squeeze and later as the somewhat shambling presenter of the Tube. After he left Squeeze for the second time I saw him premiering his little Big Band before they grew into the Rhythm and Blues orchestra promoting their fist album on Wogan. `World of his Own' was possibly my favourite record of that year and the `Full Compliment' the next year was just that.

The little Big Band played Bradford's Queens Hall, a fantastic old theatre, that May (badly promoted as Joolz Holland) and I secured a fantastic seat on the balcony. Unfortunately it was next to a couple of Jazz purists whom whooped and cheered throughout the support acts' set. There brand of trad jazz left me cold and I expecting this couple to become even more animated and annoying during the headliners performance. But as I began to enjoy the set they began to look down on the mix of big band music and what they contemptuously considered `pop' as Jools' set began to take off. I think it was on `Lonesome Joe' the band mixed the blues with an element of country music when my least favourite couple decided to leave in a huff. It was one of the most enjoyable concerts I've ever attended and a couple of years later I enjoyed the full orchestra play the Leeds festival, where they gave a wonderful rendition of Count Bassie's `Shake Rattle and Roll'. I couldn't decide if it was the intimacy of the Queens or the distain of the jazz purists that made it the better gig.

On reading Jools biography his love of all music forms came across without any of the type of snobbery which stopped this couples enjoyment and as he paraphrases his own line `Never look down on anyone unless you're helping them up' (from the song `I, is all I Ever Hear') I think I understood Jools' appeal. A true gentleman and a good book to boot.

Throughly entertaining, just like the author's music
Some people live on the sunny side of the street, seeing the good in people and bringing luck their way. Jools Holland is such a person, his irrepresible good nature leaps off every page.

In an age when so many celebrities seem to spend their biographies telling us how tough they have had it, it's refreshing to read about someone is completely happy because they spend their life living their dream.

This story starts from childhood, through school and into early years performing in pubs, first recording contracts, TV presenting and up to date with Later and the Big Band.

Holland tells a lot of entertaining stories of bad behaviour on the road but only hints at the more depraved things, which is no bad thing - sometimes less is more.

One review mentioned that the one weakness was that the more recent years were told at a bit of a gallop, and I would agree, would perhaps have been better to spend a few more chapters on them.

But then I think life has become a little more ordered and settled since he got into a rhythm playing with his big band and doing Later, so maybe the best stories are from the early days.

Whatever, if you like your music then you couldn't ask for a better narrator to take you on a music journey. Jools seems to have made many great friends through his career and this book makes it quite clear why.