‘I left school early because I was expelled – I wasn’t cut out for school. I couldn’t see the point of it’
ethos and there is maybe an element of risk about me.”
That said, he fits in very well with the establishment. With a zest for the arts and the community, Jools is a long-term supporter of The Prince’s Trust which has led to a deep friendship with Prince Charles. He even attended the heir to the throne’s wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles. And Jools is super protective of his royal pal.
“I have done a lot with the Prince’s Trust and, unlike any other charity, they have done more for vulnerable young people than anybody including any government, where there have been various cuts.
“If ever I hear somebody say bad things about the Prince of Wales, I always think to myself, ‘Well, what have they done to ever compare with the sort of great work of the Prince’s Trust?’
“Once somebody has done something as great as that they can start moaning about him but until they have, they don’t want to bother.”
Performing remains his greatest passion, and Jools is currently on the road with his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra.
He has 35 concerts from mid-October until Christmas, fitted around filming Later and his annual New Year Hootenanny show. Then there’s his Radio 2 slot.
“But, at 61, it keeps me stimulated,” he adds. “There is an Italian proverb which says, ‘He who plays the piano keeps sane’. Although I have met other piano players and I do wonder if that is the case.”
Despite constantly being asked, Jools isn’t up for an any time soon.
“I still work and write with Chris Difford,” he says. “And Gilson Lavis, the drummer with Squeeze, has been drummer with my big band for the last 20 years and on Hootenanny for the past 25 years.
“I am a bit too busy to have a Squeeze reunion. But it’s not that I don’t love them.”
Aofficial Squeeze reunion CONSTANT in Jools’ life is his wife Christabel McEwan, and he looks forward to returning home to her when is on tour.
“She doesn’t perform but she is very good at applauding,” he smiles. “I think if you are working and playing a lot, it is quite hard if you have two people who are performers in a marriage. I think one is quite enough really.
“She is a trained child psychotherapist and she is there for me in the background.
“When you are away on tour all the time, you want to have a lovely home to go back to because if you don’t, you will just never go home.
“There are some artists that do that and they are on the road all the time.
“I tour all the time and the band does lots of shows. I love being in different cities and parts of Britain but it is always really nice to get back home.And if you have that balance, then you are in a fortunate position.”
A working-class boy from south London, his childhood was so impoverished, the electricity would get cut off when the bill wasn’t paid. Jools left school early because he was expelled.
“I wasn’t cut out for school, I couldn’t really see the point of it,” he has said. “We agreed it was time to move on.”
He says: “It’s all worked out pretty well for me. I wouldn’t encourage anyone to get expelled – but I have been incredibly fortunate because my life has been spent playing the piano, which is much more fun than working.
“I like my work. It isn’t really like work – not everyone can say that. So
I am a very fortunate person indeed.”
●●Later… With Jools Holland is on BBC Two Thursdays from 10pm or Friday at 11.05pm