Jools Holland reveals his 10 favourite musical collaborations

Jools Holland has collaborated with the greats of music throughout his 40-plus year career. Here he reveals his favourites.

1. EDDI READER

“I had written a song with my Squeeze bandmate, Chris Difford, called Waiting Game and we decided to ask Eddi Reader to sing on it.

“This would be around 1996 and it was the first time I’d asked someone to sing on something I’d written. The result made me realise it was a good idea to get other people in on the records, especially women, as they put a completely different focus on the song.

“A while after we recorded it I was walking through Soho when I heard the song blaring out of a doorway.

“It was coming from a strip club and I realised one of the dancers was using it which I took as a great compliment!”

2. KT TUNSTALL

“I’ve heard people sing songs I didn’t know I liked until I heard their voice on it, and KT is one of those.

“Night And Day was a song I recorded with her and it’s a great example of taking an old song and making it new. You’re not expecting to hear KT do a great old jazz song, but that’s one of the things that makes it so good.

“She’s an amazing singer and sings her own songs, but like the old saying goes, it’s the singer not the song.”

3. GEORGE HARRISON

“George was a great friend, a wonderful man and so modest.

“He told me he had a song, Horse To The Water, but wasn’t performing at the time and didn’t have a band. It was when he was ill and although he wasn’t well, I believe music can help and he was momentarily lifted out of his illness as he recorded.

“It was George at his best.

“Any time I hear the song it brings back so many memories.”

4. B.B. KING

“B.B. passed away recently and I’d been a huge admirer since I was a child he was always himself and didn’t care about music fashions.

“I played on a song called Paul’s Birthday Boogie for his Deuces Wild album in 1997.

“I was so nervous and in awe of him when we got together in the studio, but when he started playing his neck began moving involuntarily to the music and I realised he was in the moment.

“It helped me relax, but the awe remained.”

5. TOM JONES

“Tom and I did an album together, with lots of boogie-woogie tunes.

“He’s experienced a lot more than me yet is still so modest.

“What was great was sitting down with a cup of tea between songs and hearing him chat about all these legends that you feel are from another age, like Sinatra, yet he worked with all of them.

“He has a great music knowledge and a photographic memory for lyrics think of any song and the words will come straight out from his mouth.

“There was a song from the ’30s we did called Glory Of Love, which we did with just piano and voice, and the way he performed it was like an arrow straight to the heart.

“The song ended up in the final episode of TV show, House.”

6.& 7. ERIC CLAPTON AND SOLOMON BURKE

“We’d arranged to do two songs at my studio, but on the day of the recording Solomon was held up.

“I think he was performing for the Pope at the Vatican and then when he got into Gatwick at 3pm, he went the wrong way from the airport.

“I was getting nervous about Eric Clapton having to wait all this time in my studio it had been three hours!

“Thankfully we had cheese and pickle sandwiches food always saves the day and when Solomon got there it all happened very spontaneously and quickly.

“We got there in the end and the result was Message To My Son and Mabel, which has some blistering guitar work by Eric.”

8. SHANE MACGOWAN

“The Pogues singer was responsible for one of the most moving versions of a song I’ve heard.

“He came and recorded Just To Be Home With You with our band.

“He turned it into something much more heartbreaking and put so much into it that you could see he was working hard to hold it all together.

“I believe someone’s singing voice is an extension of that person. He’s a great singer.”

9. EDINBURGH

“Some of the first people to take a shine to our orchestra were in Edinburgh.

“We came up to the Festival a couple of times and it just grew and grew for us.

“We ended up doing 10 nights in the Queen’s Hall during the Fringe in 1994 and it was such a magical atmosphere that we decided to record it.

“Sometimes you capture things spontaneously that are more magical than working for hours in a studio and I feel it was the first time the band became what it is today.

“Live Performance remains one of my favourite albums and holds happy memories of hot, balmy nights.”

10. THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

“I once asked Ray Charles how he wanted people to think of his music and he told me it didn’t matter if people liked the song or if they liked him, all he cared about was that they knew he told the truth in his music.

“At the time I was writing with Sam Brown, who was living in Perth, and one of the songs we wrote was I Told The Truth. We got it to Ray Charles and were told he wanted to record it.

“Unfortunately he then became ill and it all came to a halt.

“It wasn’t to be, but just the thought of him even considering singing it was amazing.

“It was later recorded by Paul Rodgers, from Free and Bad Company.”

Jools is at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre on July 25 as part of the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival. He’ll also present BBC2’s Dancing In The Blitz: Blackpool’s Big Band Story the same day at 9.10pm.