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Obviously everyone’s had their say about what a thoroughly top bloke Humphrey Lyttelton was, but I simply must chip in with my two penneth. It’s so easy to be impressed with his Radio4 genius and his largely unlistened to Radio3 Jazz appreciation (which should be edited and sold as a definitive series on Jazz) but there’s another side to the man, one you may not know....
It was back in 1989 when, as a 31 year old studio musician, I was thrust into the limelight as the bandleader/musical director for the big budget, but no viewers nightly Sky TV chat show: Jameson Tonight. This was at a time when only Benidorm, Basingstoke and Milton Keynes could receive Sky, but Murdoch seemed to want a prestigious show.
Filmed at the Windmill Theatre with Derek Jameson in the hot seat, he was the Radio2 breakfast presenter at the time. It was produced by Michael Hurll with the A list of LE technical staff. At this point you may be wondering how I got the job? Me too!
Humph was my third musical guest, the first being Richard Clayderman (very big back then) who couldn’t speak a word of the English! Luckily we only had to play Edelweiss and the other turn was a juggler who sung whilst balancing a sword on his tongue.
But this was a British Showbiz Legend, a man who used to stand in Archer St 40 years previous picking up gigs (*see legend at bottom), had played with the best, at their best and was, even in the 80's, the most consistently entertaining broadcaster on Radio.
Jeez, this is the moment I get found out!!! What does he want to do? His favourite Bebop melody? Hard Jazz?
Freeform Jam? This man played with Satchmo for Gods sake! Up to this point, I’d spent my career punking up toothpaste commercials and failed new age singers!
He turns up, and I try and impress him by saying I’d been on a session with his son David (not a bad drummer as it happens) a few years previous. He replied, "did you? Do you know where he is now as he owes me a fiver" then seeks out the prettiest girl on the production, to show him to his dressing room. Blast, I’ve shot my mouth off! Okay, give it 10 minutes, then go and see him to ask what he wants to play, which will give me plenty of time to pack up all my stuff and get out before someone "any good" can take over. I was cacking it! So, 20 minutes later I came back from hiding to knock on his door. No-one there! Probably reporting me direct to Murdoch (who was around that day, dipping chicken nuggets into a ketchup sachet). I was almost at the point of sobering up the band to ask for help (at least they were all tip top players) when I heard Humph say "right George, about tonight. How many songs?” I answered probably just one, but maybe two. “Okay. If it’s just one, you lot start a blues in B flat, any tempo you like, Im sure I’ll catch up. Now if they want two... I’m stumped! What would you like to play?”
Basically he knew we weren’t his normal ensemble, so rather than slog through bad watered down sub-jazz nonsense, he fancied going our way. We rehearsed and he blew up an absolute storm, after which he said he loved it and how about doing something different for the show, maybe something in F “whatever you fancy, just not too fast”
It was an honour and a privilege to work with him that night in Soho, with the owner of The Windmill: Paul Raymond looking on, sharing a white wine with Rupert.
It’s a sad showbiz anecdote I’ve bored people with on many occasions. But I’ve always left out the last thing he said to me, after the usual pleasantries (of which he was a master). “Well then, we seemed to get away with that. Maybe you should call David for a jam, I know he’d love it”. I said I would, but I didn’t, which is now a bitter regret. God Bless you Humph, you made things easy for someone who was just starting out on his live TV adventures. Since then I’ve done over 450 hours, but none of them were as easy, or as swinging as the time I stood behind Humphrey Lyttelton RIP
* In the days before phones, no, not mobiles, I’m talking hardly anyone having a telephone in their home, musicians would turn up in Archer Street first thing in the morning in order to get a gig that day/week/month. Be it West End pit work, studio recordings, ballroom deps, weddings, funerals, barmitzvars, polkas, right the way through to backing big league foreign virtuosos (who by the way all loved Humph). It must have been a sight, literally 100’s of muso’s, bookers and impresarios all vying for the best deal, and all desperate not to leave empty walleted!
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