It Just Occurred to Me . . .: The Reminiscences & Thoughts of Chairman Humph

by Humphrey Lyttelton

The legendary band leader and jazz trumpeter, broadcaster and humorist looks back at his extraordinarily rich and varied life and the many colourful characters he has known and played with – from Duke Ellington to Louis Armstrong. He also recalls his early life as the son of a famous housemaster at Eton, where he was educated. During the war, he served in the Grenadier Guards and, on demobilisation, studied for two years at Camberwell Arts School. In 1949, he joined the "Daily Mail" as cartoonist, wrote the story-line for Trog's "Flook" cartoon, and also signed a recording contract with EMI. He had the first British jazz record to get into the Top Twenty in 1956 with 'Bad Penny Blues'. The book will appeal to his large cult following, both from his regular live appearances with his band, as the irrepressible chairman of BBC Radio 4's popular nonsense quiz 'I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue' and as the presenter of "The Best of Jazz" since 1967.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Humor

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Humph's own words this is a hotchpotch of thoughts and memories, and manages to be by turns amusing, interesting and touching. It's full of music, dry humour and accounts of Eton and his aristocratic background, and I have to admit to Humph's surprise at his positive reception at a Radiohead-organised rock concert made me a little teary. We all love Humph.

[Isabell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually began reading this book before I started on Jem Roberts' excellent I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue book (which I positively loved, see my review). After finishing Jem's book I came back to Humph's and I have to say it felt really warm and comforting to continue reading about Humph for a while longer. If you are not familiar with the connection between Humprey Lyttelton and I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, you should know that Humph was the celebrated chairman for ISIHAC from the start in 1972 until his untimely and too early death in 2008, at the age of nearly 87.

This book is warm and funny and all kinds of brilliant. It gives an insight into the long and fascinating life of an extraordinary man, jazz trumpeter, cartoonist, calligraphist and whatnot, all served up in his own words. It is witty and clever and reading it helped soothe the ache of Humph no longer being with us. At least momentarily and for a little bit.

People expecting to find a book with headlined chapters, outlining in chronological order all the events of the life of Humphrey Lyttelton will do best to prepare for something somewhat different. Much like a BBC Radio programme with (I think) the same title, it is a long stream of memories, connected into a meandering tale. I read it one bit at a time, savouring Humph's words and memories, attempting to make them last longer. And I am going to read it again, and again - just for the thrill of being made to giggle by a man I wish I had been able to meet, if only for five minutes.

[Len · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am far more familiar with Humphrey Lyttelton as the chairman of the BBC Radio comedy game show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue than with his long and distinguished career as a jazz trumpeter. There was always an almost embarrassed delight in listening to his dead-pan delivery of the most outrageous innuendo and double-entendres, usually involving the lovely Samantha and the two old sound archivists. His blatant disregard for the scores and for the feelings of Colin Sell (on the piano) emphasised that ISIHAC was always going to be the antidote to panel games.

It may sound surprising that Humph's humour not only developed but even survived considering his aristocratic upbringing – I associate aristocracy with formalism and polite correctness – followed by Eton College and the Grenadier Guards. I remember listening to an interview he gave somewhere or other, a long time ago. He was reminiscing over his time in the British Army and he recalled a piece of advice he was given while he was training at Sandhurst. One of his senior officers, recognising his willingness to see the funny or ridiculous side of things, told him “you must never tell jokes to the men you command and never laugh at any jokes they tell you.” It was all about maintaining discipline and I dare say a perceived dignity, perceived that is by senior officers.

However, the humour not only survived but flourished. The near anarchy of the jazz world probably helped and it showed itself in his work as a cartoonist on the Daily Mail. But as Chairman Humph it reached its apogee and an awful lot of his charm, wit and willingness to laugh at the world around him comes through in this book.

After wandering around like this I felt almost compelled to emulate the fabled Mrs Trellis of North Wales and submit a letter. Instead I will end by exclaiming: “Mornington Crescent!” It makes as much sense here as it ever has in I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slight but rambling book, being a very loosely connected series of anecdotes, memories and thoughts from a legendary figure in British jazz and radio. In fairness, the title tells you exactly what you're getting, and perhaps the more complete life story is in one of his other eight books. It's entertaining enough - and I learned more about him than I knew before - but a bit disjointed and somewhat unfulfilling. Much of the material is covered in his Desert Island Discs appearance, from the same year, and it's nice to hear him talk, so I'd recommend that over the book.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know he'd played with Radiohead. What an interesting character - exactly as you'd suspected from all those years of offering us glimpses via his Chairman Humph persona. A product of his class who managed to go bohemian, Lyttelton offers a surprise mixture of funny jazz musician stories, tales of eccentric relatives, and thoughts on art and deep breathing. Much missed for his dry wit.

[Raj · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book that has jazz legend and broadcaster Humphrey Lyttleton letting loose in full raconteur mode. There is no real theme or structure to this book, it's just Humph writing about things that occur to him so he jumps from his days as a cartoonist and restaurant critic to talking about his mother's time as a VAD in the Great War to an anecdote about Louis Armstrong's obsession with herbal laxatives. It's makes for wonderful reading, and Lyttleton's distinctive dry tones seem to rise out of each page with occasional comments from Lyttleton's alter-ego, Chairman Humph, long-standing (and much missed) chair of the great I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue.

A very enjoyable book with lots of great anecdotes, ranging from his upbringing and schooldays at Eton right through to his jazz career and Clue.

[Simon Wardell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ramblings and reminiscences of Old Etonian, Guardsman, Cartoonist, Jazz Legend & "Clue" Chairman Humph. Funny and interesting, a genuinely nice guy.